Why did Latin America seek independence?
Latin America sought independence because of Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and self-governance, the example of the American and French Revolutions, resentment by Creole elites at being excluded from political power by peninsular-born Spaniards, economic grievances against mercantilist trade restrictions, and the power vacuum created by Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808.
The Latin American independence movements of the early 19th century were among the most consequential in modern history, liberating an entire continent from centuries of European colonial rule. They were driven by a complex interplay of intellectual, social, economic, and geopolitical factors that converged in the early 1800s.
Enlightenment ideas were the intellectual foundation. The works of Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu circulated among the educated elite of Spanish and Portuguese America, providing the philosophical justification for challenging colonial authority. The American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789 demonstrated that Enlightenment principles could be translated into political action. The Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804 — in which enslaved people overthrew their French masters and established an independent republic — was both an inspiration and a warning, showing that revolution could succeed but also that it could unleash radical social upheaval.
Social resentment was a powerful motivator. Colonial society was rigidly hierarchical. Peninsulares — people born in Spain or Portugal — held the highest political and ecclesiastical offices. Creoles — people of European descent born in the Americas — were wealthy and educated but excluded from the highest positions of authority. This exclusion was deeply resented by Creole elites who considered themselves every bit the equal of their European-born counterparts. Below the Creoles, mestizos, Indigenous peoples, and African-descended populations had even fewer rights and deeper grievances.
Economic restrictions added to the discontent. Mercantilist policies required that colonial trade flow exclusively through Spain or Portugal, limiting access to international markets and enriching the mother country at the colony's expense. Creole landowners and merchants chafed under trade monopolies, taxation without representation, and economic regulations that served imperial rather than local interests.
The immediate catalyst was Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808, which deposed King Ferdinand VII and placed Napoleon's brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. This created a constitutional crisis — if the legitimate king was imprisoned, from whom did colonial authority derive? Local juntas formed across Latin America, initially claiming to govern on behalf of Ferdinand. But once self-governance had been established, the logic of independence became irresistible. Leaders like Simón Bolívar in the north and José de San Martín in the south led military campaigns that, by the late 1820s, had liberated virtually all of Spanish America.