Everything about Sim N Bol Var totally explained
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad de Bolívar y Palacios Blanco or more commonly known as
Simón Bolívar (born
July 24,
1783 in
Caracas,
Captaincy General of Venezuela (now
Venezuela) – died
December 17,
1830, in
Santa Marta,
Gran Colombia (now
Colombia) was one of the most important leaders of
Hispanic America's successful struggle for independence from
Spain along with
José de San Martín, collectively known as
Bolívar's War.
After the triumph over the
Spanish monarchy, Bolivar participated in the foundation of the
Gran Colombia, a nation forming the liberated Spanish colonies. Bolivar became President of Gran Colombia from
1821 to
1830,
President of Peru from
1824 to
1826 and
President of Bolivia from
1825 to
1826. After the death of Bolivar in 1830 and the later dissolution of the Gran Colombia in 1831, Bolivar's legacy contributed decisively to the independence of present-day
Bolivia,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Panamá,
Perú and
Venezuela.
Family heritage and early life
The Bolivar aristocratic bloodline derives from a small village in the
Basque Country, called
Bolibar, which is the origin of the surname. His father descended remotely from King
Fernando III of Castile and Count
Amedeo IV of Savoy, and was provenient in male line of the family de Ardanza.
The Bolivars settled in Venezuela in the sixteenth century.
A portion of their wealth came from the
Aroa River gold and copper mines in Venezuela.
In 1632, gold was first mined, leading to further discoveries of extensive copper deposits. Towards the later 1600s, copper was exploited with the name "Cobre Caracas". These mines became the property of Simón Bolívar's family.
Later in his revolutionary life, Bolívar used part of the mineral income to finance the South American revolutionary wars. Some people claim that his family grew to prominence before gaining great wealth. For example, the
Caracas Cathedral, founded in 1575, has a side chapel dedicated to Simón Bolívar's family.
Following the death of his father Juan Vicente de Bolívar y Ponte, 1st Marqués de San Luis, and his mother María de la Concepción de Palacios y Blanco, he went to
Spain in 1799 to complete his education. There he married María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alaysa in 1802, but on a brief return visit to Venezuela in 1803, she succumbed to yellow fever. Bolívar returned to Europe in 1804 and for a time was part of
Napoleon's retinue.
El Libertador
Bolívar returned to Venezuela in 1807, and, when Napoleon made
Joseph Bonaparte King of Spain and its
colonies in 1808, he participated in the
resistance juntas in South America. The Caracas junta declared its independence in 1810, and Bolívar was sent to
Britain on a diplomatic mission.
Bolívar returned to Venezuela in 1811. In March 1812, Bolívar was forced to leave Venezuela because of an earthquake that destroyed
Caracas. In July 1812, junta leader
Francisco de Miranda surrendered to the Spanish, and Bolívar had to flee to
Cartagena de Indias. It was during this period that Bolívar wrote his
Manifesto de Cartagena.
In 1813, after acquiring a military command in
New Granada under the direction of the Congress of
Tunja, he led the invasion of Venezuela on
May 14. This was the beginning of the famous
Campaña Admirable, the Admirable Campaign. He entered
Mérida on
May 23, where he was proclaimed as
El Libertador, following the occupation of
Trujillo on
June 9. Six days later, on
June 15, he dictated his famous Decree of War to the Death (
Decreto de Guerra a Muerte). Caracas was retaken on
August 6,
1813, and Bolívar was ratified as "El Libertador", thus proclaiming the
Venezuelan Second Republic. Due to the rebellion of
José Tomás Boves in 1814 and the fall of the republic, he returned to New Granada, where he then commanded a
Colombian
nationalist force and entered
Bogotá in 1814, recapturing the city from the dissenting republican forces of
Cundinamarca. He intended to march into
Cartagena and enlist the aid of local forces in order to capture Royalist
Santa Marta. However, after a number of political and military disputes with the government of Cartagena, Bolívar fled, in 1815, to
Jamaica, where he petitioned the
Haitian leader
Alexandre Pétion for aid.
In 1817, with Haitian help (given because he promised to free slaves), Bolívar landed in Venezuela and captured Angostura (now
Ciudad Bolívar).
A victory at the
Battle of Boyacá in 1819 added New Granada to the territories free from Spanish control, and in
September 7,
1821 the
Gran Colombia (a federation covering much of modern
Venezuela,
Colombia,
Panama, and
Ecuador) was created, with Bolívar as president and
Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president.
Further victories at the
Carabobo in 1821 and
Pichincha in 1822 consolidated his rule over
Venezuela and
Ecuador respectively. After a meeting in
Guayaquil, on
July 26 and July 27, 1822, with
Argentine General
José de San Martín, who had received the title of
Protector of Peruvian Freedom, in August 1821, after having partially liberated Peru from the Spanish, Bolívar took over the task of fully liberating
Peru. The Peruvian congress named him
dictator of Peru, on
February 10 1824, which allowed Bolívar to completely reorganize the political and military administration. Bolívar, assisted by
Antonio José de Sucre, decisively defeated the Spanish
cavalry, on
August 6,
1824, at
Junín. Sucre destroyed the still numerically superior remnants of the Spanish forces at
Ayacucho on
December 9.
On
August 6,
1825, at the
Congress of Upper Peru, the
Republic of
Bolivia was created. Bolívar is thus one of the few men to have a
country named after him. The constitution reflected the influence of the
French and
Scottish Enlightenment on Bolívar's political thought, as well as that of classical
Greek and
Roman authors.
Bolívar had great difficulties maintaining control of the vast
Gran Colombia. During 1826, internal divisions had sparked dissent throughout the nation and regional uprisings erupted in Venezuela, thus the fragile South American coalition appeared to be on the verge of collapse.
An amnesty was declared and an arrangement was reached with the Venezuelan rebels, but political dissent in New Granada grew as a consequence of this. In an attempt to keep the
federation together as a single entity, Bolívar called for a constitutional convention at
Ocaña during April 1828.
He had seen his dream of eventually creating an American Revolution-style federation between all the newly independent republics, with a government ideally set-up solely to recognize and uphold individual rights, succumb to the pressures of particular interests throughout the region, which rejected that model and allegedly had little or no allegiance to liberal principles.
For this reason, and to prevent a break-up, Bolívar wanted to implement in
Gran Colombia a more centralist model of government, including some or all of the elements of the Bolivian constitution he'd written (which included a lifetime presidency with the ability to select a successor, though this was theoretically held in check by an intricate system of balances).
This move was considered controversial and was one of the reasons why the deliberations met with strong opposition. The convention almost ended up drafting a document which would have implemented a radically federalist form of government, which would have greatly reduced the powers of the central administration.
Unhappy with what would be the ensuing result, Bolívar's delegates left the convention. After the failure of the convention due to grave political differences, Bolívar proclaimed himself
dictator on
August 27 1828 through the "Organic Decree of Dictatorship".
He considered this as a temporary measure, as a means to reestablish his authority and save the republic, though it increased dissatisfaction and anger among his political opponents. An assassination attempt on
September 25,
1828 failed, in part thanks to the help of his lover,
Manuela Sáenz, according to popular belief.
Although Bolívar emerged physically intact from the event, this nevertheless greatly affected him. Dissident feelings continued, and uprisings occurred in New Granada, Venezuela and Ecuador during the next two years.
Death and Legacy
Bolívar finally resigned his presidency on
April 27,
1830, intending to leave the country for exile in Europe, possibly in France. He had already sent several crates (containing his belongings and his writings) ahead of him to Europe.
He died before setting sail, after a painful battle with
tuberculosis on
December 17,
1830, in the
Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino in
Santa Marta,
Colombia.
His remains were moved from Santa Marta to Caracas in 1842, where a monument was set up for his burial in the
Panteón Nacional. The 'Quinta' near Santa Marta has been preserved as a museum with numerous references to his life.
Relatives
Simón Bolívar has no direct descendants. His bloodline lives on through his sister Juana Bolívar y Palacios who married their maternal uncle Dionisio Palacios y Blanco and had two children: Guillermo and Benigna.
Guillermo died when fighting alongside his uncle in the battle of La Hogaza in 1817. Benigna Palacios y Bolívar married Pedro Amestoy. Their great-grandchildren, Pedro (95), and
Eduardo Mendoza Goiticoa (90) live in
Caracas. They are Simón Bolívar's closest living relatives.
Political legacy
Simón Bolívar's political legacy has of course been massive and he's a very important figure in South American political history. Claims to the mantle of Simón Bolívar of have continued throughout modern times via the various shades of '
Bolivarianism' including
Hugo Chávez's recent movement.
On his deathbed, Bolívar asked his
aide-de-camp, General
Daniel Florencio O'Leary to burn the extensive archive of his writings, letters, and speeches. O'Leary disobeyed the order and his writings survived, providing historians with a vast wealth of information about Bolívar's
liberal philosophy and thought.
He was great admirer of the
American Revolution and a great critic of the
French Revolution. Bolívar described himself in his many letters as a "
liberal" and defender of the
free market economic system. Among the books he traveled with when he wrote the Bolivian Constitution were
Montesquieu's
Spirit of the Laws and
Adam Smith's
Wealth of Nations.
Honors
In addition to the statues shown elsewhere in this article, there's an
equestrian statue
commemorating Bolívar's life and works in
Washington, D.C., a statue at the UN Plaza in
San Francisco, a statue in
Rivadavia Park,
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, a statue in the
Basque Country,
Spain, a statue on the Reforma Avenue in
Mexico City, a statue in
Kingston,
Jamaica, a statue in
Cairo,
Egypt. There is an equestrian five meters high statue in San Salvador, El Salvador, in a square also called "Plaza Bolivar". A statue in
San Juan de
Puerto Rico, a statue signifying the friendship between
Canada and South America in
Ottawa (which caused some controversy at the time of its erection), and also a bust in
Sydney, Australia and an equestrian statue in
Quebec City, in the
Parc de l'Amérique Latine. A statue in
Bolivar, Missouri which was presented by President
Rómulo Gallegos of Venezuela and dedicated by President
Harry S. Truman. A central avenue in
Ankara, the capital of
Turkey, bears his name.
Bolivar, West Virginia bears his name and displays his bust, and
Frankfurt,
Germany also has a bust of the general
Furthermore, every city and town in
Venezuela &
Colombia (in this one each capital city but
Pasto) have a main square known as Plaza Bolivar, that usually has a bust or a statue of Bolivar, the most famous of these Plaza Bolivar are the ones in
Bogotá and
Caracas. The central avenue of Caracas is called Avenida Bolivar, and at its end there's a twin tower complex named Centro Simon Bolivar built during the 1950s that holds several governmental offices.
Places named in honor of Bolívar
Other
The Simón Bolívar United World College of Agriculture in Venezuela, a school in Venezuela that offers a diploma in agriculture, and that's part of the United World College Movement.
Venezuelan bolívar, the currency of Venezuela
The Puerto Bolívar Airport, a private airport in the Guajira Department of Colombia
The Bolívar cigar brand from Cuba
El Club Bolívar, a Bolivian football team who play at the Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar
The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar)'Further Information
Get more info on 'Sim N Bol Var'.
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