A revolution with slaves and with Bolivar. An interpretative essay

Abstract

Between 1780 and 1880 European colonialism was in crisis. Liberal Atlantic revolutions of the nineteenth century prompted American colonies’ choice of political independence. Independence was presented by the rising nationalism as independence revolutions or revolutionary independence wars. It is argued in this article that these were civil wars of independence from where a new political system emerged and that despite the liberal ideas, it continued with a slavery regime. The article also discusses the use made of the political figure of Bolivar to hide the fact that there was a big change in the structures of the economic system and land ownership. To conclude, it is proposed to understand this process by downplaying the myth of Bolivar.