Summary
JCB Archive of Early American Images, accession number 05705, ’Lancers of the plains of Apuré, attacking Spanish troops’
After searching for photos in the John Carter Brown Archive of Early American Images, I came across a photo that made me immediately connect back to a reading from last week's assignment. However, before jumping into the reading I believe it best connects back to, let’s really analyze and interpret what's going on here. This selected picture specifically spoke to me and correlated a connection to the reading because it quite literally depicts the scene of a battle. In the photo we see two opposing sides at battle. Looking at the title of the image ‘’Lancers of the plains of Apuré, attacking Spanish troops’’, it allows us to dive deeper into what is going on here and analyze the events in a more historically accurate way. Reading further into the description of the photo we learn that the plains of Apuré are located in what is known as present-day Venezuela and Colombia. These Lancers, or sometimes referred to as the “bravos de Apuré,” were crucial in securing Simón Bolívar’s victory at Carabobo. The “llaneros” or also known as the Venezuelan and Colombian cavalry that fought in not only this battle but others as well, were largely pardo (or mulatto) and “zambo” (of African and native descent).
Now knowing this we can connect back to the previous reading ‘’War To Death’’- Simon Bolivar. In this excerpt from Simon Bolivar’s 1813 proclamation, we learned that he drew a rhetorical line separating all American born from all Spanish born people. This Latin American movement for independence called for disagreements, demands, sacrifice, fear and battle. It is also noted that Simón Bolívar was willing to forgive the crimes committed by the Spaniards against Venezuela, but only if they abandoned their old ways and worked alongside him to rebuild and reestablish the nation. Non-white majorities were a vital part of the Revolutionary Wars in Latin America. Without their support, the fight for Freedom and Liberty would fail. The purpose of the rebellions was to free the colonies of the Spanish monarch. An empire that had excluded many of its subjects because of their societal ideologies.
Now before learning about this part of his proclamation, the reading had also stated that even in Bolivar's early career as a patriot military commander, he battled to defend the independence for his home territory, Venezuela. In the photo we learned that one of the opposing sides of men at this battle were referred to as the “llaneros” which were also known as the Venezuelan cavalry that fought in many battles. The fact that the “llaneros” are shown in this photo is another reason as to why I connected it back to this reading because Simon Bolivar himself fought to defend his home which was Venezuela. It made me wonder if Bolivar was viewed as a “llanero’’ or not considering he might have been considered as a traitor for technically fighting against people of the same descent as him. Also because he even considered Spanish born people as an insult to Venezuela, how they created a state of emptiness and this called for vengeance against them.
Works used:
-JCB Archive of Early American Images
-''War To Death'' Simon Bolivar
