On March 26, 1812, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, an earthquake destroyed Caracas causing great damage and the death of about 20,000 people. The document marked a milestone in international law,[20] because Sucre set the worldwide humanitarian treatment that since then the defeated began to receive from the victors in a war. Unable to return to Venezuela, Luisa arrives in Cadiz. Knowing of his intentions, Bolvar requested his incorporation to the New Granada army and logistical support to later initiate the military operations of what is known in history as the Admirable Campaign. That day is celebrated in Venezuela as its national day. After New Granada was liberated and the Republic of Colombia was created, Bolvar signs with the Spanish general Pablo Morillo, on 26 November 1820, an Armistice,[19] as well as a Treaty of Regularization of the War. The statue that immortalizes Ricaurte's heroic gesture in the "Ingenio Bolivar in San Mateo" is a work of the sculptor Lorenzo Gonzalez. The losses of the Republicans were 8 officers and 36 crew and troops killed, 14 of the former and 150 of the latter wounded and one officer wounded, while those of the royalists were greater, without counting the 69 officers and 368 soldiers and sailors who were taken prisoner. Explanation: Jos Flix Ribas, a wealthy young patriot, rode through Caracas, exhorting Creole leaders to come to the meeting taking place in the council chambers. New Granada had been relatively untouched by the war, so Bolvar was able to quickly recruit a new army from willing volunteers. Before long, Bolvar had driven the Spanish out of the region and amassed a large army, Impressed, the civilian leaders in Cartagena gave him permission to liberate western Venezuela. Marshal Sucre drafted this Armistice and War Regularization Treaty, considered by Bolvar as "the most beautiful monument of piety applied to war". Among its members were Jos Flix Ribas, Francisco Jos Ribas, Antonio Muoz Tbar, Vicente Salias, and Miguel Jos Sanz. It was ratified by Congress on July 7, 1811 with 43 votes for and one vote against, and recorded in the Congress's Book of Minutes on August 17, 1811, in Caracas. For four years after the end of his regime, Venezuela floundered in new political chaos as various civilian political groups tried unsuccessfully to establish responsible representative government. As expressed by the Libertador, it was created as a response to several crimes and massacres carried out by Spanish soldiers after the fall of the First Republic, against thousands of republicans. In 1806-1807 the British made a determined effort to capture the city. Then, with the permission of the secretary general, Francisco Isnardi, Mendoza and Roscio presented the document to Congress for discussion. It had up to 600 members in Caracas alone and branches in Barcelona, Barinas, Valencia and Puerto Cabello. Quiz. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Venezuelan_independence&oldid=1138131080. In the battle of Araure, the action of the nameless battalion was decisive. He made a daring move: hecrossed the frosty Andeswith his army, losing half of it in the process, and arrived in New Granada (Colombia) in July of 1819. Bolivar goes to Valencia with Urdaneta's column where he makes a concentration of troops and divides them into 3 columns: the first commanded by Garcia de Serna to Barquisimeto against the Indian Reyes Vargas, the second led by Atanasio Girardot to Puerto Cabello by the road of Aguas Calientes, and the third by Rafael Urdaneta also to Puerto Cabello but by the road of San Esteban. In the Congress of Valencia were chosen the deputies who met in this city from May 6, 1830, to discuss the dissolution of Gran Colombia, with the separation of Venezuela. That day is celebrated in Venezuela as its national day. On the same 25th, the Armistice between the Republic of Colombia and Spain was signed, which suspended all military operations in sea and land in Venezuela and confined the armies of both sides to the positions they held on the day of the signing, according to the demarcation line between both. Influential factors include the desire for power of the creole social groups that possessed social and economic status but not political, the discontent of the population due to mismanagement and the rise of taxes,[2] the introduction of the ideas of Encyclopedism, the Enlightenment, the Declaration of Independence of the United States, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the reign of Joseph I of Spain. His forces were opposed by large royalist armies including a cavalry unit of llaneros (cowboys of the Llanos frontier), who were under the command of Jos Toms Boves. On the 20th, the Colombian army crosses the Tinaco river and on the 23rd Bolvar reviews his forces in the Sabana de Taguanes. At this moment, Ribas ordered the Rompelneas columns to attack the enemy right column, which was successfully executed. The Liberal leaders thereupon joined the Conservative opposition, and in March 1858 they brought the Monagas dynasty to an end. Before the Republican attack, Ceballos marched his cavalry against the right of the attackers, to distract and disorganize them, but Bolivar, attentive to this movement, engaged his reserve, which disorganized and put the opposing cavalry in flight. Spain, its resources drained from the devastating loss at the Battle of Trafalgar, was unable to send any help and the citizens of Buenos Aires were forced to fight off the British on their own. This led to fighting and a de facto Civil War in Venezuela. In contrast to the troubled times that preceded and followed it, the 183048 period of Conservative Party domination was an era of political stability, economic progress, and responsible administration. . In Bolvar's advance towards Caracas, Girardot was in charge of the rearguard from Apure, until reaching him near the city of Naguanagua, next to the hill of Brbula, where they were to confront the royalist army commanded by Domingo Monteverde. The Capital of Venezuela would be Caracas. Meanwhile, exiled patriot leader Francisco de Miranda returned, and young radicals such as Simn Bolvar, who favored unconditional independence, gained influence. Venezuela broke away in 1829, and Ecuador soon after. On his way, he defeated an enemy force that was blocking his way at La Aguada. Great Britain repeatedly refused Venezuelas requests to refer the matter to arbitration, and in 1887 Venezuela suspended diplomatic relations. "Our division and not the Spanish arms turned us to slavery," he had written in his famous Cartagena Manifesto, taking stock of those years. On 5 December, the Republicans marched towards Araure and camped about 1,000 metres (3,300ft) from the town, in front of the royalists, who had deployed at the entrance of the mountain of the Acarigua river; with their wings supported by woods and their front covered by a small lake, their back was protected by a forest, they also had 10 pieces of artillery. Jacmel's expedition disembarked in Barcelona on December 31, 1816. Overview. Scheina, Robert L.Latin America's Wars, Volume 1: The Age of the Caudillo 1791-1899Washington, D.C.: Brassey's Inc., 2003. The conflicts were extremely bloody, and control of the central government changed hands several times. Among the political, economic, social and natural causes mentioned by Bolvar are: On the royalist side, Monteverde, conceited by his success, refuses to hand over power to General Fernando Mijares, who arrived in Puerto Cabello from Puerto Rico and was appointed Captain General by the Regency. On 5 December, the Republicans pawned the action and were immediately flanked and cut off by a cavalry column; the small attacking force was virtually destroyed. After the fall of the Second Republic, the patriot leaders took refuge in the islands of the Caribbean Sea, especially in Jamaica, Trinidad, Haiti and Curacao. A fascinating man, he was friends with Alexander Hamilton and other important international figures and even was the lover of Catherine the Great of Russia for a while. It proclaimed that all Spanish persons who did not actively participate in favor of independence would be killed, and that all Americans would be pardoned, even if they cooperated (passively) with the Spanish. Guzmn Blancos regime had both positive and negative results for the nation. In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and put his brother Joseph on the throne, throwing Spain and its colonies into chaos. The Spanish harassment began throughout the territory of the republic, for some months he and his family live in the outskirts of La Asuncin under the espionage and the pressure that the Spanish authorities maintained on the sympathizers of the patriot cause in the island. When Boves realized that his column had been enveloped, he left his center precipitously and perished in the clash. Garca de Cerna triumphs over Reyes Vargas in Cerritos Blancos while in Puerto Cabello, Urdaneta and Girardot took the fortresses of Viga alta, Viga baja, and the outer town. Americans, count on life, even if you are guilty.". In the first six months of 1813, the resistance of the royalists collapses. He led the separation movement from Gran Colombia in 1829 and in 1830 convoked a constitutional convention for Venezuela. In exchange, the royalists would respect people and goods. Boves defeated an advance guard of Montilla in the siege of Santa Catalina, after which he retreated to Caracas, and Boves entered Calabozo without opposition. Between 1821 and 1823, the expulsion of the Spaniards from Venezuelan territory was ordered. The Sociedad Patritica composed by Simn Bolvar and Francisco de Miranda was the pioneer in the push for Venezuela's separation from the Spanish crown.[1]. This intervention of Bolivar allowed the break of the enemy front, action that produced great confusion inside the defensive position, with the consequent triumph of the republicans. On July 5, 1811, the independence declaration is signed. Integrity in government waned, heavy deficit financing ruined the nations credit, and the economy began to stagnate and decay. A division was in charge of going through the battlefield, which was covered with corpses and supplies of all kinds, while Bolivar himself was in charge of the pursuit of the defeated. Today, Venezuela celebratestwo independence days: April 19, when Caracas patriots first declared a provisional independence, and July 5, when they formally severed all ties with Spain. After the elections, 44 deputies were elected to Congress. [1], Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 01:42, Learn how and when to remove this template message, museo de la Casa de las Primeras Letras Simn Rodrguez, Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America, "Agregan la firma de Chvez al acta de Independencia de 1811", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Venezuelan_Declaration_of_Independence&oldid=1140431474, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 01:42. Lynch, John. After Pez is promoted in San Juan de Payara by the Libertador to major general, he fought the Apure campaign together with Bolvar against Morillo's troops that had invaded Apure. In this way he became a pioneer of human rights. In 1811, Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain. [7], The deputies agreed to call the new republic as Confederacin Americana de Venezuela and appointed a commission to decide on the flag and the drafting of a constitution. The first of them tries twice in 1806 to invade the Venezuelan territory through La Vela de Coro, led by General Francisco de Miranda, with an armed expedition coming from Haiti. The first of the military dictators was General Jos Antonio Pez, who gave the country better government than it would see again for nearly a century. What was the effect of Venezuela declaring independence from Spain? By then, the Spanish were left with only the northern center of the country, including Caracas, Coro, Mrida, Cuman, Barcelona and Maracaibo. "[7], Francisco de Miranda and other members of the Patriotic Society led a mass of people through the streets and squares of Caracas, acclaiming independence and freedom. The Libertador did not forget that the first and second Republics had collapsed because the revolution had been oriented exclusively to the elimination of personal privileges or privileges of a feudal nature, and to the proscription of noble titles for the exclusive benefit of the rich Venezuelan or neo-Granadian landowners; without taking into account at all the mass of slaves or poor peasants who constituted the bulk of the pro-independence army. Lynch, John. The aim of the document was to change public opinion about the Venezuelan war of liberation, so that instead of being seen as a mere civil war in one of the colonies of Spain, it would be seen as an international war between two countries, Venezuela and Spain. Emparn was stripped of authority and sent back to Spain. The Conjuracin de los Mantuanos was a movement that broke out in Caracas in 1808. ThoughtCo. (2020, August 27). "[21], "Your Majesty, if you give me a Paez and 100,000 plainsmen from Apure whom you call Savages, I will lay the whole of Europe at your feet."[22]. When Miranda went to embark in La Guaira, he was arrestedalong with 8 other chiefsby his former comrades, among whom was the young Simn Bolvar. But civil war followed. The population of Caracas, threatened by the imminent arrival of Boves, had to flee to the east. It also implied the replacement of the absolute monarchy by the republic as the form of government in Venezuela. The independence of Venezuela produced the armed conflict known as the Venezuelan War of Independence between the independence army or Patriotas ("patriots") and the royalist army or Realistas ("royalists"). On April 17, 1810, however, news reached Caracas that the government loyal to Ferdinand had been crushed by Napoleon. The importance of the documents drafted by Antonio Jos de Sucre, in what meant his first diplomatic action, was the temporary paralyzation of the fights between the patriots and the royalists, and the end of the War to the Death initiated in 1813. April 19 is known as Firma Acta de la Independencia or Signing of the Act of Independence.. He is a former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides. In 2 hours of fierce combat the action was decided, which opened the way to negotiations with Captain General Francisco Toms Morales; the following August 3, he was forced to surrender the rest of the royalist fleet, the square of Maracaibo, the San Carlos Castle, the San Felipe Castle in Puerto Cabello, as well as all the other sites occupied by the Spanish officers. Once the retreat was over, the six hundred rejoined the eastern patriot forces under the command of Manuel Piar with renewed confidence. On September 24, his wife Luisa Cceres de Arismendi, who was pregnant, is taken hostage to subdue her husband and locked up under surveillance in the house of the Arns family, days later she is transferred to a dungeon of the Castillo Santa Rosa in La Asuncin. Opinions on the character of the independence process are not unanimous. Bolvar executed a "diversion" along the coast of Pritu with the purpose of diverting the attention of the royalists towards Caracas while the planned concentration was being developed, but the defeat suffered in Clarines on January 9, 1817, leaves this diversion without effect, for which Bolvar returns to Barcelona. With the Spanish finally driven off, Venezuela began putting itself back together. Spanish and royalist forces attacked, however, and a devastating earthquake leveled Caracas on March 26, 1812. ThoughtCo. Once the Admirable Campaign was finished with the entrance to Caracas, Bolivar re-opened operations against the Spanish reaction that soon made itself felt in great part of the country. The result of the Act of Independence was immediate. The exile passed without news of her mother and her husband. Caracas, predictably, exploded: people took to the streets declaring loyalty to Ferdinand. It was part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, ruled by a Viceroy in Bogota (present-day Colombia). The concentration of the independence troops took place in the city of San Carlos, where the armies of Bolivar, Paez and the division of Colonel Cruz Carrillo converged. The purpose of the Armistice Treaty was to suspend hostilities in order to facilitate talks between the two sides, with a view to conclude a definitive peace. In 1814, bloody battles, reprisals against the civilian population of both sides, and the siege of the cities took place. Gran Colombia was created in 1819 by the fundamental law of the Congress of Angostura and organized by the Congress of Ccuta, according to the Constitution of Ccuta. The republic of Venezuela celebrates its independence from Spain on two different dates: April 19, when an initial declaration of semi-independence from Spain was signed in 1810, and July 5, when a more definitive break was signed in 1811. ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/independence-from-spain-in-venezuela-2136397. Guzmns new liberal newspaper, El Venezolano, demanded abolition of slavery, extension of voting rights, and protection for the debtor classes. Harvey, Robert. With this declaration, Venezuela became the first independent republic of Spanish America, and the fire of that declaration, fueled by external conflict, would spread the ideals of independence throughout all of the lands of Latin America. On February 15, 1819, Bolvar installed the Congress of Angostura and pronounced the Discurso de Angostura which was elaborated in the context of the wars of Independence of Venezuela and Colombia. One day the chaplain of the fortress, returning from his duties, passes by her door and stares at that woman in an attitude of defeat, of humiliation. With the founding of the Sociedad de Agricultura y Economa, it did not take long for this organization to become the main promoter of the break with Spain. Spanish General Miguel de la Torre combined his armies and met the combined forces of Bolvar and Pez at the Battle of Carabobo on June 24, 1821. The "War to the Death" was practiced by both sides. The patriots commanded by Bolivar, on the other hand, needed to concentrate their troops in order to obtain a single decisive battle. On July 13, 1811, the flag of Venezuela was approved, which was based on the design made by Francisco de Miranda in 1806. Cuman is liberated on August 3, 1813, by Mario; Bolvar enters Caracas on August 6. The pro-independence army advanced from San Carlos to Tinaco covered by the advance of Colonel Jos Laurencio Silva, who took the royalist positions in Tinaquillo. A new constitution was enacted in 1864 to incorporate the federalist principles of the victors. Bolivar returns to New Granada, to try to repeat the feat of the Admirable Campaign, an action that is rejected by his supporters. Their incursions ended in failures due to the religious preaching against them and the indifference of the population. Faced with the patriot retreat, the royalist Monteverde mobilized his troops to the site of Las Trincheras, sending a column of men to take position on the heights of the Brbula hacienda. Although their effort failed, it forewarned of the revolutionary movements that were soon to inflame Latin America. In spite of the setbacks suffered by the expeditionaries and by the Libertador himself in Ocumare, the historical importance of the Expedition of Los Callos lies in the fact that it allowed Santiago Mario, Manuel Piar and later Jos Francisco Bermdez to undertake the liberation of the eastern part of the country, and MacGregor with Carlos Soublette and other leaders to definitively enter Tierra Firme, to open the way to the definitive triumph of the Republic. After several confrontations, Piar passed to the province of Guayana, where general Manuel Cedeo operated and united his forces, they advanced against the city of Angostura whose defense was held by brigadier Miguel de la Torre. Monteverde receives reinforcements and launches an offensive on Valencia, Bolvar waits for him in Naguanagua and on September 30, defeats him in the battle of Brbula. Here fought the battalion that in the past day of Barquisimeto was punished by the Libertador, denying him the name and the right to carry the flag. Some cities and regions opted for a limited independence: they would take care of their own affairs until such time as Ferdinand was restored. In 1817, Bolvar hadPiararrested and executed, putting the other warlords on notice that he would deal with them harshly as well. The projection of the treaty was of such magnitude that Bolvar wrote in one of his letters: "() this treaty is worthy of Sucre's soul ()". Minster, Christopher. Seven out of the ten provinces that belonged to the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence and provided justifications for doing so, among them that it was undesirable that a small European nation ruled the vast swaths of the New World and that Spanish America regained its right to self-government. General Pez recognized Bolvar's authority and on February 12, 1818, with the Toma de las Flecheras where the llanero lancers crossed the Apure River and jumped into the river on their horses swimming before the confused sight of the royalists and took the Spanish boats. The defeat of the first Venezuelan Republic in 1812 left in the Libertador the deepest mark, but above all, the deepest lesson about the cardinal importance that unity had for the triumph of the revolution. The actions in the streets and squares were hard-fought. [23] Some 24,000 people left Venezuela for the Caribbean islands, the United States or Spain. [7] Independence was approved with 40 votes in favor. On September 16, enemy reinforcements arrived, so Bolvar decided to retreat to the town of Naguanagua. Monteverde is defeated and wounded. The elite of Caracas agreed on a provisional independence from Spain: they were rebelling against Joseph Bonaparte, not the Spanish crown, and would mind their own affairs until Ferdinand VII was restored. On August 5, the last officer in the service of the King of Spain left Venezuelan territory: the freedom of Venezuela was decided. By early 1810, Venezuela was ready for independence. In 1827, the Gran Colombian union (to which Quito, today Ecuador, had adhered in 1823) entered into crisis and the efforts of Bolivar and some others to stop the disintegration were of no avail. When the heroine Luisa Cceres de Arismendi was taken prisoner and the royalist chief demanded the surrender of her husband who said, "Without a country I don't want a wife," she answered, "Let my husband fulfill his duty and I will know how to fulfill mine."[15]. In 1806 he was able to scrape together a small mercenary force in the USA and Caribbean and launched an invasion of Venezuela. [5] On February 15, 1812, the Congress suspended its sessions and agreed to move to Valencia, designating it Federal City on March 1 that same year, when it resumed its sessions.[5]. Answer:Venezuela declared independence from Spain because they imposed high taxes on the citizens of Venezuela and because of lack of self rule. A ruling junta was proclaimed and Juan de Las Casas, the Captain-General of Venezuela, was deposed. With Jos Antonio Pez and in Guayana with Manuel Piar. By the time Simn Bolvar led his Admirable Campaign, the country no longer had a dependence on its Spanish colonizers, and independence was inevitable. Consequently, he ordered the divisions to modify their march on the left and go to the royalist right flank, which was uncovered; that is to say, Bolivar conceived a maneuver tending to overflow the enemy right wing, operation executed by the divisions of Jos Antonio Pez and Cedeo, while the Plaza division followed the road towards the center of the defensive position. A History of Latin America From the Beginnings to thePresent. The Supreme Junta of Caracas sought the adhesion of the other provinces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela to the movement. This virtually uninhabited wilderness territory, in which gold was discovered in 1877, had been the object of alternating claims and counterclaims between Venezuela and Great Britain for more than half a century. The remains of numerous heroes of Independence are housed there, including those of Simn Bolvar, Jos Antonio Pez, Carlos Soublette, and Rafael Urdaneta. [25] These provisions have remained in the other constitutions passed over time in Venezuela. Patriot warlords back in Venezuela, such as Mario and Pez, finally smelled victory and began to close in on Caracas. Christopher Minster, Ph.D., is a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. During the period from 1814 to 1819, Venezuela was devastated by rovingroyalistand patriot armies that fought one another and occasionally amongst themselves. The Spanish-American War lasted only six weeks and resulted in a decisive victory for the United States. The economy was mostly agricultural and a handful of extremely wealthy families had complete control over the region. [25] Nobiliary titles and aforamientos were eliminated, laws that civilly degraded the pardos were repealed, and the right to property and security was also recognized. Bolivar quickly established an independent government known as the Second Venezuelan Republic. He had outsmarted the Spanish during the Admirable Campaign, but he had not defeated them, and there were still large Spanish and royalist armies in Venezuela. His detractors emphasize his tyrannical ruling methods, financial chicanery, monumental vanity, superficial educational reforms, and unwarranted attacks on the church. She gets hope for a triumph of her own, but at dawn, when all is calm, she hears only the wailing of the dying and wounded from the fray. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006. Revolutionary leaders recalled him to Gran Colombia four years later to take charge of a ruling junta, which drafted a constitution and established an independent nation. (Historically, it is customary to call the Colombia of the Congress of Angostura. Bolvar writes the Cartagena Manifesto where he analyzes the reasons for the failure of the republic and the future of the countries participating in this process, which would later form Gran Colombia. The elections were held between October and November 1810. He was president of Gran Colombia (1819-30) and dictator of Peru (1823-26). This occurred between 1819 and 1830, in which Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador were united as a single Republic called Gran Colombia. Thus culminates the Third Republic.[18]. Colombia da a da: una cronologa de 15,000 aos. On April 19, Creole patriots confronted the new Captain-General Vicente Emparn and demanded self-rule. Even before the Congress began its sessions in November 1810, a civil war started between those who supported the juntas, and eventually independence, and royalists who wanted to maintain the union with Spain. Early in 1813 the revolutionary junta appointed Simn Bolvar commander of the Venezuelan forces. Minster, Christopher. Then, Francisco de Miranda, at the age of 61, was named Commander in Chief of the Army and left with his troops for Valencia on the 19th. Christopher Minster, Ph.D., is a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Bolvar decided to send on September 30 the troops of Girardot, Urdaneta and D'Elhuyar, who finally managed to dislodge the royalists, but paying a high price, with the sacrifice of Colonel Girardot, who died when he was hit by a rifle bullet while trying to fix the national flag on the conquered height, during the Battle of Brbula. During the royalist attack, Francisco Toms Morales took possession of the sugar mill while one of his columnsgoing down the Los Cucharos rowtook the "high house". Modern Flag of Venezuela Recognition The April 19 pronouncement was not the first of its kind in Latin America: the city of Quito had made a similar pronouncement in August of 1809. Currently known as Gran Colombia. The triumph allowed Bolvar to start the Campaigns of the South while his subordinates finished the fight in Venezuela. On July 5, 1811, the ruling junta voted in favor of complete Independence from Spain - their self-rule was no longer dependent on the state of the Spanish king.
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