Latin American Leaders Independence
Simon Bolivar and Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Simon Bolivar
Simon Bolivar was born in 1783 and died in 1830. He was born in Caracas Venezuela, but his parents had connections to Europe making him a Creole. Simon helped Venezuela, COlombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia gain their independence. Some things that helped Simon along the way to helped these countries become independent are in 1821, he became the president of the Gran Colombia. He also liberated Peru from the Spanish. He also accomplished the Admirable campaign, which was to set Venezuela free from the Spanish control. Unfortunately Simon died in 1830, but his legacy still lives on. There are many statues and plaza squares dedicated to him throughout South and North America. There are Several Cities and towns throughout the U.S. and are named in his honor.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was born in 1758 in Africa and died in 1805. In his early ages he was a slave in Africa, and later he was sold to be a slave in Haiti. In 1791 a slave rebellion broke out, and Dessalines was able to break out. He helped Haiti gain its independence by capturing the Spanish-controlled eastern half of the island. He also forced the French the surrender and leave the island. Lastly he had a campaign to eliminate the white population of Haiti. Unfortunately he died in 1805 but he had a huge impact of Haiti's independence. Today, October 17th, which is the day of his death, is a national holiday in Haiti, and the Haitian national anthem is "La Dessalinienne.