The decolonization of the Americas occurred over several centuries as most of the countries in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with t ...
gained their independence from
European rule. The
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
was the first in the Americas, and the British defeat in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
(1775–1783) was a victory against a
great power, aided by France and Spain, Britain's enemies. The
French Revolution in Europe followed, and collectively these events had profound effects on the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, and
French colonies in the Americas. A
revolutionary wave
A revolutionary wave or revolutionary decade is one series of revolutions occurring in various locations within a similar time-span. In many cases, past revolutions and revolutionary waves have inspired current ones, or an initial revolution has ...
followed, resulting in the creation of several independent countries in
Latin America. The
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 2 ...
lasted from 1791 to 1804 and resulted in the independence of the French slave colony. The
Peninsular War with France, which resulted from the
Napoleonic occupation of Spain, caused
Spanish Creole
A Spanish creole, or Spanish-based creole language, is a creole language (contact language with native speakers) for which Spanish serves as its substantial ''lexifier''.
A number of creole languages are influenced to varying degrees by the Sp ...
s in Spanish America to question their allegiance to Spain, stoking independence movements that culminated in various
Spanish American wars of independence (1808–33), which were primarily fought between opposing groups of colonists and only secondarily against Spanish forces. At the same time, the Portuguese monarchy
fled to Brazil during the
French invasion of Portugal. After the royal court returned to
Lisbon, the
prince regent,
Pedro
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...
, remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newly
independent Brazilian Empire
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom ...
.
Spain would lose all three of its remaining Caribbean colonies by the end of the 1800s.
Santo Domingo declared independence in 1821 as the
Republic of Spanish Haiti
The Independent Republic of Spanish Haiti ( es, República del Haití Español), also called the Independent State of Spanish Haiti () was the independent state that resulted from the defeat of Spanish colonialists from Santo Domingo on November ...
. After
unification and then
split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enterta ...
from the former French colony of Haiti, the President of the Dominican Republic signed an agreement that reverted the country to a Spanish colony in 1861. This triggered the
Dominican Restoration War, which resulted in the Dominican Republic's second independence from Spain in 1865. Cuba fought for independence from Spain in the
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...
(1868–78) and
Little War (1879-80) and finally the
Cuban War of Independence
The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months ...
(1895–98). American intervention in 1898 became the
Spanish–American War and resulted in the United States gaining
Puerto Rico,
Guam (which are still U.S. territories), and the
Philippine Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Under military occupation, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate until its independence in 1902.
Peaceful independence by the voluntary withdrawal of colonial powers then became the norm in the second half of the 20th century. However, there are still many British and Dutch colonies in North America (mostly Caribbean islands), and France has fully integrated most of its former colonies in the Americas (
French Guiana,
Guadeloupe, and
Martinique) as fully constituent
departments
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
.
Conditions before revolution
Undermining of metropolitan authority
During the 18th century, Spain recovered much of the strength it had lost in the 17th century but the country's resources were under strain because of the incessant warfare in Europe from 1793. This led to increased local participation in the financing of defense and increased participation in militias by the locally born. Such development was at odds with the ideals of the centralized
absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitut ...
. The Spanish also made formal concessions to strengthen defense; In
Chiloé, Spanish authorities promised freedom from the Encomienda for indigenous locals who settled near the new stronghold of
Ancud
Ancud () is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region. It is the second largest city of Chiloé Archipelago after Castro. The city was established in 1768 to function as ...
(founded in 1768) and contributed to its defense. The increased local organization of the defenses would ultimately undermine the metropolitan authority and bolster the independence movement.
Napoleonic Wars
The
Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought between
France (led by
Napoleon Bonaparte) and alliances involving Britain,
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
,
Spain,
Portugal,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
, and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
at different times, from 1799 to 1815.
In the case of Spain and its colonies, in May 1808, Napoleon captured
Carlos IV
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father =Charles III of Spain
, mother =Maria Amalia of Saxony
, birth_date =11 November 1748
, birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples
, death_date =
, death_place = ...
and King
Fernando VII
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles IV of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Parma
, birth_date = 14 October 1784
, birth_place = El Escorial, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Madrid, Spain
, burial_plac ...
and installed his brother,
Joseph Bonaparte, as Spanish monarch because he did not want anyone outside of his bloodline to rule Spain. This event disrupted the political stability of Spain and broke the link with some of the colonies which were loyal to the Bourbon Dynasty. The local elites, the creoles, took matters into their own hands organizing themselves into ''juntas'' to take "in absence of the king, Fernando VII, their sovereignty devolved temporarily back to the community". The juntas swore loyalty to the captive Fernando VII and each ruled different and diverse parts of the colony. Most of Fernando's subjects were loyal to him in 1808, but after he was restored to the Spanish crown in 1814, his policy of restoring absolute power alienated both the juntas and his subjects. He abrogated the
Cádiz Constitution of 1812 and punished those who had supported it. The violence used by royalist forces and the prospect of being ruled by Fernando shifted the majority of the colonist population in favor of separation from Spain. The local elites reacted to absolutism in much the same way that the British colonial elites, Tory and Whig alike, had reacted to London's interference before 1775.
Spanish military presence in its colonies
The colonial army of the Spanish Empire in the Americas was made up of local American and European supporters of
King Ferdinand. The Royalists were made up of a cross-section of society loyal to the crown with Americans composing the majority of the royalist forces on all fronts. There were two types of military units: from the regular Spanish army which were sent out or formed with local Europeans and called Expidicionarios and units called veterans or
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
s created in the Americas. The militias included some veteran units and were called the disciplined militia. Only 11% of the personnel in the militias were European or American whites. After
Rafael del Riego
Rafael del Riego y Flórez (7 April 1784 – 7 November 1823) was a Spanish general and liberal politician, who played a key role in the outbreak of the Liberal Triennium (''Trienio liberal'' in Spanish).
Early life
Riego was born on 7 April ...
's revolution in 1820, no more Spanish soldiers were sent to the wars in the Americas. In 1820 there were only 10,000 soldiers in Royal Army in Colombia and Venezuela, and Spaniards formed only 10% of all the royalist armies, and only half of the soldiers of the expeditionary units were European. By the
Battle of Ayacucho
The Battle of Ayacucho ( es, Batalla de Ayacucho, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of South America. In Peru it is co ...
in 1824, less than 1% of the soldiers were European.
Other factors
The Enlightenment spurred the desire for social and economic reform to spread throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. Ideas about free trade and
physiocratic
Physiocracy (; from the Greek for "government of nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th-century Age of Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations derived solely from the value of "land agricultur ...
economics were raised by the Enlightenment.
Independence movements in South America can be traced back to slave revolts in plantations in the northernmost part of the continent and the Caribbean. In 1791, a
massive slave revolt sparked a general insurrection against the plantation system and French colonial power.
These events were followed by a violent uprising led by
José Leonardo Chirino and
José Caridad González that sprung up in 1795 Venezuela, allegedly inspired by the revolution in Haiti.
Toussaint L'Ouverture was born a slave in Saint-Domingue where he developed labor skills that would give him higher privileges than other slaves. He intellectually and physically advanced resulting in promotion, land of his own, and owning slaves. In 1791, slaves in Haiti formed a revolution to seek independence from their French owners. L'Ouverture joined the rebellion as a top military official to abolish slavery without complete independence. However, through a series of letters written by Toussaint, it became clear that he grew open to equal human rights for all that live in Haiti. Similar to how the United States Constitution was ratified, the enlightenment ideas of equality and representation of the people created an impact of change against the status quo that sparked the revolution. The letter details the great concerns he felt due to a conservative shift in France's legislature after the revolution in 1797. The greatest fear was that these conservative values could give ideas to the French Government to bring back slavery. The enlightenment has proven to forever change the way a captive society thinks after L'Ouverture refuses to let the French send him and his people back into slavery. "
en finally the rule of law took the place of anarchy under which the unfortunate colony had too long suffered, what fatality can have led the greatest enemy of its prosperity and our happiness still to dare to threaten us with the return of slavery?" Ultimately, slavery was abolished from French colonies in 1794 and Haiti declared Independence from France in 1804.
United States
The
United States of America declared independence from
Great Britain on July 4, 1776, thus becoming the first independent, foreign-recognized nation in the Americas and the first European colonial entity to break from its mother country. Britain formally acknowledged American independence in 1783 after its defeat in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The U.S. victory encouraged independent movements in other parts of the Americas.
Although initially occupying only the land east of the
Mississippi between Canada and Florida, the United States would later eventually
acquire various other North American territories from the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
French,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, and
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
* Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
s in succeeding years under the mantle of
Manifest Destiny. While ending European control over the region, these events resulted in the expansion of
settler colonialism against Native nations, especially following the discovery of
gold in regions such as the Dakotas and California, as well as opportunities for American settlers to claim farmland in the
Great Plains.
Haiti and the French Antilles
The
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
and
French Revolutions had profound effects on the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
French colonies in the Americas.
Haiti, a French slave colony, was the first to follow the United States to independence, during the
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 2 ...
, which lasted from 1791 to 1804. Thwarted in his attempt to rebuild a French empire in North America,
Napoleon Bonaparte sold
Louisiana to the United States and from then on focused on the European theater, marking the end of France's ambitions of building a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere.
Spanish America
Except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, the Spanish colonies in the Americas won their independence during the first quarter of the 19th century.
During the
Peninsular War,
Napoleon installed his brother,
Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne and captured the King
Fernando VII
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles IV of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Parma
, birth_date = 14 October 1784
, birth_place = El Escorial, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Madrid, Spain
, burial_plac ...
. The crisis of political legitimacy sparked a reaction in Spain's overseas empire. Several assemblies were established after 1810 by the ''
Criollos
In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the word has come to have different meanings, sometimes referring to the local-born majo ...
'' (Latin Americans who are of full or near full Spanish descent) to recover sovereignty and self-government based on the
Castilian law and to rule American lands in the name of
Ferdinand VII of Spain.
This experience of self-government, along with the influence of
Liberalism and the ideas of the
French and
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
s, brought about a struggle for independence, led by the ''
Libertadores''. The territories freed themselves, often with help from foreign mercenaries and privateers. The United States and Europe were neutral, yet aimed to achieve political influence and trade without the Spanish monopoly.
In
South America,
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
and
José de San Martín led the final phase of the independence struggle. Although Bolívar attempted to keep the Spanish-speaking parts of the continent politically unified, they rapidly became independent of one another as well, and several further wars were fought, such as the
Paraguayan War and the
War of the Pacific.
A related process took place in what is now Mexico, Central America, and parts of North America between 1810 and 1821 with the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
. Independence was achieved in 1821 by a coalition uniting under
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide (; 27 September 178319 July 1824), full name Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and also known as Agustín of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built a ...
and the
Army of the Three Guarantees
At the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the Army of the Three Guarantees ( es, Ejército Trigarante or ) was the name given to the army after the unification of the Spanish troops led by Agustín de Iturbide and the Mexican insurgent troo ...
. Unity was maintained for a short period under the
First Mexican Empire, but within a decade the region fought against the United States over the borderlands (losing the bordering lands of California and Texas). Most of the heat was during the official
Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848.
In 1898, in the
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...
, the
United States won the
Spanish–American War and occupied
Cuba and
Puerto Rico, ending Spanish territorial control in the Americas.
Argentina
After the defeat of Spain in the
Peninsular War and the abdication
King Ferdinand VII, the Spanish colonial government of the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called "Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in ...
, present-day
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, majority of
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, parts of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Paraguay and
Uruguay, became greatly weakened. Without a rightful king on the Spanish throne to render the office of the Viceroy legitimate, the right of
Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to govern came under fire. The local elites, tired of the Spanish trade restrictions and taxes, seized the opportunity and during the
May Revolution of 1810, removed Cisneros and created the first local government, the
Primera Junta.
Following half a decade of battles and skirmishes with provincial royalist forces within the former Vice-royalty along with military expeditions across the Andes to
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
,
Peru and
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
led by
General José de San Martín to finally end Spanish rule in America, a formal declaration was signed on July 9, 1816, by an assembly in
San Miguel de Tucumán
San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario an ...
, declaring full independence with provisions for a national constitution.
The Argentine Constitution was signed in 1853, declaring the creation of the
Argentine Republic
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
Bolivia
Following upheaval caused by the
May Revolution, along with the independence movements in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Venezuela, a local struggle for independence kicked off with two failed revolutions. Over sixteen years of struggle followed before the first steps toward the establishment of a republic were taken.
Formally, it is considered that the fight for independence culminated in the
Battle of Ayacucho
The Battle of Ayacucho ( es, Batalla de Ayacucho, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of South America. In Peru it is co ...
, on December 9, 1824.
Colombia
left, upThe sealed Colombia's independence">Battle of Boyacá sealed Colombia's independence
Chile
The Chilean Independence campaign was led by Liberator General Jose de San Martin with the support of Chilean exiles such as Bernardo O'Higgins. The local independence movement was composed of Chilean-born criollos, who sought political and economic independence from Spain. The independence movement was far from gaining unanimous support among Chileans, who became divided between independentists and royalists. What started as an elitist political movement against their colonial master, finally ended as a full-fledged civil war. Traditionally, the process is divided into three stages:
Patria Vieja,
Reconquista, and
Patria Nueva
Patria Nueva (''New Fatherland'') was a period in the history of Chile that began with the victory of Ejército de los Andes in the Battle of Chacabuco on 12 February 1817 and ended with the resignation of Bernardo O'Higgins as Supreme Directo ...
.
Ecuador
The first uprising against Spanish rule took place in 1809, and criollos in Ecuador set up a junta on September 22, 1810, to rule in the name of the Bourbon monarch; but as elsewhere, it allowed assertion of their power. Only in 1822 did
Ecuador fully gain independence and became part of
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to ...
, from which it withdrew in 1830. At the
Battle of Pichincha
The Battle of Pichincha took place on 24 May 1822, on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, 3,500 meters above sea-level, right next to the city of Quito, in modern Ecuador.
The encounter, fought in the context of the Spanish American wars of ...
, near present-day
Quito,
Ecuador on May 24, 1822, General
Antonio José de Sucre
Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" ( en, "Grand Marshal of Ayacucho"), was a Venezuelan independence leader who served as the president of Peru and as the second p ...
's forces defeated a Spanish force defending Quito. The Spanish defeat guaranteed the liberation of Ecuador.
Guatemala
When Mexico achieved its independence in 1821 with the Treaty of Córdoba, the
Captaincy General of Guatemala
The Captaincy General of Guatemala ( es, Capitanía General de Guatemala), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala ( es, Reino de Guatemala), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central A ...
that had ruled Central America became politically independent as well, without the necessity of violent struggle. Guatemala declared its independence on September 15, 1821, likely to prevent the Mexican
Army of the Three Guarantees
At the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the Army of the Three Guarantees ( es, Ejército Trigarante or ) was the name given to the army after the unification of the Spanish troops led by Agustín de Iturbide and the Mexican insurgent troo ...
from "liberating" Guatemala and overriding nascent local autonomy. However, Guatemala chose
to be annexed to the
First Mexican Empire, led by royalist-turned-insurgent military leader Agustín de Iturbide, who was proclaimed emperor of Mexico in 1822. When Iturbide abdicated from the monarchy and Mexico took steps to be a republic, Central America claimed its independence on 1 July 1823.
Mexico
Independence in Mexico was a protracted struggle from 1808 until the fall of the royal government in 1821 and the establishment of independent Mexico. In the
Viceroyalty of New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...
, as elsewhere in Spanish America in 1808, reacted to the unexpected French invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the ouster of the Bourbon king, replaced by
Joseph Bonaparte. Local American-born Spaniards saw the opportunity to seize control from Viceroy
José de Iturrigaray who may well have been sympathetic to creole's aspirations. Iturrigaray was ousted by pro-royalists. A few from among the creole elites sought independence, including
Juan Aldama
Juan Aldama (January 3, 1774 in San Miguel el Grande, Guanajuato – June 26, 1811 in Chihuahua) was a Mexican revolutionary rebel soldier during the Mexican War of Independence in 1810.
Biography
He was also the brother of Ignacio Ald ...
,
Ignacio Allende, and the secular parish priest
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican ...
. Hidalgo made a proclamation in his home parish of Dolores, which was not recorded in writing at the time, but denounced the bad government and ''gachupines'' (pejorative for peninsular-born Spaniards), and declared independence. The unorganized hordes following Hidalgo wrought destruction on the property and the lives of whites in the region of the Bajío. Hidalgo was caught, defrocked, and executed in 1811, along with Allende. Their heads remained on display until 1821. His former student
José María Morelos
José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...
continued the rebellion and was himself caught and killed in 1815. The struggle of Mexican insurgents continued under the leadership of
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Ramón Guerrero (; baptized August 10, 1782 – February 14, 1831) was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence. He fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and later served as ...
and
Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria (; 29 September 178621 March 1843), born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican general and political leader who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He ...
. From 1815 to 1820 there was a stalemate in New Spain, with royalist forces unable to defeat the insurgents and the insurgents unable to expand beyond their narrow territory in the southern region. Again, events in Spain intervened, with an uprising of military men against Ferdinand VII and the restoration of the liberal
Spanish Constitution of 1812, which mandated a constitutional monarchy and curtailed the power of the Roman Catholic Church. The monarch repudiated the constitution once the Spanish monarchy was restored in 1814. For conservatives in New Spain, these changed political circumstances threatened the institutions of church and state. Royal military officer
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide (; 27 September 178319 July 1824), full name Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and also known as Agustín of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built a ...
seized the opportunity to lead, allying with his former enemy Guerrero. Iturbide proclaimed the
Plan de Iguala
The Plan of Iguala, also known as The Plan of the Three Guarantees ("Plan Trigarante") or Act of Independence of North America, was a revolutionary proclamation promulgated on 24 February 1821, in the final stage of the Mexican War of Independenc ...
, which called for independence, equality of peninsular and American-born Spaniards, and a monarchy with a prince from Spain as king. He persuaded the insurgent Guerrero to ally with him and create the
Army of the Three Guarantees
At the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the Army of the Three Guarantees ( es, Ejército Trigarante or ) was the name given to the army after the unification of the Spanish troops led by Agustín de Iturbide and the Mexican insurgent troo ...
. Crown rule in New Spain collapsed when the incoming Viceroy
Juan O'Donojú
Juan de O'Donojú y O'Ryan (, 30 July 1762 – 8 October 1821) was a Spanish- Irish military officer, diplomat and " Jefe Político Superior" ("viceroy") of New Spain from 21 July 1821 to 28 September 1821 during the Mexican War of Independe ...
signed the
Treaty of Córdoba recognizing Mexico's sovereignty. With no European monarch presenting himself for the crown of Mexico, Iturbide himself was proclaimed emperor Agustín I in 1822. He was overthrown in 1823 and Mexico was established as a republic. Decades of political and economic instability ensued which resulted in a population decline.
Paraguay
Paraguay gained its independence on the night of May 14 and the morning of May 15, 1811, after a plan organized by various pro-independence nationalists including
Fulgencio Yegros and
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia
José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco () (6 January 1766 – 20 September 1840) was a Paraguayan lawyer and politician, and the first dictator (1814–1840) of Paraguay following its 1811 independence from the Spanish Viceroyalty of ...
.
Peru
Spain initially had the support of the Lima oligarchs because of their opposition to the commercial interests of Buenos Aires and Chile. Therefore, the
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...
became the last redoubt of the Spanish Monarchy in South America. Nevertheless, a Creole rebellion arose in 1812 in
Huánuco and another in
Cusco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru ...
between 1814 and 1816. Both were suppressed. These rebellions were supported by the armies of Buenos Aires.
Peru finally succumbed after the decisive continental campaigns of José de San Martín (1820–1823) and Simón Bolívar (1824). While San Martin was in charge of the land campaign, a newly built Chilean Navy led by
Lord Cochrane transported the fighting troops and launched a sea campaign against the Spanish fleet in the Pacific. San Martín, who had displaced the royalists of Chile after the
Battle of Maipú
The Battle of Maipú ( es, Batalla de Maipú) was a battle fought near Santiago, Chile on April 5, 1818, between South American rebels and Spanish royalists, during the Chilean War of Independence. The Patriot rebels led by Argentine general Jos ...
, and who had disembarked in
Paracas in 1820, proclaimed the independence of Peru in Lima on July 28, 1821. Four years later, the Spanish Monarchy was defeated definitively at the
Battle of Ayacucho
The Battle of Ayacucho ( es, Batalla de Ayacucho, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of South America. In Peru it is co ...
in late 1824.
After independence, the conflicts of interests that faced different sectors of Creole Peruvian society and the particular ambitions of the
caudillo
A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
s, made the organization of the country excessively difficult. Only three civilians—Manuel Pardo, Nicolás de Piérola, and Francisco García Calderón—acceded to the presidency in the first seventy-five years of Peru's independence. The Republic of Bolivia was created in Upper Peru. In 1837 a
Peru-Bolivian Confederation was also created but was dissolved two years later due to Chilean military intervention.
Uruguay
Following the events of the
May Revolution, in 1811
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a political leader, military general, statesman and national hero of Uruguay and the broader Río de la Plata region.
He fought in the Latin American wars of ind ...
, led a successful revolt against the Spanish forces in the Provincia Oriental, now Uruguay, joining the independentist movement that was taking place in the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ( es, Virreinato del Río de la Plata or es, Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called "Viceroyalty of the River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in ...
at the time. In 1821, the Provincia Oriental was invaded by Portugal, trying to annex it into Brazil under the name of Província Cisplatina.
The former Vice-royalty of the Río de la Plata,
United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, fought back against Brazil in a war that lasted over 2 years, eventually turning into a stalemate. The Brazilian forces withdrew with the United Provinces keeping them at bay but failing to win any decisive victory. With neither side gaining the upper hand and the economic burden of the war crippling the United Provinces economy, the
Treaty of Montevideo was signed in 1828, fostered by Britain, declaring Uruguay as an independent state.
Venezuela
According to the ''Encyclopedia Americana'' of 1865, General Francisco de Miranda, already a hero to the French, Prussians, English, and Americans had garnered a series of successes against the Spanish between 1808 and 1812. He had effectively negated their access to all the ports in the Caribbean, thus preventing them from receiving reinforcements and supplies, and was essentially conducting mopping-up operations throughout the country. At that point, he convinced Simon Bolívar to join the struggle and put him in charge of the fort at Puerto Cabello. This was all at once a supply and arms depot, a strategic port, and the central holding facility for Spanish prisoners. Through what amounts to a gross dereliction of duty, Simon Bolívar neglected to enforce the customary security dispositions before departing to a social event. During the night there was an uprising of the Spanish prisoners and they managed to subdue the Independentist garrison and gain control of the supplies, arms and ammunition, and the port. The Loyalist forces progressively regained control of the country and eventually, Monteverde's successes forced the newly formed congress of the republic to ask Miranda that he sign a capitulation at La Victoria in Aragua, on July 12, 1812, thus ending the first phase of the revolutionary war.
After the capitulation of 1812,
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
turned over Francisco de Miranda to the Spanish authorities, secured a safe passage for himself and his closest officers, and fled to
New Granada. He later returned with a new army, while the war had entered a tremendously violent phase. After much of the local aristocracy had abandoned the cause of independence, blacks and mulattoes carried on the struggle. Elites reacted with open distrust and opposition to the efforts of these common people. Bolívar's forces
invaded Venezuela from New Granada in 1813, waging a campaign with a ferocity captured perfectly by their motto of "
war to the death". Bolívar's forces defeated Domingo Monteverde's Spanish army in a series of battles, taking
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
on August 6, 1813, and besieging Monteverde at
Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the cou ...
in September 1813.
With loyalists displaying the same passion and violence, the rebels achieved only short-lived victories. The army led by the loyalist
José Tomás Boves
José Tomás Boves (Oviedo, Asturias, September 18, 1782 – Urica, Venezuela, December 5, 1814), was a royalist caudillo of the Llanos during the Venezuelan War of Independence, particularly remembered for his use of brutality and atrociti ...
demonstrated the key military role that the ''
Llaneros'' came to play in the region's struggle. Turning the tide against independence, these highly mobile, ferocious fighters made up a formidable military force that pushed Bolívar out of his home country once more. In 1814, heavily reinforced Spanish forces in Venezuela lost a series of battles to Bolívar's forces but then decisively defeated Bolivar at La Puerta on June 15, took Caracas on July 16, and again defeated his army at
Aragua
Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first ...
on August 18, for 2,000 Spanish casualties out of 10,000 soldiers as well as most of the 3,000 in the rebel army. Bolívar and other leaders then returned to New Granada. Later that year the largest expeditionary force ever sent by Spain to America arrived under the command of
Pablo Morillo. This force effectively replaced the improvised llanero units, who were
disbanded by Morillo.
Bolívar and other republican leaders returned to Venezuela in December 1816, leading a largely unsuccessful insurrection against Spain from 1816 to 1818 from bases in the
Llanos
The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...
and
Ciudad Bolívar
Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about in width, is the si ...
in the
Orinoco River
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wo ...
area.
In 1819 Bolívar successfully invaded New Granada, and returned to Venezuela in April 1821, leading a large army of 7,000. At
Carabobo
, anthem = '' Himno del Estado Carabobo''
, image_map = Carabobo in Venezuela.svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location within Venezuela
, pushpin_map =
, pushpin_map_ ...
on June 24, his forces decisively defeated Spanish and colonial forces, winning Venezuelan independence, although hostilities continued.
Brazil
Unlike the Spanish, the Portuguese did not divide their colonial territory in the Americas. The captaincies they created were subdued to a centralized administration in Salvador which reported directly to the Crown in Lisbon. Therefore, it is not common to refer to "Portuguese America" (like Spanish America, Dutch America, etc.), but rather to Brazil, as a unified colony since its very beginnings.
As a result, Brazil did not split into several states by the time of independence (1822), as happened to its Spanish-speaking neighbors. The adoption of a monarchy instead of a federal republic in the first six decades of Brazilian political sovereignty also contributed to the nation's unity.
After several failed revolts, in the Portuguese colony
Dom Pedro I Dom or DOM may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
(also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese
king Dom João VI, proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (emp ...
. This began when
Napoleon Bonaparte forced the Portuguese court out of their capital city of Lisbon and into exile in Brazil. Over the next eight years, the capital of the Portuguese empire would be located in
Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, after Lisbon was reclaimed from the French by the Portuguese, King Dom João VI declared that Rio and Lisbon would become equal centers of the empire. King João VI was forced back to Lisbon in 1821 by the Portuguese Cortes but left his son Dom Pedro behind to run Rio. A year later, Dom Pedro declared independence for Brazil and officially became emperor Pedro I. Brazil's independence was met with little resistance from Portugal, and they were officially recognized by their former colonial overlords in 1825.
Canada
Canada's transition from colonial rule to independence occurred gradually over many decades and was achieved mostly through political means, as opposed to the violent revolutions that marked the end of colonialism in other North and South American countries. Attempts at revolting against the British, such as the
Rebellions of 1837–1838, were brief and quickly put down. Canada was declared a dominion within the British Empire in 1867. Originally, the Canadian Confederation included just a few of what are now Canada's eastern provinces; other British colonies in modern-day Canada, such as
British Columbia,
Prince Edward Island, and
Newfoundland, would join later (the last only in 1949). Additionally, Britain's and Norway's claims to Arctic lands were ceded to Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1931, the United Kingdom had relinquished its control over Canada's foreign policy. What few political links that remained between Canada and the UK were formally severed in 1982 with the ''
Canada Act''.
20th century
Other countries did not gain independence until the 20th century:
From
Spain:
*
Cuba
From the United Kingdom:
*
Jamaica: from the
United Kingdom, in 1962
*
Trinidad and Tobago: from the United Kingdom, in 1962
*
Guyana: from the United Kingdom, in 1966.
*
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
: from the United Kingdom, in 1966
*
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
: Granted internal self-government in 1964 and, then achieved full independence from the United Kingdom in 1973.
*
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and ...
: from the United Kingdom, in 1974
*
Dominica: from the United Kingdom, in 1978
*
Saint Lucia: from the United Kingdom, in 1979
*
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...
: from the United Kingdom, in 1979
*
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two majo ...
: from the United Kingdom, in 1981
*
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
(formerly British Honduras): from the United Kingdom, in 1981
*
Saint Kitts and Nevis: from the United Kingdom, in 1983
From the Netherlands:
*
Suriname: from
the Netherlands, in 1975
Current non-sovereign territories
Some parts of the Americas are still administered by European countries or the United States:
*
Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territor ...
(United Kingdom)
*
Aruba
Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
(Netherlands)
*
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
, map_caption2 =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name =
, e ...
(United Kingdom)
*
Bonaire
Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC isla ...
(Netherlands)
*
British Virgin Islands
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = Territorial song
, song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands"
, image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg
, map_caption =
, mapsize = 290px
, image_map2 = Brit ...
(United Kingdom)
*
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the s ...
(United Kingdom)
*
Curacao (Netherlands)
*
Falkland Islands (United Kingdom)
*
French Guiana (France)
*
Greenland (Kingdom of Denmark)
*
Guadeloupe (France)
*
Martinique (France)
*
Montserrat
Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with roughly of coastline. It is n ...
(United Kingdom)
*
Puerto Rico (United States)
*
Saba (Netherlands)
*
Saint Barthelemy (France)
*
Saint Martin (France)
*
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...
(France)
*
Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)
*
Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...
(Netherlands)
*
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type =
, song =
, image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg
, map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...
(United Kingdom)
*
Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)
*
United States Virgin Islands (United States)
Some of the remaining non-sovereign territories of the Americas have retained this status by choice, and enjoy a significant degree of self-government. (Some have nevertheless been placed on the
U.N. list of non-self-governing territories, an ongoing subject of controversy.) Aruba, for example, seceded from the Netherlands Antilles on January 1, 1986, and became a separate, self-governing member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. A movement toward full independence by 1996 was halted at Aruba's request in 1990.
French Guiana,
Guadeloupe and
Martinique are not considered
dependent territories of
France, but have been "incorporated" into France itself, as overseas ''
départements
A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...
'' (''
départements d'outre-mer, or DOM''). Other regions however have had or currently have movements to change their political status, for example, different movements to change the
political status of Puerto Rico
The political status of Puerto Rico is that of an unincorporated territory of the United States. As such, the island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U.S. state. Because of that ambiguity, the territory, as a polity, lacks ce ...
and intermittent calls for independence in other non-sovereign territories such as
Martinique and others, with differing amounts of support.
Timeline
North America
This is a list of all present
sovereign states in North America and their predecessors. The division between North and South America is unclear, generally viewed as lying somewhere in the
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the countr ...
, however, the
Caribbean Islands
Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are ref ...
, Central America including the whole of
Panama is considered to be part of North America as its southernmost nation. The continent was
colonized
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
by the
Europeans: Mainly by the
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...
, the
French, the
English and the
Dutch. The United States of America gained its independence in
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
; most of nations in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. C ...
gained
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the st ...
in the early 19th century; Canada and many other island countries in the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
(most of them were British colonies) gained their independence in 20th century. Today, North America consists of twenty-two sovereign states with common government system being some form of
presidential republic.
South America
This is a list of all present
sovereign states in
South America and their predecessors. The division between North and South America is unclear, generally viewed as lying somewhere in the
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the countr ...
, however, the whole of
Panama is considered to be part of North America as its southernmost nation. The continent was
colonized
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
by the
Europeans: First by the
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...
, and the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
; and later by the
Dutch, the
French, and the
English. Most of the present-day nations gained
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the st ...
in the early 19th century. Today, South America consists of twelve sovereign states with common government system being some form of
presidential republic.
World reaction
United States and Great Britain
Great Britain and the United States were rivals for influence in the newly independent sovereign nations.
[Fred Rippy, ''Rivalry of the U.S. and Great Britain over Latin America (1808–1830)'' New York, Octagon Press, 1964 ]1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
As a result of the successful revolutions which established so many newly independent nations, United States President
James Monroe and the Secretary of State
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...
drafted the
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act ...
. It stated that the United States would not tolerate any European interference in the
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term W ...
. This measure ostensibly was taken to safeguard the newfound liberties of these new countries, but it was also taken as a precautionary measure against the intrusion of European states. Since the United States was a newly founded nation, it could not prevent other European powers from interfering, for that the United States looked for Britain's help and support to execute the Monroe Doctrine into action.
Great Britain's trade with Latin America greatly expanded during the revolutionary period, which until then was restricted due to Spanish
mercantilist trade policies. British pressure was sufficient to prevent Spain from attempting any serious reassertion of its control over its lost colonies.
Attempts at hemispheric unity
The notion of closer Spanish American cooperation and unity was first put forward by the Liberator
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
who, in 1826
Congress of Panama
The Congress of Panama (also referred to as the Amphictyonic Congress, in homage to the Amphictyonic League of Ancient Greece) was a congress organized by Simón Bolívar in 1826 with the goal of bringing together the new republics of Latin Americ ...
, proposed the creation of a league of American republics, with a common military, a mutual defense pact, and a supranational parliamentary assembly. This meeting was attended by representatives of
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to ...
(comprising the modern-day nations of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela),
Peru, the
United Provinces of Central America
The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...
(
Guatemala,
El Salvador,
Honduras,
Nicaragua, and
Costa Rica), and
Mexico. Nevertheless, the great distances and geographical barriers, not to mention the different national and regional interests, made union impossible.
Sixty-three years later the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics was established. It was renamed the International Commercial Bureau at the Second International Conference of 1901–1902. These two bodies, in existence as of 14 April 1890, represent the point of inception of today's
Organization of American States.
See also
*
Colonialism
*
Decolonization
*
Wars of national liberation
*
Predecessors of sovereign states in South America
*
Creole nationalism
The term Creole nationalism or Criollo nationalism refers to the ideology that emerged in independence movements among the Criollos (descendants of the European colonizers), especially in Latin America in the early 19th century. Creole nationali ...
*
Spanish Empire
*
Libertadores
*
Spanish reconquest of Mexico
*
Spanish American Royalists
*
Wars of national liberation
*
History of Central America
Central America is commonly said to include Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. This definition matches modern political borders. Central America begins geographically in Mexico, at the Isthmus of Tehuantep ...
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History of South America
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History of Cuba
The history of Cuba is characterized by dependence on outside powers— Spain, the US, and the USSR. The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Amerindian cultures prior to the arrival of the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. ...
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History of the Dominican Republic
The recorded history of the Dominican Republic began in 1492 when the Genoa-born navigator Christopher Columbus, working for the Crown of Castile, happened upon a large island in the region of the western Atlantic Ocean that later came to be know ...
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History of Puerto Rico
The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people between 430 BC and AD 1000. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taín ...
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Age of Revolution
The Age of Revolution is a period from the late-18th to the mid-19th centuries during which a number of significant revolutionary movements occurred in most of Europe and the Americas. The period is noted for the change from absolutist monarc ...
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Territorial evolution of the Caribbean
This is a timeline of the territorial evolution of the Caribbean and nearby areas of North, Central, and South America, listing each change to the internal and external borders of the various countries that make up the region.
The region covered ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Andrien, Kenneth J. and Lyman, L. Johnson. ''The Political Economy of Spanish America in the Age of Revolution, 1750–1850''. Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1994.
* Bethell, Leslie. ''From Independence to 1870''. The Cambridge History of Latin America, Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press, 1987.
* Burns, Bradford E. ''The Poverty of Progress: Latin America in the Nineteenth Century''. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980.
* Brown, Matthew. ''Adventuring through Spanish Colonies: Simón Bolívar, Foreign Mercenaries and the Birth of New Nations''. Liverpool University Press, 2006.
* Bushnell, David, and Macaulay, Neill. ''The Emergence of Latin America in the Nineteenth Century'' (2nd edition). Oxford University Press, 1994.
* Chasteen, John Charles. ''Americanos: Latin America's Struggle for Independence''. Oxford University Press, 2008.
* Costeloe, Michael P. . ''Response to Revolution: Imperial Spain and the Spanish American Revolutions, 1810–1840''. Cambridge University Press, 1986.
* Graham, Richard. ''Independence in Latin America: A Comparative Approach'' (2nd edition). McGraw-Hill, 1994.
* Harvey, Robert. "Liberators: Latin America`s Struggle For Independence, 1810–1830". John Murray, London (2000).
* Hasbrouck, Alfred. ''Foreign Legionaries in the Liberation of Spanish South America''. New York: Octagon Books, 1969.
* Higgins, James (editor). ''The Emancipation of Peru: British Eyewitness Accounts'', 2014. Online at https://sites.google.com/site/jhemanperu
* Humphreys, R. A., and Lynch, John (editors). ''The Origins of the Latin American Revolutions, 1808–1826''. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1965.
* Kaufman, William W.. ''British Policy and the Independence of Latin America, 1804–1828''. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1951.
* Kinsbruner, Jay. ''Independence in Spanish America''. 1994
* Lynch, John. ''The Spanish American Revolutions, 1808-1826, 2nd ed.''. 1986
* Robertson, William Spence. ''France and Latin American Independence''. New York, Octagon,
939
Year 939 ( CMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Hugh the Great, count of Paris, rebels against King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") and gains su ...
1967.
* Savelle, Max. ''Empires to Nations: Expansion in America, 1713–1824''. Europe and the World in the Age of Expansion, Vol. 5. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1974.
* Uribe, Victor M. "The Enigma of Latin American Independence: Analyses of the Last Ten Years," ''Latin American Research Review'' (1997) 32#1 pp. 236–25
in JSTOR* Whitaker, Arthur P. ''The United States and the Independence of Latin America, 1800–1830''. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1941.
* Zea, Leopoldo. ''The Latin-American Mind''. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decolonization of the Americas
European colonization of the Americas
Independence movements
Decolonization
History of the Americas
Rebellions against the Spanish Empire
Rebellions against the British Empire
Decolonization by region
Spanish colonization of the Americas