Independence movements (1763–1830)

Political, economic, social, and religious causes.

Natural rights — life, liberty and property — and the idea that government must protect these or lose legitimacy.

Britain's first direct tax on colonists; sparked the 'no taxation without representation' protest and colonial boycotts.

Stamp Act (1765) → Boston Tea Party (1773) → Lexington and Concord (1775) → Declaration of Independence (1776).

That government exists only with the people's consent, that all people have unalienable natural rights, and that King George III's list of abuses justified breaking from Britain.

His army survived a brutal winter with little supply, proving the Continental Army's resilience under his leadership.

It was a decisive American victory that convinced France to move from secret aid to an open military alliance in 1778.

Money, troops, and naval power — turning the colonial rebellion into a global war Britain could not sustain.

Combined American and French forces trapped General Cornwallis, whose surrender effectively ended the war.

Both were shaped by Enlightenment ideas and foreign intervention, but American causes centred on parliamentary taxation without representation, while Latin American causes centred on Creole exclusion from power and Bourbon Reform taxation.

The treaty in which Britain formally recognized United States independence, ending the Revolutionary War.

Ranking and linking factors (showing how one enabled another) demonstrates analytical judgment, which examiners reward over narrative listing.

Bolívar's argument that patriot disunity caused Venezuela's first republic to collapse; called for unity among independence supporters.

Bolívar's decisive victory after a surprise Andes crossing; liberated New Granada and led to the founding of Gran Colombia.

San Martín's victory after crossing the Andes into Chile with the Army of the Andes; helped secure Chilean independence alongside Bernardo O'Higgins.

Sucre, commanding for Bolívar, defeats the last major Spanish royalist army, effectively ending Spanish rule in South America.

Meeting between Bolívar and San Martín; afterward San Martín withdrew from the independence struggle, leaving Bolívar to finish the war in Peru.

Argentina: Spain's king was deposed, leaving a power vacuum → popular revolution and war. Brazil: the Portuguese king relocated to Brazil, so his son could simply declare independence without a revolution.

Dom Pedro's declaration "Independence or death!" in Brazil, leading to his crowning as Emperor Pedro I of an independent Brazilian monarchy, with little warfare.

US declaration that the Americas were closed to further European colonization and that interference with new republics would be seen as hostile to the US; in exchange the US would not interfere in Europe.

The US navy was too weak; Britain's navy (opposing Spanish reconquest for its own trade reasons) was the real deterrent against European intervention.

Mines, plantations and infrastructure destroyed; silver production collapsed for decades; new nations carried heavy war debts; trade shifted from Spain/Portugal to Britain.

Creoles became the new ruling elite, replacing Spanish-born officials. Indigenous peoples often lost prior legal protections and communal lands under new liberal, property-favouring governments.

Mixed picture: some republics (e.g. Gran Colombia, Chile, Argentina) began gradual abolition, partly rewarding soldiers who fought for independence; Brazil kept slavery for decades longer (until 1888).