te the emotional tinderbox that flared in 1810. (Clayton & Conniff, 20)Creole unrest was widespread when Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal in 1807. For the Latin American revolution, the timing could not have been better. The monarchs were disposed and Napoleon installed his brother as king. Spanish rebels fought the illegitimate Bonaparte in a civil war for six years. This left the colonies isolated and they rejected the authority of Spain. As a solution, they created local governments, of juntas, primarily filled with Creoles to rule in the king’s absence. “Dissatisfaction had been given ideological form by the Enlightenment, awhile the crown and peninsulares had thoroughly antagonized Creoles for decades by denying them what they considered their legitimate aspirations. Napoleon’s invasions of Spain, by suspending colonial loyalty to the Spanish sate, touched off the fuse to the powder keg.” (Clayton & Conniff, 22)Independence took different courses between regions. Some, such as Brazil, were relatively peaceful, but others, such as Peru and Mexico, were bloody. The wars for independence distinguished many brave and courageous soldiers. The names of patriots such as Bolivar, Hidalgo, San Martin, and Artigas among many others, inspire pride in the Latin America. After the revolutions began, success did not come smoothly. Counterrevolutions took back many of the initial successes from the patriots, but tenacity and devotion finally, after fifteen years, won Latin America its freedom. Independence brought new problems and challenges. The struggle to create new legitimate forms of government created differences, and political turmoil created confusion and tension. The church was attacked for being conservative and suffocating. Revolutionaries wanted to take the churches power and lands. This created clearly defined battle lines that caused enduring problems for the new nations. One of the basic ideals...
