50 Fun Facts About Latin American Wars of Independence

Which Venezuelan river town, host of Simón Bolívar's 1819 congress, gave its name to a cocktail bitters?

Angostura bitters began as a stomach tonic mixed by Johann Siegert, a German surgeon general in Bolívar's army. The town on the Orinoco is now called Ciudad Bolívar.

Which disease destroyed much of the army Napoleon sent to retake Saint-Domingue in 1802, killing its commander Leclerc?

Yellow fever killed around 15,000 French soldiers in just two months. The disaster helped persuade Napoleon to sell Louisiana to the United States.

Which parish priest rang his church bell on 16 September 1810 to launch Mexico's war of independence?

Miguel Hidalgo is honored as the Father of the Nation. Mexico's president rings the same bell from the National Palace each year on the eve of Independence Day.

José de San Martín led his army across which mountain range in 1817, a 21-day march often compared to Hannibal's?

The Andes crossing set out from Mendoza and brought his army down into Chile to free it from Spanish rule.

Which nation, the only country in history founded by a slave revolt, declared independence from France in 1804?

Haiti was also the first country in the Americas to officially abolish slavery and the second republic in the hemisphere.

Which brother of Napoleon was made king of Spain in 1808, a usurper that Spanish America refused to obey?

Joseph Bonaparte later emigrated to the United States, where he lived for years on an estate at Bordentown, New Jersey.

The Portuguese royal court fled Napoleon in 1807 and ruled its empire for thirteen years from which Brazilian city?

Rio de Janeiro thus governed a whole European empire from a colony, which some historians call a metropolitan reversal. The prince regent at once opened Brazil's ports to foreign shipping.

Which United States policy of 1823 warned European powers against meddling in the newly independent Americas?

The Monroe Doctrine was set out in an annual message to Congress but did not carry President James Monroe's name until 1850.

Simón Bolívar was granted which title by the town council of Caracas in 1813, the name he still goes by?

The Liberator, or El Libertador, was a title first given to him months earlier by the citizens of the Venezuelan town of Mérida.

Which natural disaster struck Caracas in 1812 and was preached by royalists as God's punishment on the rebels?

An earthquake hit on Maundy Thursday while the war was raging. Simón Bolívar reportedly answered that if nature opposed them, they would fight nature and make it obey.

Which formerly enslaved general led the revolution in Saint-Domingue and died in a French fortress prison in 1803?

Toussaint Louverture took his surname from the French word for an opening. He died months before the colony won the independence he had made possible.

Which colonial class, people of Spanish descent born in the Americas, led most independence movements against Spain?

Criollos such as Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín ranked just below Spanish-born officials, for whom the top posts in church and government were reserved.

Which Venezuelan, whose name is carved on the Arc de Triomphe, designed his country's yellow, blue and red flag?

Francisco de Miranda served as a French revolutionary general at the Battle of Valmy. He first flew his tricolor on a failed 1806 expedition to free Venezuela.

What name do historians give Simón Bolívar's republic, which joined Venezuela, New Granada and Quito until 1831?

Gran Colombia called itself simply the Republic of Colombia. Historians coined the longer name to tell it apart from the modern country, which took the name in 1863.

Which 1824 battle in Peru's highlands, where the viceroy was wounded, sealed the end of Spanish rule in South America?

Ayacucho ended with the capitulation of the whole royalist army, though Spanish garrisons at Callao and Chiloé held out until 1826.

Which prince, left as regent when the Portuguese king sailed home in 1821, declared Brazil independent the next year?

Dom Pedro reigned as Emperor Pedro I until 1831, when he abdicated in favor of his young son and sailed for Europe.

Which illegitimate son of a viceroy of Peru ruled Chile as Supreme Director from 1817 to 1823?

Bernardo O'Higgins's father, Ambrosio, was born in County Sligo, Ireland. The son took the post after José de San Martín declined it, and later died in exile in Peru.

Which two islands were all that remained of Spain's empire in the Americas once the mainland wars ended in the 1820s?

Cuba and Puerto Rico stayed under Madrid's rule until 1898, when Spain lost both in the Spanish–American War.

Which religious image, taken from the church at Atotonilco, became the banner of Mexico's rebel army in 1810?

The Virgin of Guadalupe went into battle on the rebels' banner and on their hats. Royalists answered by taking the Virgin of Remedios as their own patroness.

Which Venezuelan general, a lieutenant of Simón Bolívar, gave his name to Bolivia's constitutional capital?

Antonio José de Sucre served as president of Bolivia from 1825 to 1828. He was assassinated in an ambush in 1830, aged just 35.

Which Spanish word, used for councils formed to resist Napoleon in 1808, now describes a ruling military committee?

Junta means a meeting or committee. Cities across Spanish America soon formed their own in reaction to the crisis in Spain.

Before independence in 1821, Mexico was the heart of which viceroyalty, whose reach extended to the Philippines?

New Spain was a name coined by Hernán Cortés in a 1520 letter to Charles V, and its port of Acapulco traded with Manila by galleon.

In which viceregal capital did the May Revolution of 1810 remove Spain's viceroy and set up a local government?

Buenos Aires removed Viceroy Cisneros after a week of upheaval that ended on 25 May, a date Argentina still keeps as a national day.

From which Caribbean island did the exiled Simón Bolívar write an 1815 letter setting out his hopes for Spanish America?

Jamaica gave the letter its name. Bolívar wrote it as a reply to Henry Cullen, a merchant on the island, whose own letter is now lost.

Which royalist officer switched sides in 1821, secured independence, and briefly reigned as Emperor of Mexico?

Agustín de Iturbide was crowned in 1822 and abdicated within a year. When he returned from exile in 1824 he was arrested and executed.

Which priest led Mexico's rebellion after its first leader was executed and convened the Congress of Chilpancingo?

José María Morelos was captured, defrocked by the Inquisition and executed in 1815. His birthplace, Valladolid, was later renamed Morelia in his honor.

Which 1819 battle at a river bridge, won by Simón Bolívar's army in two hours, secured New Granada's independence?

Boyacá destroyed the royalist army in central New Granada, and the viceroy fled his capital soon after news of the defeat arrived.

Which officer, dismissed from the Royal Navy after a stock exchange fraud conviction, led Chile's fleet against Spain?

Thomas Cochrane, nicknamed the Sea Wolf by Napoleon, later commanded Brazil's navy too. He inspired fictional captains such as Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey.

Which Quito-born revolutionary saved Simón Bolívar from assassins in 1828 by urging him to escape through a window?

Manuela Sáenz stayed behind to confront the intruders while he fled. She had already received Peru's highest distinction from José de San Martín for her services to the revolution.

In which Pacific port city did Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín meet in July 1822 to discuss Peru's future?

Guayaquil ended in disagreement: San Martín favored constitutional monarchies and Bolívar republics. Afterwards San Martín retired and left Bolívar to finish the war in Peru.

Which emblem on the flags of Argentina and Uruguay takes its name from the May Revolution of 1810?

A sun with a human face, called the Sun of May, sits on both flags. Argentina's version has 32 rays, alternating straight and wavy.

Which leader of a 1780 rebellion in Peru, a descendant of the last Inca ruler, gave an American rapper his name?

Túpac Amaru II was born José Gabriel Condorcanqui and was executed in 1781. Tupac Shakur, registered at birth under another name, was renamed in his honor.

Which Spanish king, held for years at a French château by Napoleon, returned and sent armies to reconquer the Americas?

Ferdinand VII rejected the liberal constitution of 1812 on his return, then sent 10,000 men under Pablo Morillo to crush the rebellions in Venezuela and New Granada.

Which lawyer turned general designed Argentina's flag while fortifying the river town of Rosario?

Manuel Belgrano saw his flag turned down by the government of the day. Slow communications meant he learned of the refusal only many weeks later.

Which South American country left Spanish rule in 1811, then was sealed off for decades by a dictator called El Supremo?

Paraguay's José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia held the official title of Supreme and Perpetual Dictator, and ruled from 1814 until his death in 1840.

What name was given to Venezuela's mounted cattle herders, who supplied most of the cavalry in the independence wars?

Llaneros, or plainsmen, rode as lancers for both sides. One of their chiefs, José Antonio Páez, went on to serve as president of Venezuela three times.

Which 1821 proclamation, whose three guarantees gave Mexico's flag its colors, united royalists and rebels?

The Plan of Iguala promised religion, independence and unity. The army formed to defend it carried a tricolor that set the colors of the national flag.

Which 1821 battle, won by Simón Bolívar over Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre, secured the independence of Venezuela?

Carabobo turned on a flanking march through rough country and on a battalion of British volunteers who fought their way up the hills.

Simón Bolívar ended a youthful Grand Tour in 1805 by swearing to end Spanish rule in the Americas in which city?

Rome was the last stop on a journey through Milan, Venice and Florence, and during his stay there he also met Pope Pius VII.

Which leader of gaucho cavalry and founder of the Federal League is honored as the Father of the Nation in Uruguay?

José Gervasio Artigas was driven into exile and stayed there until his death in 1850, long after Uruguay had become independent.

Which guerrilla commander kept Mexico's insurgency alive from 1816 to 1821 and later, as president, abolished slavery?

Vicente Guerrero refused viceregal offers of pardon while fighting on in the Tierra Caliente. As Mexico's second president he abolished slavery on 15 September 1829.

Which Spanish port, the government's last refuge from the French, hosted the Cortes that wrote the Constitution of 1812?

Cádiz gave the Cortes its name, though the assembly opened in September 1810 on the nearby Isla de León and moved into the city in 1811. Historians see it as a major step toward liberalism in Spain and Spanish America.

Where did Simón Bolívar's 1826 congress meet, called to bind the new Spanish American republics into a league?

Panama, then part of Bolívar's own republic, hosted delegates from only four states. Chile and Argentina declined to attend, out of mistrust of his enormous influence.

Brazil's 1822 declaration of independence from Portugal is known as the Cry of which São Paulo stream?

Ipiranga is where the prince regent stopped to read letters from his wife and from José Bonifácio, then drew his sword and swore to free Brazil.

Which northern Argentine city hosted the congress that declared the United Provinces independent on 9 July 1816?

Tucumán's congress first met in a private family house. The building was later rebuilt and is now a museum known as the House of Tucumán.

Which Caribbean president gave the exiled Simón Bolívar money and arms in 1816 once he pledged to free every slave?

Alexandre Pétion and Bolívar became friends after a mutual acquaintance introduced them in January 1816. The aid let Bolívar sail back to Venezuela and restart the war.

Which 1824 cavalry battle in Peru's highlands was fought entirely with lance and saber, without a single firearm used?

Junín lasted about 45 minutes. The patriot horsemen won it after first being thrown back in confusion by the royalist charge.

Which 1822 battle, fought on the slopes of a volcano beside Quito, secured the independence of what became Ecuador?

Pichincha was fought some 3,500 meters above sea level, and the royalist defeat there handed Quito to the patriots.

Which magistrate's wife, locked in her room, still got word out that the 1810 Querétaro conspiracy had been betrayed?

Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez is remembered as La Corregidora, after her husband's office. Her warning let the plotters escape and brought Mexico's uprising forward.

Which guerrilla leader from Upper Peru fought beside her husband, Manuel Padilla, and rose to lieutenant colonel?

Juana Azurduy was once captured and held prisoner in her own home by Spanish soldiers, until her husband killed the guards and rescued her.