Simon Bolivar and Latin American RevolutionSimon Bolivar was born in Caracas on July, 1783. Simon Bolivar received an excellent education from hid tutors. Over the years Bolivar became familiar with the works of the Enlightenment as well as those of classical Greece and Rome.Bolivar lost his parents so when growing up, his uncle took care of Simon. By the time Simon was fifteen years old, his uncle Carlos Palacios sent him to Spain to continue his education.
As he returned to Venezuela, Bolivar joined the group of patriots that seized Caracas in 1810 and proclaimed independence from Spain. He went to Great Britain in search of aid, but could get only a promise of British neutrality. When he returned to Venezuela, and took command of a patriot army, he recaptured Caracas in 1813 from the Spaniards.
Bolivar crushed the Spanish army at Carabobo in Venezuela on June 24, 1821. Next, he marched into Educador and added that territory to the new Colombian republic. After a meeting in 1822 with another great liberator, Bolivar became dictator of Peru. His army won a victory over the Spaniards at Auacucho in 1824, which needed Spanish power in South America. Upper Peru became a separate state, named Bolivia in Bolivar's honor, in 1825. The constitution, which he drew up for Bolivia, is one of his most important political pronouncements.
