Latin America Revolution.

The spread of enlightenment ideas had pointed out to many educated Latin Americans the unjust system in which most people were forced to live under European rule. When news of the French Revolutionspread, and Europe became occupied with its own struggles, many Latin Americans, inspired by the French Revolutionaries, rose up against their colonial masters. During the 19th century countries inSouth and Central America and the Caribbean won their Independence from European control.
The ideals of the French Revolution crossed the Atlantic Ocean. In the French colony of Saint-Dominque(present-day Haiti), slaves revolted against colonial oppression. The American and French Revolutions gave hope to conquered and subjugated people in the Americas that change was possible. The ideals ofliberty and equality inspired individuals, especially Toussaint L’Ouverture. Toussaint L’Ouverture had been born a slave but his master allowed him to be educated. Over time, Toussaint rose to a positionof respect within the slave community, especially because he wanted to improve the lives of slaves.
Toussaint L’Ouverture knowing the brutality of the slave system, particularly on the sugarplantations in the Caribbean, L’Ouverture understood that slave labor made it possible for French colonists to live in wealth and luxury. Of course, he also understood the cost of that wealthy and luxury.Slaves were abused, exhausted, and mistreated in order to increase colonial profits. Toussaint led an uprising of slaves against the colonists and was successful until Napoleon sent an army to retakethe island in 1802. Toussaint resisted, was captured, and was put in prison where he died. His successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, continued to fight the French but many French soldiers came down withYellow Fever and died. By 1804, Saint-Dominque gained its independence from France and was renamed Haiti.
In Latin America, the colonies controlled by Spanish and Portuguese were compromised of...