The Importance Of The Wars Of Independence

The wars of independence in Latin America must not only be traced back to the impact of the Bourbon reforms but take into consideration the other factors and how these factors are more important for the origins of the wars of independence, such as the French, American and Haitian Revolutions and the creole discontent. The Bourbon reforms, in the 18th century, were aiming to establish administrative uniformity in the region, but also to strengthen Spain’s control of its colonies. This could be considered a spark towards the existence of wars of independence, but not as the main factor, because although there were Spanish Americans, such as Simon Bolivar that considered Spain the ‘unnatural stepmother-Spain’ (Bolívar, [1815] 1951: 2), the population was not ready to let the Spanish monarchy go, thus it did not lose control of its colonies until fifty years later. …show more content…
Although the revolutions didn’t spread throughout Spanish America until 1810, revolts in regions such as Peru (1780), Bolivia (1781) and Colombia (1781) took place. As a result, in order for these revolts to take place, it needed more than revolutions in different countries; perhaps a conflagration of issues, such as the creole discontent, which led to tensions, fuelled later by the inspiration of the revolutions. Therefore, the Bourbon reforms could have sparked some of the tension created in Spanish America, but could not on its own lead to the wars of independence, as other factors could be considered more