1. The Wars of Independence in Spanish America
“The Roots of Independence”
Viceroyalties => Nation-states

2. Viceroyalties => Nation-states

3. Events and situations that prompted the
independence movements in Spanish America:
 In Spain and Europe:
• The Bourbon reforms (18th century)
• Napoleon’s invation of Spain (1808)
 In America:
• Tupac Amaru’s uprising (1780)
• The protest in Socorro (1781)
• Creole discontent

4. First phase of the independence movements
(1810-1815):
Caracas (Viceroyalty of New Granada ->Venezuela,
Columbia, Ecuador)
- Simón Bolívar
Buenos Aires (Viceroyalty of Río de La Plata -> Argentina,
Uruguay, Paraguay)
- José de San Martín
 Dolores (Viceroyalty of New Spain -> Mexico)
- Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos

5. Portraits by Gil de Castro (19th century)

7. Manuel Hidalgo by Juan O”Gorman

8. Meanwhile in Spain…
In 1812 the cortes (parliament) of Cádiz proclaimed
a liberal constitution
In 1814 Ferdinand VII returns to the Spanish throne
and reestablishes the absolute monarchy
In 1820 Ferdinand VII embraces the liberal
constitution

10. Second phase of the Spanish American Independence
(1816-1821):
New Colombia (Venezuela, New Granada [Colombia
and Panama], Ecuador) and Upper Perú (Bolivia)
Argentina, Chile, Perú and Ecuador
México and Central America (Guatemala, Nicaragua,
El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica)

11. And what happened in the other Spanish American
colonies?
Which was the last country to achieve independence
and when did it happen?
Which country never achieved independence?

12. Epic of Bolívar (1930) by Fernando Leal