Simon Bolivar: El Liberator Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Simon Bolivar was one of South America's greatest generals. His victories over the Spanish brought independence to Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. His name is El Liberator and he is also known as the George Washington of South America. Bolivar was born in Venezuela, where his parents died. He inherited a fortune and began his travels throughout Europe. Bolivar returned to Venezuela in 1810, where he joined a group of patriots who took Caracas and proclaimed independence from Spain. He later traveled to Britain seeking help, but only succeeded in obtaining a promise of British neutrality. Bolivar then returned to Venezuela and took command of a patriot army. He and the army retook Caracas from the Spanish in 1813. The Spanish forced Bolivar to retreat from Venezuela to New Granada, which was at war with Spain at the time. Bolivar took command of a Colombian force and captured Bogota in 1814. However, the patriots were short of men and supplies. This was enough to force Bolivar to flee to Jamaica. While in Jamaica, Bolivar wrote a letter entitled The Letter from Jamaica. In this letter Bolivar emphasized the importance and necessity of an organized government. The letter was a plan for the reconstitution of Latin America. He proposed a series of constitutional republics, an elected lower house and a president who would serve for life. This letter explains the sorrowful tone of much of Bolivian Latin American literature. At this time Simon Bolivar had joined the revolution. According to some, the reason could be due to the invasion with which Napoleon threatened Spain. By the end of this invasion, however, Venezuela had become an independent country. After Bolivar wrote the letter from Jamaica, he gathered a force in Haiti that ended up in Venezuela in 1816 and conquered Angostra. There Simon Bolivar had become a true dictator. Bolivar took his army and headed for New Granada in 1819. There he defeated the Spanish at Boyar, thus creating the independence of the territory of Colombia. Bolivar then returned to Angostura and led the congress that organized the original republic of Colombia. On December 17, 1819, Simon Bolivar became the first president. Thus, giving him his other name, the George Washington of South America. Bolivar defeated the Spanish army at Carabobo in Venezuela on June 24, 1821. He then led his army to Educador and united it with the new Colombian republic. A year later Bolivar became dictator of Peru. Upper Peru became a separate state, called Bolivia, in honor of Simon Bolivar. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Simon Bolivar left a legacy that made him famous throughout the world Bolivar was excellent at organizing governments and taking control. Although Bolivar was a dictator, he was a just dictator. Bolivar changed the way countries and states were run around the world. Many dictators modeled their countries or states after Bolivar. I would agree with most historians about Simon Bolivar's writings. In particular, I agree with Harvey L. Johnson and his statement: The constitution he drafted for Bolivia is one of his most important political statements.