2017
Search results
Learn about the life and legacy of Simón Bolívar, the Venezuelan statesman and military leader who liberated several South American countries from Spanish rule. Find out his biography, achievements, quotes, and how he is remembered in Latin America and beyond.
- Overview
- Early life
- Independence movement
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan soldier and statesman who played a central role in the South American independence movement. Bolívar served as president of Gran Colombia (1819–30) and as dictator of Peru (1823–26). The country of Bolivia is named for him.
Gran Colombia
Read more about the short-lived Republic of Colombia, or Gran Colombia (1819–30).
Bolivia
Learn more about Bolivia.
What was Simón Bolívar’s early life like?
The son of a Venezuelan aristocrat of Spanish descent, Bolívar was born to wealth and position. His father died when the boy was three years old, and his mother died six years later, after which his uncle administered his inheritance and provided him with tutors. One of those tutors, Simón Rodríguez, was to have a deep and lasting effect on him. Rodríguez, a disciple of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, introduced Bolívar to the world of 18th-century liberal thought.
At the age of 16, Bolívar was sent to Europe to complete his education. For three years he lived in Spain, and in 1801 he married the daughter of a Spanish nobleman, with whom he returned to Caracas. The young bride died of yellow fever less than a year after their marriage. Bolívar believed that her tragic death was the reason that he took up a political career while still a young man.
In 1804, when Napoleon I was approaching the pinnacle of his career, Bolívar returned to Europe. In Paris, under the renewed guidance of his friend and tutor Rodríguez, he steeped himself in the writings of European rationalist thinkers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon, Jean le Rond d’Alembert, and Claude-Adrien Helvétius, as well as Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. The latter two had the deepest influence on his political life, but Voltaire coloured his philosophy of life. In Paris he met the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt, who had just returned from his voyage through Hispanic America and told Bolívar that he believed the Spanish colonies were ripe for independence. That idea took root in Bolívar’s imagination, and, on a trip to Rome with Rodríguez, as they stood on the heights of Monte Sacro, he made a vow to liberate his country.
Britannica Quiz
Exploring Latin American History
One other experience enriched his intellect at that time: he watched the extraordinary performance that culminated in Napoleon’s coronation in 1804 as emperor of the French. Bolívar’s reaction to the coronation wavered between admiration of the accomplishments of a single man and revulsion at Napoleon’s betrayal of the ideals of the French Revolution. The desire for glory was one of the permanent traits in Bolívar’s character, and there can be little doubt that it was stimulated by Napoleon. The example of Napoleon was, nevertheless, a warning that Bolívar heeded. In his later days he always insisted that the title of “liberator” was higher than any other and that he would not exchange it for that of king or emperor. In 1807 he returned to Venezuela by way of the United States, visiting the eastern cities.
The Latin American independence movement was launched a year after Bolívar’s return, as Napoleon’s invasion of Spain unsettled Spanish authority. Napoleon also failed completely in his attempt to gain the support of the Spanish colonies, which claimed the right to nominate their own officials. Following the example of the mother country, they wished to establish juntas to rule in the name of the deposed Spanish king. Many of the Spanish settlers, however, saw in those events an opportunity to sever their ties with Spain. Bolívar himself participated in various conspiratorial meetings, and on April 19, 1810, the Spanish governor was officially deprived of his powers and expelled from Venezuela. A junta took over. To obtain help, Bolívar was sent on a mission to London, where he arrived in July. His assignment was to explain to England the plight of the revolutionary colony, to gain recognition for it, and to obtain arms and support. Although he failed in his official negotiations, his English sojourn was in other respects a fruitful one. It gave him an opportunity to study the institutions of the United Kingdom, which remained for him models of political wisdom and stability. More important, he fostered the cause of the revolution by persuading the exiled Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda, who in 1806 had attempted to liberate his country single-handedly, to return to Caracas and assume command of the independence movement.
Special offer for students! Check out our special academic rate and excel this spring semester!
Learn More
Venezuela was in ferment. In March 1811 a national congress met in Caracas to draft a constitution. Bolívar, though not a delegate, threw himself into the debate that aroused the country. In the first public speech of his career, he declared, “Let us lay the cornerstone of American freedom without fear. To hesitate is to perish.” After long deliberation, the national assembly declared Venezuela’s independence on July 5, 1811. Bolívar now entered the army of the young republic, whose commander in chief was Miranda, and was placed in charge of Puerto Cabello, a port on the Caribbean Sea west of Caracas that was vital to Venezuela. In the short time since their London meeting, he and Miranda had drifted apart. Miranda called Bolívar a “dangerous youth,” and Bolívar had misgivings about the aging general’s abilities. Treasonable action by one of Bolívar’s officers opened the fortress to the Spanish forces, and Miranda, the commander in chief, entered into negotiations with the Spanish commander in chief. An armistice was signed (July 1812) that left the entire country at the mercy of Spain. Miranda was turned over to the Spaniards—after Bolívar and others prevented his escape from Venezuela—and spent the rest of his life in Spanish dungeons.
Determined to continue the struggle, Bolívar obtained a passport to leave the country and went to Cartagena in New Granada. There he published the first of his great political statements, El manifiesto de Cartagena (“The Cartagena Manifesto”), in which he attributed the fall of Venezuela’s First Republic to the lack of strong government and called for a united revolutionary effort to destroy the power of Spain in the Americas.
With backing from the patriots of New Granada, Bolívar led an expeditionary force to retake Venezuela. In a sweeping hard-fought campaign, he vanquished the royalists in six pitched battles and on August 6, 1813, entered Caracas. He was given the title of Liberator and assumed political dictatorship. The war of independence was just beginning, however. The majority of the people of Venezuela were hostile to the forces of independence and weary of the sacrifices imposed. A cruel civil war broke out, and Bolívar himself resorted to extreme measures, such as the shooting of prisoners. His severity failed in its object. In 1814 Bolívar was once more defeated by the Spanish, who had converted the llaneros (cowboys) led by José Tomás Boves into an undisciplined but savagely effective cavalry that Bolívar was unable to repulse. Boves subjected Creole patriots to terrible atrocities, and his capture of Caracas and other principal cities ended the second Venezuelan republic. Narrowly escaping Miranda’s fate, Bolívar fled to New Granada, where he was commissioned in Cartagena to oust a separatist faction from Bogotá (now in Colombia) and succeeded in doing so. He then laid siege to Cartagena but failed to unite the revolutionary forces and fled to Jamaica.
Learn about Simón Bolívar, the Venezuelan soldier and statesman who led the revolutions against Spanish rule in South America. Find out his early life, achievements, death, and legacy in this comprehensive article from Britannica.
Apr 2, 2014 · Simón Bolívar was a South American soldier who was instrumental in the continent's revolutions against the Spanish empire. Born into wealth, Bolívar was sent to Spain for his education, soon ...
Learn about the life and achievements of Simón Bolívar, the South American leader who fought for independence from Spain in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Find out how he became known as The Liberator and what challenges he faced as a president.
Learn about the life and achievements of Simón Bolívar, the Venezuelan soldier and statesman who led revolutions against Spanish rule in South America. Find out his role in the wars of independence, his presidency of Gran Colombia, and his legacy in Latin America.
People also ask
Who was Simon Bolivar?
What is Bolivar famous for?
What role did Bolivar play in Latin America?
How did Simon Bolivar help Latin America achieve independence?
What was Bolivar able to do in 1816?
Why did Bolivar go south?
Learn about the life and achievements of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan military and political leader who helped Latin American countries gain independence from Spain. Find out how he became known as 'El Libertador' and what challenges he faced as a dictator.
May 24, 2019 · Learn about the life and achievements of Simon Bolivar, the greatest leader of Latin America's independence movement from Spain. Explore his early years, military campaigns, political legacy, and death.
