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Toussaint Louverutre led enslaved Africans against the French in a revolt that ended slavery and resulted in the new nation of Haiti.

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Originally a French colony named Saint Domingue had nearly 500,000 enslaved Africans working on the French plantations. The white masters had used grisly methods to keep the Africans powerless. On August 1791, around the time the French Revolution had been happening 100,000 Africans revolted. Their leader had been Toussaint Louverutre, had freed all the enslaved Africans and took control of the entire island. In January 1802, French troops went to Saint Domingue to remove Toussaint, in May the French agreed to Toussaint's demand of ending slavery in order to stop the revolution but ended up sending Toussaint to prison because they accused him of planning another uprising. Toussaint died in April 1803. Jean Jacques Dessalines who was Toussaint's lieutenant continued the revolution and on January 1, 1804 he declared Saint Domingue an independent colony.

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Picture of Agustín de Iturbide, the person who lead Mexico to independence from Spain.

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A priest by the name of Father Miguel Hidalgo who has also believed in enlightenment ideals rang the bell of his village's church on September 16, 1810.  When the peasants had gathered in the church Hidalgo called for a rebellion over the Spanish, the next day his followers started a march toward Mexico City.  After awhile the number of supporters had went up to 80,000, this alarmed the Spanish army and creoles who didn't want to lose their control or property and their lives.  The Spanish army defeated Hidalgo in 1811 and the rebels got themselves another strong leader in Jose Maria Morelos who led the revolution for 4 years but was later defeated by Agustín de Iturbide.  In 1820 Spain had put a liberal group in power, the Mexican creoles feared that they'd lose their privileges in the Spanish-controlled colony so they also united in support of Mexico's independence.  Agustín de Iturbide proclaimed independence in 1821.

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Latin American Wars of Independence(North, Simon Bolivar)

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Latin American Wars of Independence(North, Simon Bolivar)

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In 1811 Simón Bolívar’s Venezuela had declared its independence from Spain but that was only the beginning of the struggle for independence. Bolivar's army had been defeated numerous times, and Bolivar had to be exiled twice. In 1819 Bolivar led 2,000 soldiers on a march through Andes(Colombia). Not only that but he surprised the Spanish army in Bogota and won a crucial victory. In 1821 Bolivar had finally won Venezuela's independence and he later on march south into Ecuador where he had met Jose de San Martin.

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Latin American Wars of Independence(South, San Martin)

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Latin American Wars of Independence(South, San Martin)

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San Martin's Argentina declared independence in 1816 but nearby Spanish forces around Chile and Peru had still been a threat.  In 1817 San Martin led an army on a march from Andes to Chile, he was accompanied by forces led by Bernardo O'Higgins.  With O'Higgins help San Martin had finally freed Chile.  In 1821 San Martin planned to drivee all the Spanish forces out of Lima, Peru.  But to do this he needed a stronger force, in 1822 San Martín and Bolívar discussed this problem when they met at Guayaquil, Ecuador. On December 9, 1824 Bolivar's army went on to defeat the Spanish at the battle of Ayacucho, Peru, however San Martin had left his army for Bolivar to command.

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Brazilians celebrating their independence from Portugal.

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In 1807 Napoleon's armies invaded Spain and Portugal, once the French troops approached Lisbon the Portuguese capital, Prince John and the royal family boarded ships to escape capture.  They had taken their treasury to Brazil, Portugal's largest colony.  Then for 14 years the Portuguese ran their empire from Brazil, six years after Napoleon's defeat in 1815 King John and the Portuguese government returned to Portugal but Dom Pedro, King John’s son, stayed behind in Brazil. King John wanted to make Brazil a colony again but the Brazilians didn't want to return to a colonial status. In 1822 many creoles demanded Brazil's independence from Portugal, eight thousand Brazilians signed a petition in which it would support Dom Pedro being ruler. Dom Pedro had agreed and on September 7, 1822, he declared Brazil's independence, Brazil didn't have to cause any violence whatsoever.