Simon bolivar biography summary of michael

Bolivar returned in and found the country debating whether to declare independence. He spoke passionately in favour. After a vigorous national debate, the Venezuela national assembly declared independence on 5 July Bolivar was overjoyed and to mark the occasion, he freed all the slaves in his family and called for the end of slavery in the western Hemispher.

Bolivar then joined the Venezuelan army, but by , the Spanish had regained control and Bolivar escaped to Cartagena in New Grenada. We are a microcosm of the human race. We are a world apart, confined within two oceans, young in arts and sciences, but old as a human society. We are neither Indians nor Europeans, yet we are a part of each.

In , he was given his first military command in leading revolutionary forces to liberate Venezuela from forces loyal to the Spanish king. After taking control, he assumed the role of dictator. However, this first restoration of the republic was short-lived — many fellow citizens were nervous about the revolutionaries and preferred the stability of Spanish rule that they were used to.

It led to a bitter civil war, where Spanish led forces succeeded in driving Bolivar out of Venezuela, and he fled to New Granada for a second time. In New Granada, he outlined more of his political thinking and sought to gain support from Great Britain who he admired for its political stability.

Simon bolivar biography summary of michael

He also spoke in terms of international solidarity and talked about the shared bonds of peoples who love freedom. But, concerned with problems near at home Great Britain or the US were unwilling to send any aid. During this campaign, Bolivar displayed his talent for military prowess and strong leadership. Despite heavy rains, Bolivar led the army through muddy fields and rivers and across the Andes to Bogota.

It was a perilous crossing and some troops died from exposure. But, because it was so difficult to cross, the Spanish never expected an attack. On 7 August , he overwhelmed the Spanish forces at the Battle of Boyaca and was able to triumphally enter Bogota. Bolivar achieved many similar military victories, despite being outnumbered.

Spirit cannot be compared with matter. You are human beings, they are beasts. You are free, they are slaves. Fight, and you shall win. He and his men barely escaped with their lives. Bolivar felt disgraced by the loss and furious that Miranda had not responded to calls for help. Shortly thereafter, he and other officers turned Miranda over to the Spaniards.

As the Spanish completed their reconquest of the country, Bolivar escaped to Cartagena in New Granada now Colombia , where rebels held power though locked in civil war with a rival faction in Bogata. There in , he wrote the first of his many eloquent political manifestos, saying, "Not the Spanish, but our own disunity led us back into slavery.

A strong government could have changed everything. He condemned the leniency against crime in general and against the state in particular that he felt had contributed to the fall of the First Republic. He began arguing that Venezuela should be liberated as the first step in creating an entire continent of independent states. The government of New Granada authorized a revolutionary force to liberate the Spanish-held bastions in their territory and in Venezuela, headed by Pierre Labatut.

Against orders, Bolivar took of the men and boldly attacked a Spanish garrison, capturing supplies and boats. One small victory followed another and the rebel ranks swelled. As a result of his actions, Bolivar was named commander-in-chief of the entire New Granadian army. Taking men, he reentered Venezuela in May Facing 4, Spanish soldiers, Bolivar's expedition seemed foolhardy.

Using speed and surprise, he would defeat units of the Spanish army and the population rose up to swell the ranks of the republicans. He also recruited from the enemy by offering amnesty for deserters, threatening to kill captured Spaniards. Though only occasionally carried out, he believed that only through such a drastic measure could the republicans win and avoid the slaughter and plunder of civilians that was inevitable if they lost.

After five swift victories, Bolivar had built up an army of 2,, which came across 1, of the enemy, who retreated swiftly towards Valencia. He placed two men on each of horses and had them ride around the Spanish through the night. The Spanish found their way blocked in the early morning of July 31 and in the Battle of Taguanes the revolutionaries crushed the royalists.

It was Bolivar's first large-scale victory by the small-scale standards of South American war. The Battle of Taguanes. The republican army reentered Caracas on August 7, where Bolivar, now 30, was given dictatorial powers, although half of Venezuela remained under control of the crown, which had 10 times the number of troops, who were, of course, much better equipped and trained.

Gradually, the population grew war-weary and sentiment turned against the independence movement, which was also hindered by being poorly equipped the infantry typically had antiquated muskets which required six motions to load; often running out of ammunition, they resorted to bayonet attacks, when they had bayonets. The Spanish leaders also began recruiting the fierce llaneros , nomadic cattle-raising horsemen of the Amazon grasslands.

They appointed Jose Tomas Boves, a former rebel embittered by having been imprisoned by his comrades, to head them. Known as the Legion of Hell, it consisted of as many as 10, riders using spears, knives, and bolos, easily superior to better-armed republicans, who were almost entirely infantry. They began waging an even more savage war, so the rebels responded in kind, even killing civilians who would not take up arms against the royalists.

Prisoners were executed on the spot. There was no grand war strategy, no static fronts, just one pitched battle after another between a few hundred or few thousand. On November 10, Bolivar inflicted what seemed to be a defeat on the llaneros and Spanish soldiers at Barquisemeto, but in the midst of the pursuit by the republicans, someone in their camped issued a call to retreat, throwing the army into confusion and the roles were reversed, the Spanish turning to pursue.

It was Bolivar's first personal battlefield loss in one-and-a-half years. The first regiment to retreat was stripped of its medals, rank, and banners. Then on December 5, at dawn, Bolivar's 3, attacked 5, Spanish forces under General Monteverde, who were on in the hills near Araure. The patriot's advance unit was immediately wiped out, but while Monteverde was reinforcing his flanks where he expected the next assault, rebels armed mostly with knives and sticks overran the center.

After fierce hand-to-hand combat, Bolivar himself led the charge which scattered the Spanish. He gave chase until 2 a. Over the next few months, the patriots found themselves fighting on so many fronts that they sometimes faced 7-to-1 odds. Bolivar's forces were nearly annihilated several times. By February , Bolivar had recruited some replacements and had dug in at San Mateo.

The Spanish, who had 10 times the cavalry, made repeated attacks on his positions and nearly succeeded in overrunning them. At one point, they almost captured the supply and munitions depot, until the defenders blew themselves up to prevent its capture. The Spanish finally gave up after several months. On May 28, Bolivar's 5, faced 1, entrenched royalists in hills above the Plains of Carabobo.

Although his men were poorly armed, he knew that llaneros were on the way to reinforce the enemy, so he decided to risk everything again. The assault was so relentless that the Spanish fled. But with his men nearly naked and the rainy season turning the region into a swamp, Bolivar found it increasingly difficult to follow up, final victory always slipping from his hands.

On June 15, he gathered 3, soldiers at La Puerta against Boves' equal number, and this time the revolutionaries were trounced, Bolivar barely escaping from the field. As Boves marched onto Caracas with his numbers increasing by the day, 20, fled the city. At Aragua, Boves caught up with remnants of the patriot army and 4, men, mostly Bolivar's, died in one of the bloodiest battles of the South American war for independence.

Bolivar shipped 24 chests of church silver and gems to a safe point to buy arms from British colonies and in September sailed to Cartagena. Ever the optimist, Bolivar wrote his fellow citizens, "I have been chosen by fate to break your chains…Fight and you shall win. For God grants victory to perseverance. The government of New Granada gave him an army to go after its own Spanish garrisons and rebellious cities He sent out a public letter, pleading with the factions to unite against Spain because "our country is America.

There, the prolific Bolivar wrote his most famous document, Letter from Jamaica , in which he declared, "A people that love freedom will in the end be free. A man of great charm who could size up the people he met instantly, the indefatigable Bolivar set out to persuade the world to back his vision yet again. He was said to speak so eloquently on the spur of the moment that his speeches could be printed without editing.

He answered every letter written to him, sometimes dictating to three secretaries at once. Muskets and Pistols. Bolivar's pleas fell on deaf ears as far as governments went, with the exception of Haiti, whose president agreed to provide money and equipment. In March , the first expedition sailed with men in seven ships, an absurd force to engage the 10,strong royal army.

Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. His experience in Napoleonic Europe influenced his untiring attempts to free South America from Spanish rule. The liberation of Venezuela , Ecuador , Peru , and Upper Peru followed, the latter renaming itself Bolivia in his honour.

Despite the removal of Spanish hegemony from the continent, his hopes of uniting South America into one confederation were dashed by rivalry between the new states. More From encyclopedia. About this article Simon Bolivar All Sources -. Updated Aug 08 About encyclopedia. Simon Ballachi, Bl. Simon Antoine Jean Lhuilier. Simon and Garfunkel. Simon Simeon of Trent.

Simms, Michael David Michael D. Simms, Michael David Sims. Simms, Michael Simms, Hilda — Simms, Ginny — Simms, Florence — Simmons-Carrasco, Heather —. Simmons, Trana Mae Carolyn Chase. Simmons, T. S2CID Bushnell, David; Langley, Lester D. Collier, Simon. Ewell, Judith. Racine, Karen. Safford, Frank. Presente y Pasado: Revista de Historia in Spanish.

University of the Andes Venezuela : 11— Retrieved 23 April Conn, Robert T. Palgrave Macmillan. McFarlane, Anthony War and Independence in Spanish America. Shanahan, Maureen G. University Press of Florida. Further reading [ edit ]. External links [ edit ]. Domingo Caycedo. Constitution of Bolivia Constitution of Peru The General in His Labyrinth Links to related articles.

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