Women and Independence in Latin America

During the early nineteenth century, Latin America was shaken to its foundations by social and political upheaval, war and revolution. From Guanajuato to Buenos Aires, insurgent forces who opposed Spanish rule participated in a series of bloody and protracted Wars of Independence which spanned the period between 1810 and 1833.

The immediate trigger of the conflict was the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1807 and 1808, but its roots also lay in the growing discontentment of American-born Creole elites with the restrictions imposed by Spanish imperial rule. This disenchantment was shared by Indian and mixed race populations, but from very different perspectives and social positions. Those who opposed Spanish rule, who came to be known broadly as the ‘Patriots’ as the conflict unfolded (as opposed to their enemies, the ‘Royalists’) , were influenced by the political and intellectual climate generated by the eighteenth-century Enlightenment and the French and North American revolutions.

In deeply patriarchal societies which radically restricted the opportunities available to women from across the social spectrum, the protagonists of the struggle for Independence were, in their overwhelming majority, men. However, women did play a significant role in the Wars. They assumed supporting, non-combinative roles, but they also donned military uniforms and fought on the battlefield and as part of guerrilla campaigns. Micaela Bastidas, who led an unsuccessful rebellion against Spanish rule in Peru in 1780 alongside her husband, and Policarpa Salavarrieta, who offered logistical support to the Patriots in Colombia, are just two examples of these stereotype-shattering women.

The political status of Latin American men and women changed radically during the nineteenth century. From subjects of Iberian absolutism without political rights, they became potential citizens of independent republics founded on the principal of liberty. This ‘liberty’, however, never took women in to account: as a social sector, they were denied political rights under the new republican constitutions declared after the Royalists were defeated. Confined to the domestic sphere and denied a public voice, Latin American women would have to fight for two centuries in order to achieve the presence which they now enjoy in the public spheres of their countries.

In the present day, in societies where at times restrictive cultural stereotypes still exist, Latin American women can still  encounter economic, cultural and social barriers. The mould-breaking women who took up arms for the Independence cause, or who lent logistical and economic support to it, fought to defend their beliefs and demolished powerful stereotypes in the process. They thus have pertinent contemporary relevance for modern women.

This page is part of an interactive and community-driven research project hosted by the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at the University of Nottingham. The project explores the long-overlooked role played by women in the Wars of Independence in Latin America.

Historvians are invited to upload pictures and descriptions of sites and monuments which relate to this dramatic and intriguing period in Latin American History, especially those which deal with the part played by women in the conflict.

Why not explore the map of those places which played a vital role in the Wars of Independence. Alternatively click on the title of each site below for more information. You can also join the conversation on the project's Facebook page.