The Contributions of Enlightenment and Napoleonic Invasion to Latin American Independence

The intellectual movement of the Enlightenment which started in Europe further stirred frustrations within the Spanish Americans. The main focus of Enlightenment is science and reason. Due to radical ideas presented by the new ideologies of the Enlightenment, political and social institutions such as monarchy, religion, mercantilism, and class distinctions were challenged by the constituents. A number of Creoles followed and espoused the ideas found in the works of the leading Enlightenment writers, and most of the future leaders of the Spanish-American independence movements were in Europe as students, soldiers, or for business.

The American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799) mirrored the aspirations of the Spanish American colonists. Some Creoles were part of the mentioned Revolutions to defend the ideas of the Enlightenment. They helped overturn the monarchy to be able to form independent, republican governments. Not all, however, were supportive of the cause because a number of the Spanish Americans were scared by the unrest and the bloody fighting that ensued particularly exemplified by the French Revolution and war for independence in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue, which is now Haiti.

Napoleonic Invasion

As the seeds of dissatisfaction sowed among the colonists in Latin America, Spain was also embroiled with some problems at home particularly in the territorial defenses. Spain was involved in many international wars which drained the kingdom’s coffers. At the start of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), Spain was compelled to join French emperor Napoleon I to wage war against Britain together with France. In 1807, Napoleon sent an army through Spain to attack Portugal which was a British ally. The French forced Portuguese rulers to go to Brazil and disallowed British access to Portugal’s ports. Brazil, unwittingly, became the center of the Portuguese empire in the process.

After he conquered Portugal, Napoleon turned his focus to Spanish allies and occupied a portion of northern Spain. King Charles IV stepped down in 1808 and his son Ferdinand VII inherited the throne. But Napoleon overthrew Ferdinand from the throne and made his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte the king. This caused furor among the Spaniards. A rebellion occurred against the French on May 2, 1808 in the Peninsular War.

The councils called juntas were formed in order to fight the recognition of Bonaparte as king, to fight the French and to rule in lieu of King Ferdinand. These councils banded together to form a main junta, later changed to Council of Regency. Even with the help of British, the French managed to control most of Spain by 1809.