María Antonia Bolívar and the War for Independence in Venezuela
Just as had occurred during the American Revolution, the revolutions in South America split loyalists who continued to support the Spanish monarchy and those who wanted independence. To stem the intense infighting and conflict that frequently resulted, Bolívar became a temporary dictator in Venezuela, Peru, and president of the newly-formed Gran Colombia. Read this article, which describes the power dynamic between revolutionaries and royalists. How did this type of conflict impact the revolutionary movements?
The Aftermath of Independence
On June 24, 1821, the republican army defeated the royalist army at the Battle of Carabobo and, for all intents and purposes, freed Venezuela of Spanish control. Pockets of resistance still remained; the last Spanish garrison at Puerto Cabello was finally routed in 1823. That very year María Antonia and her family returned to Venezuela aboard a United States frigate of war to reclaim her properties.22
According to the provisions of the 1819 Congress of Angostura, Venezuela and New Granada were united as Colombia, with the seat of government in Bogotá. The central government was in the hands of Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander23 while Bolívar was leading armies in Ecuador and Peru. The Colombian Congress did not always act favorably toward Caracas. The political arrangement benefited neither the Venezuelan elite nor General José Antonio Páez who was vying for leadership of the country. Despite the political factionalism and the separatist movement in eastern Venezuela, state and local governments organized, and Bolívar's army received money and men for the liberation of Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.24
The Venezuelan economy was devastated in the aftermath of war. Plantations that had been sequestered by either the royalists or the patriots were rented out and worked for the benefit of the side that held them. A great many estates that were not seized were destroyed or ruined. Thus, agriculture that had been the mainstay of the economy for centuries suffered a drastic decline. The task of rebuilding the agricultural infrastructure fell to returning émigres, as did the revival of North Atlantic trade and commerce.