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Thedecolonization of the Americas occurred over several centuries as most of the countries in theAmericas gained their independence fromEuropean rule. TheAmerican Revolution was the first in the Americas, and the British defeat in theAmerican Revolutionary War (1775–83) was a victory against agreat power, aided by France and Spain, Britain's enemies. TheFrench Revolution in Europe followed, and collectively these events had profound effects on theSpanish,Portuguese, andFrench colonies in the Americas. Arevolutionary wave followed, resulting in the creation of several independent countries inLatin America. TheHaitian Revolution (1791–1804), perhaps one of the most successful slave uprisings in history, resulted in the independence of the French slave colony ofSaint-Domingue (nowHaiti). ThePeninsular War with France, which resulted from theNapoleonic occupation of Spain, causedSpanish Creoles in Spanish America to question their allegiance to Spain, stoking independence movements that culminated in variousSpanish American wars of independence (1808–33), which were primarily fought between opposing groups of colonists and only secondarily against Spanish forces. At the same time, the Portuguese monarchyfled to Brazil during theFrench invasion of Portugal. After the royal court returned toLisbon, theprince regent,Pedro, remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newlyindependentBrazilian Empire.[1]
Spain would lose all three of its remaining Caribbean colonies by the end of the 1800s.Santo Domingo declared its first independence from Spain in 1821. The independent state was renamedRepublic of Spanish Haiti. Haiti conquered the region shortly afterwards in 1822. Two decades later, in 1844, independence was proclaimed for the second time, and theDominican Republic was established. This triggered theDominican War of Independence (1844–56). In 1861, however, Spain regained control of the territory, and the colony was reestablished. TheDominican Restoration War (1863–65), the second war of liberation, led to the second independence from Spain, and the Dominican Republic's third and final independence. Cuba fought for independence from Spain in theTen Years' War (1868–78) andLittle War (1879–80) and finally theCuban War of Independence (1895–98). American intervention in 1898 became theSpanish–American War and resulted in the United States gainingPuerto Rico,Guam (which are still U.S. territories), and thePhilippine Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Under military occupation, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate until its independence in 1902.
Peaceful independence by the voluntary withdrawal of colonial powers then became the norm in the second half of the 20th century. However, there are still British and Dutch colonies in North America (mostly Caribbean islands). France has fully integrated most of its former colonies in the Americas (French Guiana,Guadeloupe, andMartinique) as fully constituentDepartments of France.
During the 18th century, Spain recovered much of the strength it had lost in the 17th century but the country's resources were under strain because of the incessant warfare in Europe from 1793. This led to increased local participation in the financing of defense and increased participation in militias by the locally born. Such development was at odds with the ideals of the centralizedabsolute monarchy. The Spanish also made formal concessions to strengthen defense; InChiloé, Spanish authorities promised freedom from the Encomienda for Indigenous locals who settled near the new stronghold ofAncud (founded in 1768) and contributed to its defense. The increased local organization of the defenses would ultimately undermine the metropolitan authority and bolster the independence movement.[2]
TheNapoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought betweenFrance (led byNapoleon Bonaparte) and alliances involving Britain,Prussia,Spain,Portugal,Russia, andAustria at different times, from 1799 to 1815.
In the case of Spain and its colonies, in May 1808, Napoleon capturedCarlos IV and KingFernando VII and installed his brother,Joseph Bonaparte, as Spanish monarch. This event disrupted the political stability of Spain and broke the link with some of the colonies which were loyal to the Bourbon Dynasty. The local elites, the creoles, took matters into their own hands organizing themselves intojuntas to take "in absence of the king, Fernando VII, their sovereignty devolved temporarily back to the community". The juntas swore loyalty to the captive Fernando VII and each ruled different and diverse parts of the colony. Most of Fernando's subjects were loyal to him in 1808, but after he was restored to the Spanish crown in 1814, his policy of restoring absolute power alienated both the juntas and his subjects. He abrogated theCádiz Constitution of 1812 and punished those who had supported it. The violence used by royalist forces and the prospect of being ruled by Fernando shifted the majority of the colonist population in favor of separation from Spain.[3] The local elites reacted to absolutism in much the same way that the British colonial elites, Tory and Whig alike, had reacted to London's interference before 1775.
The colonial army of the Spanish Empire in the Americas was made up of local American and European supporters ofKing Ferdinand. The Royalists were made up of a cross-section of society loyal to the crown with Americans composing the majority of the royalist forces on all fronts. There were two types of military units: from the regular Spanish army which were sent out or formed with local Europeans and called Expidicionarios and units called veterans ormilitias created in the Americas. The militias included some veteran units and were called the disciplined militia. Only 11% of the personnel in the militias were European or American whites. AfterRafael del Riego's revolution in 1820, no more Spanish soldiers were sent to the wars in the Americas. In 1820 there were only 10,000 soldiers in Royal Army in Colombia and Venezuela, and Spaniards formed only 10% of all the royalist armies, and only half of the soldiers of the expeditionary units were European. By theBattle of Ayacucho in 1824, less than 1% of the soldiers were European.[citation needed]
The Enlightenment spurred the desire for social and economic reform to spread throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. Ideas about free trade andphysiocraticeconomics were raised by the Enlightenment.
Independence movements in South America can be traced back to slave revolts in plantations in the northernmost part of the continent and the Caribbean. In 1791, amassive slave revolt sparked a general insurrection against the plantation system and French colonial power.[4] These events were followed by a violent uprising led byJosé Leonardo Chirino andJosé Caridad González that sprung up in 1795 Venezuela, allegedly inspired by the revolution in Haiti.
Toussaint L'Ouverture was born a slave in Saint-Domingue where he developed labor skills that would give him higher privileges than other slaves. He intellectually and physically advanced resulting in promotion, land of his own, and owning slaves. In 1791, slaves in Haiti formed a revolution to seek independence from their French owners. L'Ouverture joined the rebellion as a top military official to abolish slavery without complete independence. However, through a series of letters written by Toussaint, it became clear that he grew open to equal human rights for all that live in Haiti. Similar to how the United States Constitution was ratified, the enlightenment ideas of equality and representation of the people created an impact of change against the status quo that sparked the revolution. The letter details the great concerns he felt due to a conservative shift in France's legislature after the revolution in 1797. The greatest fear was that these conservative values could give ideas to the French Government to bring back slavery. The enlightenment has proven to forever change the way a captive society thinks after L'Ouverture refuses to let the French send him and his people back into slavery. "[W]hen finally the rule of law took the place of anarchy under which the unfortunate colony had too long suffered, what fatality can have led the greatest enemy of its prosperity and our happiness still to dare to threaten us with the return of slavery?" Ultimately, slavery was abolished from French colonies in 1794 and Haiti declared Independence from France in 1804.[5]
TheUnited States of America declared independence fromGreat Britain on July 4, 1776, thus becoming the first independent, foreign-recognized nation in the Americas and the first European colonial entity to break from its mother country. Britain formally acknowledged American independence in 1783 after its defeat in theAmerican Revolutionary War. The U.S. victory encouraged independence movements in other parts of the Americas.
Although initially occupying only the land east of theMississippi between Canada and Florida, the United States would later eventuallyacquire various other North American territories from theBritish,French,Spanish, andRussians in succeeding years under the mantle ofManifest Destiny. While ending European control over the region, these events resulted in the expansion ofsettler colonialism against Native nations, especially following the discovery ofgold in regions such as the Dakotas and California, as well as opportunities for American settlers to claim farmland in theGreat Plains. Land speculators and individual settlers both played a significant role in the expansion of America into what was then termedIndian Territory. American encroachment on Indigenous nations prompted the creation of several federations opposed to Manifest Destiny such as theNorthwestern confederacy andTecumseh's Confederacy.
TheAmerican andFrench Revolutions had profound effects onSpanish,Portuguese andFrench colonies in the Americas.Haiti, a French slave colony, was the first to follow theUnited States to independence, during theHaitian Revolution, which lasted from 1791 to 1804. Thwarted in his attempt to rebuild a French empire in North America,Napoleon Bonaparte soldLouisiana to the United States and from then on focused on the European theater, marking the end of France's ambitions of building a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere.
Except forCuba andPuerto Rico, the Spanish colonies in the Americas won their independence during the first quarter of the 19th century.
During thePeninsular War,Napoleon installed his brother,Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne and captured the KingFernando VII. The crisis of political legitimacy sparked a reaction in Spain's overseas empire. Several assemblies were established after 1810 by theCriollos (Latin Americans who are of full or near full Spanish descent) to recover sovereignty and self-government based on theCastilian law and to rule American lands in the name ofFerdinand VII of Spain.
This experience of self-government, along with the influence ofLiberalism and the ideas of theFrench andAmerican Revolutions, brought about a struggle for independence, led by theLibertadores. The territories freed themselves, often with help from foreign mercenaries and privateers. The United States and Europe were neutral, yet aimed to achieve political influence and trade without the Spanish monopoly.
InSouth America,Simón Bolívar andJosé de San Martín led the final phase of the independence struggle. Although Bolívar attempted to keep the Spanish-speaking parts of the continent politically unified, they rapidly became independent of one another as well, and several further wars were fought, such as theParaguayan War and theWar of the Pacific.
A related process took place in what is now Mexico, Central America, and parts of North America between 1810 and 1821 with theMexican War of Independence. Independence was achieved in 1821 by a coalition uniting underAgustín de Iturbide and theArmy of the Three Guarantees. Unity was maintained for a short period under theFirst Mexican Empire, but within a decade the region fought against the United States over the borderlands (losing the bordering lands of California and Texas). Most of the heat was during the officialMexican-American War from 1846 to 1848.[6]
In 1898, in theGreater Antilles, theUnited States won theSpanish–American War and occupiedCuba andPuerto Rico, ending Spanish territorial control in the Americas.
After the defeat of Spain in thePeninsular War and the abdication ofKing Ferdinand VII, the Spanish colonial government of theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, present-dayArgentina, majority ofBolivia, parts ofChile,Paraguay andUruguay, became greatly weakened. Without a recognized king on the Spanish throne to render the office of the Viceroy legitimate, the right ofViceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to govern came under fire. The local elites, tired of the Spanish trade restrictions and taxes, seized the opportunity and during theMay Revolution of 1810, removed Cisneros and created the first local government, thePrimera Junta.
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Following half a decade of battles and skirmishes with provincial royalist forces within the former Vice-royalty along with military expeditions across the Andes toChile,Peru andBolivia led byGeneral José de San Martín to finally end Spanish rule in America, a formal declaration was signed on 9 July 1816, by an assembly inSan Miguel de Tucumán, declaring full independence with provisions for a national constitution.The Argentine Constitution was signed in 1853, declaring the creation of theArgentine Republic.
Following upheaval caused by theMay Revolution, along with the independence movements inChile andVenezuela, a local struggle for independence kicked off with two failed revolutions. Over sixteen years of struggle followed before the first steps toward the establishment of a republic were taken.
Formally, it is considered that the fight for independence culminated in theBattle of Ayacucho, on 9 December 1824.[citation needed]
Colombia was the firstSouth American country to declare independence fromSpain and the third oldest independent country afterHaiti and theUnited States.[citation needed]
The Chilean Independence campaign was led by Liberator General Jose de San Martin with the support of Chilean exiles such as Bernardo O'Higgins. The local independence movement was composed of Chilean-born criollos, who sought political and economic independence from Spain. The independence movement was far from gaining unanimous support among Chileans, who became divided between independentists and royalists. What started as an elitist political movement against their colonial master, finally ended as a full-fledged civil war. Traditionally, the process is divided into three stages:Patria Vieja,Reconquista, andPatria Nueva.
The first uprising against Spanish rule took place in 1809, and criollos in Ecuador set up a junta on 22 September 1810, to rule in the name of the Bourbon monarch; but as elsewhere, it allowed assertion of their power.[7] Only in 1822 didEcuador fully gain independence and became part ofGran Colombia, from which it withdrew in 1830.[8] At theBattle of Pichincha, near present-dayQuito,Ecuador on 24 May 1822, GeneralAntonio José de Sucre's forces defeated a Spanish force defending Quito. The Spanish defeat guaranteed the liberation of Ecuador.
In 1821, the entire Kingdom of Guatemala was peacefully subject to Spanish rule. With the innovations produced by the constitutional system, the freedom of the press and the exaltation of the parties, which were born in the popular elections, opinion in favor of independence spread.
Those in favor of independence held meetings in Guatemala, but they did not have the resources to rise up against the government; They expected everything from the progress made in Mexico by the Plan of Iguala or Plan of Independence. Likewise, not all the independentists were in agreement with the system of government proclaimed by Iturbide, much less by the dynasty called to the Mexican throne, but then it was only about independence, each one reserving their opinion regarding the forms of government.
On September 13, the minutes of Ciudad Real de Chiapas and other towns of that State adhering to the Plan of Iguala were received in Guatemala; the advances that the army was making gave all their strength to the pronouncements of Chiapas, which by itself never had any political importance in that kingdom.
The trustee of the Guatemala City Council, Mr. Mariano Aycinena, requested an extraordinary session to present a petition in order to proclaim independence.[9]
Independence in Mexico was a protracted struggle from 1808 until the fall of the royal government in 1821 and the establishment of independent Mexico. In theViceroyalty of New Spain, as elsewhere in Spanish America in 1808, people reacted to the unexpected French invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the ouster of the Bourbon king, replaced byJoseph Bonaparte. Local American-born Spaniards saw the opportunity to seize control from ViceroyJosé de Iturrigaray who may well have been sympathetic to creoles' aspirations. Iturrigaray was ousted by pro-royalists. A few from among the creole elites sought independence, includingJuan Aldama,Ignacio Allende, and the secular parish priestMiguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Hidalgo made a proclamation in his home parish of Dolores, which was not recorded in writing at the time, but denounced the bad government andgachupines (pejorative for peninsular-born Spaniards), and declared independence. The unorganized hordes following Hidalgo wrought destruction on the property and the lives of whites in the region of the Bajío. Hidalgo was caught, defrocked, and executed in 1811, along with Allende. Their heads remained on display until 1821. His former studentJosé María Morelos continued the rebellion and was himself caught and killed in 1815. The struggle of Mexican insurgents continued under the leadership ofVicente Guerrero andGuadalupe Victoria. From 1815 to 1820 there was a stalemate in New Spain, with royalist forces unable to defeat the insurgents and the insurgents unable to expand beyond their narrow territory in the southern region. Again, events in Spain intervened, with an uprising of military men against Ferdinand VII and the restoration of the liberalSpanish Constitution of 1812, which mandated a constitutional monarchy and curtailed the power of the Roman Catholic Church. The monarch repudiated the constitution once the Spanish monarchy was restored in 1814. For conservatives in New Spain, these changed political circumstances threatened the institutions of church and state. Royal military officerAgustín de Iturbide seized the opportunity to lead, allying with his former enemy Guerrero. Iturbide proclaimed thePlan de Iguala, which called for independence, equality of peninsular and American-born Spaniards, a monarchy with a prince from Spain as king, and secured Catholicism as the proclaimed state religion.[10] He persuaded the insurgent Guerrero to ally with him and create theArmy of the Three Guarantees.Juan O'Donojú,the final Viceroy of New Spain, and Iturbide settled atreaty in Córdoba which recognized Mexico as independent from the Spanish Empire. Iturbide and O'Donojú entered Mexico City with the Army of the Three Guarantees on September 27, 1821, where the remaining Spanish forces surrendered.[11] With no European monarch presenting himself for the Crown of Mexico, Iturbide himself was proclaimed emperor Agustín I in 1822. He was overthrown in 1823 and Mexico was established as a republic. Decades of political and economic instability ensued which resulted in a population decline.
Paraguaygained its independence on the night of May 14 and the morning of May 15, 1811, after a plan organized by various pro-independence nationalists includingFulgencio Yegros andJosé Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia.
Spain initially had the support of the Lima oligarchs because of their opposition to the commercial interests of Buenos Aires and Chile. Therefore, theViceroyalty of Peru became the last redoubt of the Spanish Monarchy in South America. Nevertheless, a Creole rebellion arose in 1812 inHuánuco and another inCusco between 1814 and 1816. Both were suppressed. These rebellions were supported by the armies of Buenos Aires.
Peru finally succumbed after the decisive continental campaigns of José de San Martín (1820–1823) and Simón Bolívar (1824). While San Martín was in charge of the land campaign, a newly built Chilean Navy led byLord Cochrane transported the fighting troops and launched a sea campaign against the Spanish fleet in the Pacific. San Martín, who had displaced the royalists of Chile after theBattle of Maipú, and who had disembarked inParacas in 1820, proclaimed the independence of Peru in Lima on 28 July 1821. Four years later, the Spanish Monarchy was defeated definitively at theBattle of Ayacucho in late 1824.
After independence, the conflicts of interests that faced different sectors of Creole Peruvian society and the particular ambitions of thecaudillos, made the organization of the country excessively difficult. Only three civilians — Manuel Pardo, Nicolás de Piérola, and Francisco García Calderón — acceded to the presidency in the first seventy-five years of Peru's independence. The Republic of Bolivia was created in Upper Peru. In 1837, aPeru-Bolivian Confederation was also created, but was dissolved two years later due to Chilean military intervention.
Following the events of theMay Revolution, in 1811José Gervasio Artigas led a successful revolt against the Spanish forces in the Provincia Oriental, now Uruguay, joining the independentist movement that was taking place in theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata at the time. In 1821, the Provincia Oriental was invaded by Portugal, trying to annex it into Brazil under the name of Província Cisplatina.
The former Vice-royalty of the Río de la Plata,United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, fought back against Brazil in a war that lasted over 2 years, eventually turning into a stalemate. The Brazilian forces withdrew with the United Provinces keeping them at bay but failing to win any decisive victory. With neither side gaining the upper hand and the economic burden of the war crippling the United Provinces economy, theTreaty of Montevideo was signed in 1828, fostered by Britain, declaring Uruguay as an independent state.[12]
According to theEncyclopedia Americana of 1865, General Francisco de Miranda, already a hero to the French, Prussians, English, and Americans had garnered a series of successes against the Spanish between 1808 and 1812. He had effectively negated their access to all the ports in the Caribbean, thus preventing them from receiving reinforcements and supplies, and was essentially conducting mopping-up operations throughout the country. At that point, he convinced Simon Bolívar to join the struggle and put him in charge of the fort at Puerto Cabello. This was all at once a supply and arms depot, a strategic port, and the central holding facility for Spanish prisoners. Through what amounts to a gross dereliction of duty, Simon Bolívar neglected to enforce the customary security dispositions before departing to a social event. During the night there was an uprising of the Spanish prisoners and they managed to subdue the Independentist garrison and gain control of the supplies, arms and ammunition, and the port. The Loyalist forces progressively regained control of the country and eventually, Monteverde's successes forced the newly formed congress of the republic to ask Miranda that he sign a capitulation at La Victoria in Aragua, on July 12, 1812, thus ending the first phase of the revolutionary war.
After the capitulation of 1812,Simón Bolívar turned over Francisco de Miranda to the Spanish authorities, secured a safe passage for himself and his closest officers, and fled toNew Granada. He later returned with a new army, while the war had entered a tremendously violent phase. After much of the local aristocracy had abandoned the cause of independence, blacks and mulattoes carried on the struggle. Elites reacted with open distrust and opposition to the efforts of these common people. Bolívar's forcesinvaded Venezuela from New Granada in 1813, waging a campaign with a ferocity captured perfectly by their motto of "war to the death". Bolívar's forces defeated Domingo Monteverde's Spanish army in a series of battles, takingCaracas on August 6, 1813, and besieging Monteverde atPuerto Cabello in September 1813.
With loyalists displaying the same passion and violence, the rebels achieved only short-lived victories. The army led by the loyalistJosé Tomás Boves demonstrated the key military role that theLlaneros came to play in the region's struggle. Turning the tide against independence, these highly mobile, ferocious fighters made up a formidable military force that pushed Bolívar out of his home country once more. In 1814, heavily reinforced Spanish forces in Venezuela lost a series of battles to Bolívar's forces but then decisively defeated Bolivar at La Puerta on June 15, took Caracas on July 16, and again defeated his army atAragua on August 18, for 2,000 Spanish casualties out of 10,000 soldiers as well as most of the 3,000 in the rebel army. Bolívar and other leaders then returned to New Granada. Later that year the largest expeditionary force ever sent by Spain to America arrived under the command ofPablo Morillo. This force effectively replaced the improvised llanero units, who weredisbanded by Morillo.
Bolívar and other republican leaders returned to Venezuela in December 1816, leading a largely unsuccessful insurrection against Spain from 1816 to 1818 from bases in theLlanos andCiudad Bolívar in theOrinoco River area.
In 1819 Bolívar successfully invaded New Granada, and returned to Venezuela in April 1821, leading an army of 7,000. AtCarabobo on June 24, his forces decisively defeated Spanish and colonial forces, winning Venezuelan independence, although hostilities continued.
Unlike the Spanish, the Portuguese did not divide their colonial territory in the Americas. The captaincies they created were subdued to a centralized administration in Salvador which reported directly to the Crown in Lisbon. Therefore, it is not common to refer to "Portuguese America" (like Spanish America, Dutch America, etc.), but rather to Brazil, as a unified colony since its very beginnings.
As a result, Brazil did not split into several states by the time of independence (1822), as happened to its Spanish-speaking neighbors. The adoption of a monarchy instead of a federal republic in the first six decades of Brazilian political sovereignty also contributed to the nation's unity.[citation needed]
After several failed revolts in the Portuguese colony,Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the PortuguesekingDom João VI, proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's firstEmperor. This began whenNapoleon Bonaparte forced the Portuguese court out of their capital city of Lisbon and into exile in Brazil. Over the next eight years, the capital of the Portuguese empire would be located inRio de Janeiro. In 1815, after Lisbon was reclaimed from the French by the Portuguese, King Dom João VI declared that Rio and Lisbon would become equal centers of the empire. King João VI was forced back to Lisbon in 1821 by the Portuguese Cortes but left his son Dom Pedro behind to run Rio. A year later, Dom Pedro declared independence for Brazil and officially became emperor Pedro I. Although Brazil's independence was met with little resistance from Portugal, several small-scale battles were fought against Portuguese loyalist forces until 1824 to bring the rest of the Brazilian territories under the control of the new Brazilian government, and they were officially recognized by their former colonial overlords in 1825.[13]
Canada's transition from colonial rule to independence occurred gradually over many decades and was achieved mostly through political means, as opposed to the violent revolutions that marked the end of colonialism in other North and South American countries. Attempts at revolting against the British, such as theRebellions of 1837–1838, were brief and quickly put down. Canada was declared a dominion within the British Empire in 1867. Originally, the Canadian Confederation included just a few of what are now Canada's eastern provinces; other British colonies in modern-day Canada, such asBritish Columbia,Prince Edward Island, andNewfoundland, would join later (the last only in 1949). Additionally, Britain's and Norway's claims to Arctic lands were ceded to Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1931, the United Kingdom had relinquished its control over Canada's foreign policy. What few political links that remained between Canada and the UK were formally severed in 1982 with theCanada Act.
Other countries did not gain independence until the 20th century:
FromSpain:
From the United Kingdom:
From the Netherlands:
Some parts of the Americas are still administered by European countries or the United States:
Some of the remaining non-sovereign territories of the Americas have retained this status by choice, and enjoy a significant degree of self-government. (Some have nevertheless been placed on theU.N. list of non-self-governing territories, an ongoing subject of controversy.) Aruba, for example, seceded from the Netherlands Antilles on January 1, 1986, and became a separate, self-governing member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. A movement toward full independence by 1996 was halted at Aruba's request in 1990.French Guiana,Guadeloupe andMartinique are not considereddependent territories ofFrance, but have been "incorporated" into France itself, as overseasdépartements (départements d'outre-mer, or DOM). Other regions however have had or currently have movements to change their political status, for example, different movements to change thepolitical status of Puerto Rico and intermittent calls for independence in other non-sovereign territories such asMartinique and others, with differing amounts of support. Anindependence referendum in Bermuda in 1995 resulted in a massive "no" vote.
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This is alist of all presentsovereign states in North America and their predecessors. The division between North and South America is unclear, generally viewed as lying somewhere in theIsthmus of Panama, however, theCaribbean Islands, Central America including the whole ofPanama is considered to be part of North America as its southernmost nation. The continent wascolonized by theEuropeans: Mainly by theSpaniards, theFrench, theEnglish and theDutch. The United States of America gained its independence inAmerican Revolutionary War; most of nations inCentral America gainedindependence in the early 19th century; Canada and many other island countries in theCaribbean Sea (most of them were British colonies) gained their independence in 20th century. Today, North America consists of twenty-two sovereign states with common government system being some form ofpresidential republic.
This is alist of all presentsovereign states inSouth America and their predecessors. The division between North and South America is unclear, generally viewed as lying somewhere in theIsthmus of Panama, however, the whole ofPanama is considered to be part of North America as its southernmost nation. The continent wascolonized by theEuropeans: First by theSpaniards, and thePortuguese; and later by theDutch, theFrench, and theEnglish. Most of the present-day nations gainedindependence in the early 19th century. Today, South America consists of twelve sovereign states with common government system being some form ofpresidential republic.
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Great Britain and the United States were rivals for influence in the newly independent sovereign nations.[15] As a result of the successful revolutions which established so many newly independent nations, United States PresidentJames Monroe and the Secretary of StateJohn Quincy Adams drafted theMonroe Doctrine.[citation needed] It stated that the United States would not tolerate any European interference in theWestern Hemisphere. This measure ostensibly was taken to safeguard the newfound liberties of these new countries, but it was also taken as a precautionary measure against the intrusion of European states.[citation needed] Since the United States was a newly founded nation, it could not prevent other European powers from interfering, for that the United States looked for Britain's help and support to execute the Monroe Doctrine into action.
Great Britain's trade with Latin America greatly expanded during the revolutionary period, which until then was restricted due to Spanishmercantilist trade policies. British pressure was sufficient to prevent Spain from attempting any serious reassertion of its control over its lost colonies.
The notion of closer Spanish American cooperation and unity was first put forward by the LiberatorSimón Bolívar who, in 1826Congress of Panama, proposed the creation of a league of American republics, with a common military, a mutual defense pact, and a supranational parliamentary assembly. This meeting was attended by representatives ofGran Colombia (comprising the modern-day nations of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela),Peru, theUnited Provinces of Central America (Guatemala,El Salvador,Honduras,Nicaragua, andCosta Rica), andMexico. Nevertheless, the great distances and geographical barriers, not to mention the different national and regional interests, made union impossible.
Sixty-three years later the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics was established. It was renamed the International Commercial Bureau at the Second International Conference of 1901–1902. These two bodies, in existence as of 14 April 1890, represent the point of inception of today'sOrganization of American States.
United States.
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