Simon Bolivar

Key Events
• The key events of Simon Bolivar’s life:

Pledge in
Birth Marriage Rome Declaration President Liberation Death

July 1783 May 1802 Aug 1805 April 1810 1819 1817-1824 Dec 1830

He was He He Declaration of Became first Liberated Died at the

Born in Married Pledged Independence president of Columbia age of 47
Caracas, Maria to liberate in Venezuela Colombia Peru, of
Venezuela Teresa South and later Ecuador, tuberculosi
America several other Panama, s
Countries Bolivia
Simon Bolivar
• Simon Bolivar was the son of a wealthy aristocrat and
young man at the time that he joined the revolutionary
movement
• A Creole who joined sides with the natives and the
llaneros in order to win the revolution
• He was the greatest key figure in Latin American
Independence
 Leadership Traits
• Bolivar was known to gave
been a charismatic leader
• He was an excellent horse man
and this helped win the
llaneros over to his side during
the revolution
• He was also a superior general
and strategist, being able to
free most of Latin America
from European control
• However San Martin described
him as a finicky, arrogant man
Causes / Effects of Independence Movement
Causes
• Napoleonic Wars overthrow the
king’s in Spain (Problem of
Legitimacy)
• The trading restrictions cease to
exist
• The class conflict between the
upper class peninsulars and the
middle class creoles
• Creole wanted to take away
peninsulars power and the
natives sided with them until
them wanted power
Effects
• Most of the European
controlled Latin American
countries gained their
independence
• Many new countries were
formed within a generation out
of the old provinces that the
Europeans owned
• The countries experienced
much turmoil after their
independence and went through
years of invasions and civil war
 Important Events of Independence
Movement
• Bolivar and Francisco de Miranda led the movement
• The Spanish government crushed it and Bolivar sold out Miranda for safe
passage
• Bolivar returned and defeated the Spanish in several battles
• Republic of Venezuela established on 5 July 1811
 Compared to George Washington:

Simon
• Led armed forces in revolutionary
battles
• Accepted a dictatorship role
• Received good amount of
education as a child
• Fought to change who would have
power over South America
• Extremely charismatic and
regarded almost as a god and a
hero
Compared to George Washington:

George
• Led armed forces in revolutionary
battles
• Previously fought for European
army
• Put in leadership roles after
revolution
• Accepted a presidential role
• Did not have a lot of education
• Fought to change political
structure of America
• Untouchable leader that was
respected as well as the other
member of the revolution
 American revolution compared
to the Latin American rebellions

• Latin American countries

weren't united together
although they did support each
other’s causes
• The Latin American rebellions
were only a shift of power no
ideals only those copied from
the American revolution
• They had their elite the creoles
who tried to control the rest of
native population in order to
maintain control
 American revolution compared
to the Latin American rebellions

• All the states in North America

formed an alliance and in order
to make one countries fight
against Great Britain
• They fought in protest of
politics and revolted to create a
new from of government
• There was a colonial elite that
benefitted economically from
the war
Other key leaders associated with Simon
• Jose San Martin
• Leader of the Argentinean
movement for
independence
• Francisco de Miranda
• A key figure in the
Venezuelan revolution
• José Antonio Páez
• Leader of the llaneros a
group of horsemen and
cowboys whose was an
important players in the
fight for independence
Bolivar’s Death
At the end Bolivar was Exiled
for trying establish a
totalitarian government which
enraged many who believed
that he was only trying to
establish what they had fought
so hard to get rid of he died in
bed with tuberculosis but was
stilled remembered as a hero to
almost all the countries in Latin
America