The Political Legacies of Simón Bolívar and Bernardo O'Higgins
Open Access
Author:
Russell, Meghan K
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Kent Russell Lohse, Thesis Supervisor Kent Russell Lohse, Thesis Supervisor Catherine Wanner, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Simón Bolívar
Abstract:
This thesis will explain the political legacies of the South American liberators Simón Bolívar and Bernardo O’Higgins. It will provide an explanation of the lives of the two men and events in South America and Europe that led to the Spanish American independence movements, looking at Venezuela and Chile with more detail. Next it will describe the life of Bolívar and his influence on the Venezuelan independence movement, the formation of Venezuela’s governments and what Bolívar meant for Venezuela’s future. The following section will then describe the life of O’Higgins and his influence on the Chilean independence movement, the formation of Chile’s government and early constitutions and the impact O’Higgins had on Chile’s future. Finally it will conclude with a discussion of the differences and similarities between the actions of the two men and why Chile developed a more constitutionally minded governmental history while Venezuela was ruled by a series of military dictatorships.
