FREEDOM!!!!

After much time under Spanish rule, the residents seemed to develop not a love for the Spanish but the ability to withstand them. Now, that doesn’t mean they were happy with Spanish rules, laws, and how they were treated not even close. And those the strict laws eventually caught up to the Spanish and in the years 1780 and 1781 many protests occurred, fueled by the residents anger of the new taxes that were placed on them. These protests didn’t last long and were cleared out in a short period of time, but one thing happened that was very important to the gaining of Colombia’s independence, and that is that Colombia’s residents just got a taste of freedom and were ready to fight for more. The most recent separation from Spain power was in 1804 when what is today known as Haiti declared their freedom. Which would lead to support for Colombia from the leaders of the rebellion Simon Bolivar and Francisco de Paula Santandar. The French army had been occupying Spain at the time[1]. And the residents of the South American colonies knew it was a good time to attack while Spain was week. At this time Colombia was split up into many separate governments. And after the defeat of France in 1814, Spain sent troops to Colombia to fight the rebellions, and many wars and fights occurred. In 1812 Simon Bolívar was pushing for independence in individual provinces but the lack of support from outside nations frustrated him and he fled to Jamaica[2]. After the leaving of Simon, a man named Morillo took control of the revolt, through smart tactics like granting freedom to slaves who helped fight and actually made great progress with the rebellion, through these actions Simon Bolívar’s confidence grew in the revolt and for the first time believed that the war was winnable and returned to finish what he started. Two big battles really gained the upper hand the rebellion needed for their independence. On was when Francisco de Paula Santander defeated the Spanish Royalists in April 1819. And the Battle of Boyacá in august 1819 let independent forces enter Bogato without resistance, and through both those battles Spain became very weak and eventually lost their rule over Colombia which finally gave Colombia the independence they had been fighting for, for so long.

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