How long was simon bolivar president

During the war, he reflected, creole patriots had needed men to fight the Spaniards and they had recruited "blacks, zambos , mulattos , and whites" as long as they were brave. The only means to reward the most heroic ones had been military promotion, even though their only merit was often "brutal strength. He warned Santander, no doubt including him among the "gentlemen" he criticized: "Esos caballeros [ The Caribbean context contributed to the Libertador's anxiety.

Building on his experience in the royal Spanish Navy, Padilla had fought on the patriot side since , winning major battles against Spain in Venezuela and on New Granada's Caribbean Coast, notably the naval battle of Maracaibo Bay in that sealed the independence of Venezuela. As a result, he gained broad popularity in the region. Moreover, the creole aristocracy of the city submitted him to humiliating racial discriminations.

In his broadside, Padilla claimed that those who had brought independence were not "las antiguas familias [ They were those from his pardo class. In this letter to the vice-president, he expressed his unwavering conviction that equality - and by extension, the power of prominent pardos - should have limits, otherwise people of African descent would dominate and annihilate whites.

Yet, he did not sanction Padilla then, nor did he define the measures he estimated to be necessary to prevent pardocracia. Whereas the Libertador focussed his anxieties on Afro-descendents, he seldom referred to Amerindians in his speeches and correspondence. Here and elsewhere, he refused to acknowledge the presence of Indians and painted their territories as lifeless deserts, anticipating the name of the "Conquest of the Desert" given to Gen.

Julio A. Roca's genocidal wars against Argentina's Native peoples begun in First, from the beginning of the struggle generated by Ferdinand VII's abdication, Venezuelan Indians and mestizos played an active role in the turmoil - though in less important numbers than pardos and blacks due to their lower percentage in the population.

In , "el Indio Reyes Vargas," as he was called, mobilized dozens of Indians and mestizos from his region to fight against the royalists in Coro. By , the patriots had only promoted him to the rank of captain when some white creoles with less military achievements received higher promotions. Mantuanos' haughtiness revolted him and his indigenous and mestizo followers.

In the case of Santa Marta, whereas the surrounding indigenous villages did little to prevent its storming by proindependence soldiers and European mercenaries, their military participation was crucial in the liberation of the royalist port city from these brutal occupiers.

In taking side, the region's Indians realized that the Spanish king was their best protector against creole and foreign warriors eager to punish, sack, rape, and forcibly enroll them in their "patriot" armies HELG, , p. Only one original Native people deserved his admiration as surviving freedom fighters: the Araucanians of Chile idem , p. Among the few who joined, probably under duress, most deserted.

Desertion was not specific to Native Americans but widespread among all troops. As he had done with the pardos and llaneros following the royalists, he made no attempt at understanding indigenous motivations. He resolved the conflict between the jus soli and the jus sanguinis through several means. Second, as all vestiges of the pre-Columbian past had disappeared and most of America's original peoples had been exterminated by the initial Spanish conquerors, the land of Venezuela and New Granada now rightly belonged to those americanos who cultivated and exploited it.

The intruders, the usurpers of the land were the peninsulares, not the white creoles or the free people of mixed descent who encroached on indigenous resguardos communal lands. As a result, indigenous peoples would dissolve themselves in the popular Colombian mass, he declared in to the Congress idem , p.

As for central Venezuela, the hundreds of Indians and mestizos under "el indio" Juan de los Reyes Vargas fought in the name of Ferdinand VII until October , when the Indian leader switched allegiance again. Reyes Vargas issued a manifesto announcing that he and his men now were Colombian patriots ready to die for the freedom of their fatherland.

These policies were consistent with the process of land encroachment and mestizaje happening in central New Granada. Nevertheless, in many regions of Gran Colombia, Indians continued to live on remote autonomous territories, whereas others actively supported the royalist strongholds for a variety of reasons ranging from the protection of their freedom, their participation in contraband networks with the British and Dutch Caribbean, or their opposition to creole landlords.

To make matters worse, the patriot army lacked food, arms and ammunition as well as money to buy provisions from the peasantry - which led to discouragement, massive desertion, disease, and death. As studied by Zuluaga and Valencia , the loyalism of these men and women was principally motivated by their opposition to the region's large land and mine hacendados and slaveowners who exploited them - and supported independence.

In the provinces of Riohacha and Santa Marta as well, Indians continued to be active royalists; together with pro-Spanish guerrillas and soldiers, they fought restlessly against independence until late , when the patriots overcame them.

Many supporters of Spain were killed; others fled to Venezuela. In effect, on the one hand, the Gran Colombian authorities feared that any action against the Indians would alienate them and incite them to launch a war armed by Spain. At the same time, he increasingly perceived any gathering of individuals of African descent as a potential rebellion against the white minority.

Quite likely, by silencing Native Americans' historical agency, he sought to legitimize the sovereignty of the republic on all the lands formerly included in the vice-royalty of New Granada and the captaincy of Venezuela at the expenses of their Indian dwellers.

To Gen. His principal means of preventing anarchy was to guarantee civil liberty, personal security, property, and equality before the law of all Bolivian citizens.

In conformity with these principles, slavery was to be abolished and all slaves freed as soon as the Constitution would be published. All hereditary occupations and privileges were banned, but at the same time all properties - thus, lands - were alienable.

It stated that all individuals born on the national territory were Bolivian and implied that they were Spanish speaking and Catholic, equally subjected to contributions and military service. Although legally equal, citizens continued to be divided in two categories: active and passive.

And to qualify as an active citizen, it was necessary to be Bolivian, and to have qualities and skills, regardless of fortune. These Electors were to meet once a year to elect the members of the Legislative Power, the mayors and justices as well as most public servants at the local, regional, and national levels. The Legislative Power itself was divided into three bodies, with increasing requirements in terms of age for their members. First, the Tribunate was in charge of the interior, communications, transport, commerce, and war.

Second, the Senate was responsible for all matters of justice; it also closely supervised the Catholic Church including the diffusion of papal doctrine. And third, the Censors, elected for life, protected civil liberties, arts and sciences, and guaranteed the respect of the constitution by the other Powers.

The Executive Power was headed by a President for Life, who was elected the first time by the three bodies of the Legislative Power, and who then chose alone his successor. The executive also comprised a Vice-President appointed by the President with the approval of the Legislative Power, and three Secretaries, respectively of government and foreign relations; finance; and war and the navy.

Whereas the Censors could initiate procedures of impeachment against the Vice-President and the Secretaries, the President for Life was untouchable. Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

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South America's economy is centered on the export of is rich diversity of natural resources. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Bolivar made an example of Gen. Manuel Piar by executing him in October , a clear message that brought other generals in line.

Defeating the Spanish forces at the Battle of Boyaca in , he liberated the territory which is modern-day Colombia.

In , Bolivar marched to Ecuador and liberated it from Spain. The following year he met with Argentine liberator Jose de San Martin, who decided to turn over the entire rebel army to Bolivar. In , the last Spanish forces were defeated in Venezuela. In , he liberated Alta Peru, and Bolivia was founded.

Bolivar faced tough times from onwards when violent factionalism sprung up all over northern South America. In , he proclaimed himself absolute ruler to resolve the political impasse in liberated regions. Until his resignation as president and death in , he dealt with uprisings that broke out all over liberated territories.

The legacy of Bolivar, who died in , still echoes across Central and South America. Achievements When he returned to Venezuela in , he saw a popular desire for independence after efforts to ignite the independence torch in by another patriotic Venezuelan general, Francisco de Miranda, in the form of an invasion of Spanish-controlled territories ended in failure. This process also led to a falling out between Bolivar and Miranda. Difficult years Bolivar faced tough times from onwards when violent factionalism sprung up all over northern South America.