Simon Bolivar was a leader for Latin America who fought for independence against the Spanish. His goal was to free Latin America from the Spanish’s rule. In order to achieve his goal, Bolivar knew he had to root out the Spanish’s culture of owning slaves. Back in Spain, slavery was nothing new to their people, however in Latin America, it was not viewed in a good light. Bolivar did not see eye to eye with Spain on slavery in Latin America and decided to go against slavery. Time after time, Bolivar would voice his negative view on slavery to Spain but every time, he would get rejected because to Spain, Latin America as a whole was a cash crop. Latin America provided all sorts of goods that Spain could profit off of and wanted to keep gaining. While Spain continued to rule Latin America with an iron fist, the anger of the people also built up. It was this anger that Bolivar used to unite and defy the Spanish rule. In the end, Simon Bolivar was able to help free Latin America from Spain, earning the name “The Liberator.”
Simon Bolivar was not perfect either. On one side he fought for Latin America because of how Spain treated people who weren’t Spaniards. On the other, he also treated Spaniards unequally such as, any Spaniards that committed a crime would be labeled “traitor” and would be shot. Latin Americans meanwhile would be pardoned. While Bolivar fought for independence because of how Spain treated Latin Americans, he was also similar to the Spanish. In the end, there is no such thing as a perfect leader, it all depends on which side you look at.