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Simoń Bolivar was born in Caracas, Venezuela on July 24, 1783.

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This time was mainly spent in Europe rounding out his education. During these years, Bolivar continued to read the great enlightenment thinkers of Europe, such as Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. These men had a key influence on his political beliefs. After seeing the coronation of Napoleon in Paris, Bolivar was inspired by him as well and felt that Latin America needed a strong leader similar to him. These men all had strong influences on him and his desire to act.

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During these years Bolivar became a leading patriot in Venezuela. He became very involved in the move toward independence, and was chosen to go to Britain to seek military and financial support in their campaign for independence in 1810.

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When Bolivar returned to Venezuela from Britain, he found the people considering declaring independence. The countries independence was declared on July 5, 1811 by the Venezuela national assembly after a national debate.

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Bolivar fled to Cartagena, New Granada because Spain regained control over Venezuela. In New Granada, he wrote “The Cartagena Manifesto”, which called for renewed efforts to help Venezuela regain independence from Spain. He recruited the United Provinces of New Granada to help fight against the royalists in Venezuela.

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Bolivar was given a military command to lead revolutionary forces to liberate Venezuela. He invaded Venezuela and was successful in several battles. When he reached Caracas, he declared a second republic and assumed the role of military dictator.  The second republic collapsed within a few months, so Bolivar fled to New Granada again until 1815.

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After staying in New Granada, Bolivar moved to Jamaica. While he was there, he wrote his Jamaica Letter of September 6, 1815, in which he discussed his ideas pertaining to South American independence. In his letter, Bolivar says that "Although I seek perfection for the government of my country, I cannot persuade myself that the New World can, at the moment, be organized as a great republic".

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In 1816 Bolivar returned to Venezuela and established a base of operations in the eastern plains. Spanish rule had plagued the colonies for too long. The colonies wished to form their own nation and wanted more political and economic power. They felt as if Spain was not allowing enough representation or freedom which caused revolution. Bolivar then took action by fighting Spanish royalists with the goal of liberating Venezuela.

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The goals for revolution were to liberate the Latin American people who were colonized and conquered by Spain. The people were discontent with the Spanish rule and sought liberation. Bolivar knew that the best way to liberate Venezuela was to first liberate New Granada. To do this, he crossed Andes and defeated the royalist forces at Boyaca, thus winning the Battle of Boyaca on August 7th, 1819. This was the start of the end to the Spanish rule in Venezuela.

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In December of 1819, the republic of Gran Columbia was formed. This allowed Bolivar to launch campaigns in Venezuela.

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In 1821 Bolivar claimed victory at Carabobo by defeating royalist forces. After this victory, Bolivar became president of Gran Columbia.

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In 1822, Bolivar won victory in Pichincha and ended Spanish rule in Ecuador.

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In 1824 Bolivar's forces defeated royalists at Junin and Ayacucho. Peru became independent as a result. In February of 1824 a Peruvian Congress made Bolivar become dictator which then enabled him to reorganize the political and military administration of Peru. This was when Bolivar was at the height of his power and was considered the liberator of much of Spanish America.

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Bolivar had to fight was in Peru in 1828-29 and deal with a series of uprisings in Gran Columbia. In late 1829 Venezuela seceded from the Gran Colombian federation and in May Ecuador followed. This resulted in the end of the Gran Colombian Federation

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In 1830 Simon Bolivar resigned presidency of Gran Columbia in April. Due to Bolivar's deteriorating health he subsequently died of tuberculosis. Although his death was untimely, Bolivar met many of his goals in freeing Latin America and that is why he is referred to as "the Liberator"

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media clipping "Latin American independence movements"

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media clipping "Latin American independence movements"