WHAT MECHANISMS DID THE COLONIES USE TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE? - HISTORY - 2025

The mechanisms that the colonies used to gain independence ranged from the formation of armies made up of soldiers and civilians to the financing and military support of other allied countries. Some of these mechanisms were the product of ideas developed in the independence struggles within Europe itself.

In this sense, all the processes of declarations of independence of the American colonies occurred in a relatively short period of time. In 1783, the United States achieved its independence from the British crown. Haiti separated from the French Empire 21 years later.

View of the Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico, at the intersection of Carranza and Hidalgo, during the parade on September 16, Mexico's Independence Day.

As for the Ibero-American colonies, controlled by Spain and Portugal, they began their liberation 14 years after Haiti. As of the year 1821, these liberations from the colonial yoke began to take shape. In this way, in a span of more than a century, these Ibero-American colonies became independent from their imperial centers.

In most cases, independence involved an internal discussion of ideas to shape the project. Similarly, there was influence of libertarian ideas and processes from other latitudes.

Also, inevitably, except in the cases of Brazil and Paraguay, the colonies had to defend their independence decision by armed means.

At this stage of the process there was, also in most cases, foreign aid (money, arms and soldiers) and armies were formed (formal in some cases and militias in others) that fought against the Europeans until they were withdrawn from the American continent..

What were the mechanisms that the colonies used to become independent? Description

Formation of patriotic armies

The formation of patriotic armies was one of the most common mechanisms used by the colonies to gain independence. Once the colonies declared in absentia, the European centers of government sent their armies to try to regain control by force.

In response, the inhabitants organized and created armed groups of the military (regular army), civilians (militia), or both. This method was used by the first American colony to declare itself independent, the United States of America.

In this sense, this feat was considered a precursor of the Latin American independence processes. A patriot army made up of civilians and soldiers faced the British troops until they defeated them and their liberation was finalized in 1781.

This mechanism was also used in the independence wars of the colonies of the kingdom of Spain. In these cases, after a period of domination that began at the end of the 15th century, the Spanish-speaking colonies took advantage of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain.

Starting in the 1800s, the colonies began to declare themselves free from Spanish rule in the face of Spanish weakness due to the deposition of their king. Then, the Spanish crown sent its troops to the different places where acts of rebellion broke out in order to quell them.

This led the occupiers of the colonies to organize and form armies to fight the royalist Spaniards. The war lasted for several years and culminated in the independence of all of them.

Foreign assistance

Foreign assistance was another of the mechanisms used by the colonies to gain independence. The rebels received foreign military assistance to keep up the fight.

On the other hand, the motivations of these other nations were political in nature. In many cases, they sought to weaken their enemy by stripping them of control of their colony.

For example, the French collaborated with the Americans to defeat the British. The aid consisted of ground troops and naval fleets that battled until final victory in 1783.

Another of the nations that supported them was the Spanish that, clandestinely, supplied arms at the beginning of the independence war.

Also, the liberation of the Spanish colonies had foreign military aid. In this sense, the action of the British Legion in the Battle of Carabobo (Venezuela, 1814) illustrates this collaboration. In the same way, this military body participated in the independence events in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

On the other hand, the Venezuelan liberation army also gave assistance to the patriotic armies of other South American colonies. Under the command of General Simón Bolívar, they traveled thousands of kilometers, including traveling through frozen moors, to support them.

Revolutionary ideology

The ideas that emerged from the Enlightenment and the French Revolution can be counted as one of the mechanisms that the colonies used to gain independence.

The Enlightenment, a European cultural movement (18th-19th centuries), promoted free thought. Meanwhile, the French Revolution (1789-1799) imposed the concepts of freedom, fraternity and equality.

These ideas were decisive in the fight for the liberation of Santo Domingo (now Haiti). This French colony was made up of a majority population of slaves and a minority made up of Creoles and Europeans. Slaves were exploited and mistreated on plantations that generated good profits for France.

In this case, the French Revolution had a powerful echo among the slave majority. Various groups of slaves rose up and fought against their oppressors for a decade.

Then, in 1801, France sent a powerful army to bring order to the island, unleashing a conflict that lasted until 1804. That year, the French forces were completely defeated and the total independence of Haiti was formally declared.

Likewise, these revolutionary ideas influenced the independence movements of other colonies. In general, all the Spanish colonies invoked the ideas of both the Enlightenment and the French Revolution to justify their actions.

The written word

Written communication (letters, edicts, gazettes, pamphlets) is considered an important part of the mechanisms that the colonies used to gain independence.

Despite the fact that only sectors of the Creole and peninsular elites could read and that printing presses were scarce, it became another weapon of war.

Thus, royalists and insurgents used all kinds of writing to propagate their ideas, criticize the other side, and convince citizens. In addition, prominent political and military figures wrote letters to communicate strategies to their allies.

Among others, secret letters, often written in code, were sent between commanders of the troops to synchronize movements during the war. The letters were often sent back and forth via trusted couriers.

References

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