The French Revolution's Influence on Latin American Independence

The French Revolution of 1789 had a profound influence on the Latin American independence movements of the early nineteenth century. The revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty, the example of the French revolutionary governments, and the disruption of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial systems by the Napoleonic Wars all combined to create the conditions in which the Latin American independence movements could develop. This article examines the influence of the French Revolution on the Latin American independence movements, including the key figures, the ideas, and the outcomes.

The Setting: Colonial Latin America

The Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas had been established in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and by the late eighteenth century they had developed into complex societies with their own distinct cultures, economies, and political institutions. The colonial societies were rigidly hierarchical, with the peninsulars (Spaniards and Portuguese born in the Iberian Peninsula) at the top, the criollos (people of Spanish or Portuguese descent born in the Americas) below them, the mestizos and the indigenous peoples below them, and the enslaved Africans at the bottom.

The criollos had been educated in the Enlightenment tradition, and they were deeply familiar with the works of the French philosophes and the American revolutionaries. Many of them had traveled to Europe for their education, and they had been influenced by the political events of the late eighteenth century, including the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

The criollos were also resentful of the political and economic dominance of the peninsulars, and they were increasingly interested in the possibility of independence from Spain and Portugal. The example of the American Revolution provided a model of how a colonial population could achieve independence, and the example of the French Revolution provided a model of how a society could be reorganized on the basis of the principles of liberty and equality.

The Influence of the French Revolution

The French Revolution influenced the Latin American independence movements in several important ways.

The first influence was the diffusion of the revolutionary ideas. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, with its proclamation of the principles of liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty, was widely read and discussed in the Latin American colonies. The works of the French philosophes, including Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu, were read and discussed in the salons and the universities of the colonial cities, and they had an important influence on the development of the Latin American political thought.

The second influence was the example of the French revolutionary governments. The French Revolution demonstrated that a colonial society could overthrow its colonial rulers and establish a new political order on the basis of the principles of liberty and equality. The example was a powerful inspiration to the Latin American criollos, who saw in the French Revolution a model for their own political aspirations.

The third influence was the disruption of the colonial systems by the Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808 created a political crisis in the Spanish colonies, since the Spanish king was deposed and the legitimacy of the colonial government was called into question. The result was a series of independence movements throughout the Spanish colonies, as the criollos took advantage of the political crisis to assert their own claims to self-government.

The Key Figures

The Latin American independence movements were led by a remarkable group of criollo leaders, several of whom are among the most important figures in the history of the Americas.

Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), the “Liberator,” was the most important of the Latin American independence leaders. Bolívar was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and he was deeply influenced by the Enlightenment tradition and by the examples of the American and French revolutions. He led the independence movements of what are now Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and he played a central role in the creation of the new Latin American states.

José de San Martín (1778–1850), the Argentine general, was another important figure of the Latin American independence movements. San Martín led the independence movements of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, and he played a central role in the liberation of the southern cone of South America.

Miguel Hidalgo (1753–1811) and José María Morelos (1765–1815), the leaders of the Mexican independence movement, were both Catholic priests who combined Enlightenment ideas with the social program of the Mexican Revolution. They led the early phases of the Mexican independence movement, and they laid the foundations for the eventual independence of Mexico.

Bernardo O’Higgins (1778–1842), the Chilean leader, was another important figure of the Latin American independence movements. O’Higgins was the son of an Irish father who had served as the viceroy of Peru, and he played a central role in the liberation of Chile.

The Ideas of the Latin American Independence Movements

The Latin American independence movements were animated by a complex set of ideas, many of which were drawn from the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

The most important idea was the principle of popular sovereignty. The Latin American leaders argued that the people of the Americas were the legitimate source of political authority, and that the colonial governments were illegitimate because they had not been established by the consent of the governed. The argument was a direct application of the principles of the French Revolution to the specific circumstances of the Latin American colonies.

The second important idea was the principle of equality. The Latin American leaders argued that all human beings were equal, and that the colonial distinctions between the peninsulars, the criollos, the mestizos, the indigenous peoples, and the enslaved Africans were unjust. The argument was a direct application of the principles of the French Revolution to the specific circumstances of the colonial societies.

The third important idea was the principle of republican government. The Latin American leaders argued that the proper form of government was a republic, in which the people would govern themselves through their elected representatives. The argument was a direct application of the principles of the French Revolution to the specific circumstances of the new states.

The Outcomes

The Latin American independence movements had a profound impact on the political geography of the Americas. By the 1820s, almost all of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas had achieved their independence, and the new states were established on the basis of the principles of republican government.

The new states faced enormous difficulties. The states were vast, sparsely populated, and divided by regional, ethnic, and class differences. The example of the United States, which had successfully established a constitutional republic, was powerful, but the conditions of Latin America were very different from those of the northern republic. The new states experimented with constitutionalism, federalism, and dictatorship, and most of them endured long periods of political instability.

Further Reading

• Robert Darnton, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (1982)
• Darrin McMahon, Enlightenment Contested (2006)
• Daniel Roche, The Enlightenment in the West (2010)