Símon Bolívar: Latin America's Fight For Independence

Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. We’ve all heard these names at some point in our lives. These six nations are part of the 20 countries that make up Latin America. But do you know who helped these six nations gain independence from Spain? Símon Bolívar, that’s who. Who is Símon Bolívar? You might ask. Símon Bolívar was a military and political leader of Venezuela during its wars for independence from 1810-1824. Today, he is known as El Libertador in South America. Símon Bolívar’s leadership for the Latin America’s liberation movement symbolized the vision and statesmanship that led to an enduring legacy of freedom, sovereignty, and repeal of slavery and casteism for that continent.

One reason why Símon Bolívar’s stand

for independence is historically important is because the results still affect us today. If Símon Bolívar had not helped Venezuela gain its independence from the Spanish Empire, the Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru as we know it would not exist today. While the effectiveness and fairness of the government system he set up is debatable, the main point is that without Símon Bolívar and several others the political boundaries and government systems that we are familiar with would be drastically different. For instance, Venezuela might have had a monarchy system of government instead of their current system of a Federal Republic. Another point to make is that had Bolívar not helped stand for Venezuela's independence, there is no guarantee that Venezuela or any of the other six countries would have been able to gain or keep their independence from Spain. In short, had Símon Bolívar not taken a stand against Spain’s rule over Venezuela, South America’s political boundaries and geopolitics of several countries in Latin America would have been greatly different.
A second argument is that Símon Bolívar’ stand for Venezuela was important because he repeatedly pressed the congress to abolish slavery in Venezuela. He believed that one could not fight for freedom and yet still keep slaves at the same time. Bolívar remained adamant in his belief that slavery was morally wrong. This can be shown in the 1826 Bolivian constitution which states “Slavery is the violation of every law. The law that would seek to preserve it would be a sacrilege” (The Bolivian Constitution (1826),Ⅰ Address to the Constituent Congress). This is emphasized by the fact that even when the congress of his own government refused to abolish slavery, he still included it in the draft and made a passionate address about it to the constituent congress how he felt about it in the address of the 1826 Bolivian Constitution. This is different from the U.S Constitution, which did not even mention the word slavery in it, and yet Bolívar stated how wrong he thought it was in an address to his own congress who disagreed with him. In short, though Bolívar’s stand for the abolition of slavery was unsuccessful, yet he refused to concur with the prevailing viewpoint and kept speaking out against slavery. Thirdly, Símon Bolívar left a political and social legacy that is still very relevant and pertinent in present day Latin America. He also has numerous statues, two currencies, an entire country, several cities, streets, and much more named after him. Símon Bolívar’s political legacy is the establishment of Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Panamá, Ecuador, and Peru. Former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez used Bolívar’s image of a patriotic liberator and founder of the country to form the Bolivarian Revolutionary party and launched a failed coup against the Venezuelan government in 1992. After he was elected president in 1999, he decided to change the name of Venezuela to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. He also exhumed Bolívar’s remains in 2010. These are just a few ways the legacy of Símon Bolívar is expressed in politics in recent years. Símon Bolívar’s fight for racial equality means no one racial group (like the peninsulares) has more privileges than other groups. For over three-hundred years, the Spanish had given the highest positions in government to whites born in Spain and special privileges such as an easier ascension to nobility or aristocracy. Bolívar created laws that did not legally allow these privileges or further discrimination. While Bolívar’s stand for racial equality first did not change the amount of non whites power, his stand for racial equality benefited many people years later. To summarize, Bolívar’s political and social legacy is still in effect today.
While Símon Bolívar did help these six countries gain independence, he was not alone in doing so.

His generals also played an important part in gaining independence for the six countries. One of them, General Jose de San Martin, was vital to the defeat of the Spanish. He led expeditions against the Spanish in Chile and Peru. In addition, the government he tried to set up, a country called the Great State of Columbia composed of New Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela, only lasted from 1821 to 1830, only nine years. Símon Bolívar was also largely unsuccessful in his efforts for social equality, the congress would not abolish slavery no matter how many times he pressed them to do so, and even though he tried to give all persons of different races a chance for a better life, the creoles and peninsulares still retained their power even in the new government. However, while Bolívar’s stand for the abolition of slavery was unsuccessful, this demonstrates how passionate Bolívar was about his ideals. In his own words “The sacred doctrine of equality must never be violated. Such a contradiction would demean not so much our sense of justice as our sense of reason; our notoriety would be based on insanity, not usurpation,” (The Bolivian Constitution (1826),Ⅰ. Address to the Constituent Congress, paragraph 30). This shows that Bolívar was adamant in his belief that slavery was a great injustice and immorality, and that it was wrong to fight for freedom while keeping others in bondage. This stand is unique because even though he was fighting a lone battle (We the U.S. had slaves at the time yet we had “All Men are Created Equal” in the Constitution by then) he refused to quit standing up for what he believed in. While Bolívar’s stand for equality for all races did not have much effect, he did manage to give all people, regardless of race, equal legal status, which was completely different than the racial caste system the Spanish had previously established. It also did help

those who were not creole or peninsulare because those two groups did not have the law to support their position in society. While the government established by Bolívar, though it had a brief tenure,it laid the foundations for sovereign government and formation of nation states in Latin America. Bolívar’s legacy is nearly indisputable. The fact that the countries he helped create kept their sovereignty and still exist today can be interpreted as a success. In short, while aSímon Bolívar’s stand for independence and legal and social racial equality have two sides to them, his legacy is still prominent in South America, and the consequences of his stand for independence are still important in the modern world. However, while he was unsuccessful in getting Venezuela to abolish slavery, Bolívar did help to end the racial caste system that existed under Spain’s rule. The white Peninsulares (People who were born in Spain) and Creoles (Whites born in Latin America) mostly remained in power even with this new change. Still, Bolívar did help establish legal equality in the country, which was very different from the caste system that Spain had established.
Símon Bolívar stood for many things: independence from Spain, the abolition of slavery, as well as legal and social equality. His legacy still has effects in the world we know today, like the two currencies, and country that are named in his honor as an example. In short, Símon Bolívar’s stand for Venezuelan independence was one of the most important stands in history. We hope that by reading this essay, one will agree with our viewpoint.