Simon Bolivar

Born into a wealthy Venezuelan aristocratic family around July 24, 1783, Simon Bolivar was orphaned at a young age, with his father dying when he was three and his mother when he was nine. An uncle managed his inheritance and oversaw his education, which included being sent to Europe at age 16. He spent three years in Spain, where he married the daughter of a Spanish nobleman in 1801 before returning to Caracas. Less than a year later, his wife died of yellow fever. Bolivar returned to Europe in 1804, where he was introduced to the ideas of European rationalist thinkers such as Locke, Hobbes, Voltaire, and Rousseau, which ignited his dream of independence for his native country. After touring the Eastern United States, he returned to Venezuela in 1807. The Latin American independence movement gained momentum in 1808 as Napoleon invaded Spain. On April 19, 1810, the Spanish governor was expelled from Venezuela, and a junta assumed power. Bolivar was dispatched to London to seek British support and arms, though his mission was unsuccessful. Upon his return, he joined the military, but a coup failed, leading to the commander-in-chief being turned over to the Spanish in July 1812. Bolivar then traveled to Cartagena, where he published a manifesto urging revolutionary forces to dismantle Spanish rule in Venezuela. On August 16, 1813, he entered Caracas and was bestowed with the title of "Liberator." However, he was again defeated by the Spanish in 1814 and fled to Jamaica, where he articulated his vision for constitutional republics across Hispanic America. In 1815, Bolivar sought and received support, including money and weapons, from Haiti, a nation that had achieved its own independence from French rule. By 1817, after a period of both defeats and victories, he enlisted several thousand foreign fighters, predominantly from the British Isles. In the spring of 1819, he devised a daring plan to attack the Spanish viceroyalty of New Granada. Against considerable odds, his forces defeated the surprised Spanish on August 7, 1819, and he entered Bogotá three days later. By June 1821, he had successfully liberated Venezuela, and on May 22, 1822, a decisive victory freed Ecuador from Spanish rule. In September 1823, he arrived in Lima and spent the following year strategically engaging the Spanish in Peru, their final stronghold, leading to their surrender on December 9, 1824. By 1826, however, tensions began to emerge between Venezuela and New Granada within their union. In September 1828, Bolivar narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. With his health declining, he grew increasingly disheartened by the political actions of those he had fought to liberate. On May 8, 1830, he departed Bogotá with the intention of traveling to Europe, but he canceled the trip upon learning of the death of his protégé and successor. Instead, he journeyed to his estate, where he died of tuberculosis at the end of 1830.