South America breaks free
An army crosses the Andes where no one thought it possible
See it on the timeline →In depth
The Battle of Boyacá in August 1819 decided New Granada. The wars of independence were triggered when Napoleon deposed the Spanish king in 1808, leaving the colonies without legitimate authority. Bolívar and San Martín led campaigns from opposite ends of the continent. Bolívar's dream of a single union collapsed into regional rivalry before he died in 1830 — "he who serves a revolution ploughs the sea", he wrote. Slavery was abolished in the new republics from the 1820s, decades before the United States.
For children
Simón Bolívar led his army over the Andes through swamps and snow passes nobody thought could be crossed. Many died on the way, but they came out behind the Spanish lines and won. Within twenty years nearly all of South America was free of Spain.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org