Name: Decolonization in America - Summary on a Map
Uploaded: 2022-07-01T08:57:59.000Z
Duration: 16 min 31 s
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Almost the entire American continent is dominated by the European colonial powers.

In the south, the Portuguese control Brazil.

On the Central American islands, mainly France and Great Britain develop huge sugar cane

and coffee plantations by importing slaves from Africa.

Finally, the North is largely under the control of Great Britain after its victory

The British dominate all their rivals, notably thanks to the powerful Royal Navy.

But the war has taken its toll on the country's finances, and to replenish its coffers,

Thirteen of them are opposed to this and tensions rise, finally provoking the American Revolutionary War.

France, Spain and the United Provinces take advantage of the situation to ally themselves

with the independence fighters in order to weaken Great Britain.

Finally, the British are defeated and forced to recognize

the independence of the United States of America,

which is the first European colony to become independent.

From the very first years, the United States colonists have been extending their possessions westward

to the detriment of the indigenous populations, which provokes numerous internal wars.

In France, after the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War,

the economic situation is catastrophic, which contributes to the outbreak of the French Revolution.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is proclaimed.

It states that "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights".

In the rich colony of Saint-Domingue, these words provoke a slave and freedmen revolt

against the great landlords, also called the Planters.

Spain and Great Britain join forces to fight the insurgents.

But the insurgents win and occupy the whole island.

Napoleon Bonaparte, who has seized power in France, understands that it would be difficult

to reassert his sovereignty over his distant territories.

He sends an army to Saint-Domingue and decides to sell Louisiana which he secretely obtained from Spain

three years earlier to the United States.

In Saint-Domingue, the French soldiers, weakened by disease, are defeated.

On January 1, 1804, the independence of Haiti is proclaimed.

It is the only republic born from a revolution of slaves and freedmen.

In Europe, the United Kingdom inflicts a heavy defeat on the Spanish and French fleets

The country confirms its domination of the seas.

But Napoleon, who dominates Europe, opts for economic warfare and imposes a continental blockade.

The United Kingdom, in the midst of the industrial revolution,

absolutely needs to find new markets to sell its goods.

Taking advantage of the decline of Spain, it turns to America,

but Spain officially prohibited trade with the British.

The United Kingdom attempts two military incursions into the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata,

but is repelled by the Creoles, the descendants of Spanish settlers born in America.

In Spain, King Charles IV and his son Ferdinand VII are quarrelling over the throne.

Napoleon takes advantage of this and places his brother Joseph at the head of the country.

This is not accepted in the Spanish colonies where juntas, which means local governments,

favorable to King Ferdinand VII, are organized.

In New Spain, the priest Miguel Hidalgo calls on the people to rise up.

Independence movements now appear, secretly supported by the British

and motivated by revolutionary Masonic lodges.

In 1814, after the abdication of Napoleon, Ferdinand VII recovers the Spanish throne

and quickly sends reinforcements to America to regain control.

Paraguay manages to resist, as well as the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata,

In January 1817, the separatists San Martín and O'Higgins

cross the Andes from the east with an army and seize Santiago.

O'Higgins is appointed Supreme director and proclaims Chilean independence.

In the north, another independence army led by Simon Bolivar

and reinforced by the British Legion leaves Angostura, crosses the Andes,

and defeats the Spaniards at the gates of Santa Fe de Bogotá.

Bolivar then proclaims the independence of Gran Colombia, of which he becomes president,

although he doesn't yet control the entire territory.

In reaction, Ferdinand VII raises a new army, but the latter revolts and refuses to leave Cadiz.

Taking advantage of the situation, San Martin lands in Peru, seizes Lima,

and proclaims the country's independence, although the Amazonian territory is still controlled by the royalists.

In New Spain, after 11 years of war, the independents win and proclaim the Mexican Empire.

In the south, Quito is liberated by the independence armies.

Bolivar and San Martín then meet in Guayaquil.

Nobody knows what they say to each other, but San Martin gives up part of his army

to Bolivar and then discreetly withdraws.

In Brazil, the Portuguese royal family and its court have been installed

in Rio de Janeiro since the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon.

Despite the liberation of the country in 1811, the royal family decided to stay in Brazil.

However, the difficult political situation in Portugal forces King John VI

But his heir, son Peter, who remained in Brazil,

now enters into conflict with the Portuguese government and proclaims the independence of Brazil,

In Central America, Mexico struggles to consolidate.

The south secedes and the United Provinces of Central America is proclaimed.

Throughout the continent, instability is great, which worries the United States.

President James Monroe then declares to the Europeans that the United States

would no longer accept new attempts at colonization on the American continent.

In the south, the last royalist pockets are defeated by the army of General Sucre.

Bolivia is created, named after Simon Bolivar.

The latter now dreams of uniting all the American republics under a great common authority.

But internal divisions cause this project to fail.

In the south of the continent, a war breaks out

between the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata and Brazil for the control of the Cisplatine Province.

Brazil imposes a commercial blockade on the ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo,

Unable to neutralize each other and financially exhausted, both appeal to the United Kingdom for arbitration.

The British, during the peace treaty, obtain the creation of Uruguay as a buffer state.

The United Kingdom, by becoming the guarantor of stability in the region, protects its commercial interests.

At the end of 1829, Venezuela secedes from Gran Colombia.

Bolivar, whose health is deteriorating, fails to find a solution and resigns.

Gran Colombia breaks up and immediately conflicts arise over the delimitation of the new borders.

In Mexico, after the abolition of slavery, the United States colonists,

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Decolonization in America - Summary on a Map

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