3-3: Simon Bolivar

Simon Bolivar marie arana

SIMON BOLIVAR

 

Part 1 of 2: Watch the Liberator Trailer found here. (URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CkGqclYbeo) After watching the trailer answer the following questions.

 

The Liberator Trailer Questions

  1. What attributes does Simon Bolivar seem to possess?
  2. How do you think Simon Bolivar will be portrayed in the film? Why?
  3. Do you think Simon Bolivar will achieve his goals of an independent South America?

 

Part 2 of 2: Read the following information and answer following questions below.

 

The Latin American wars of independence ended by 1824.  However, independence actually brought an increase in poverty.  The wars had disrupted trade and devastated cities and the countryside. Simon Bolivar worked tirelessly to unite the lands he had liberated into a single nation, called Gran Columbia.  Since South America had a much smaller and less powerful middle class than industrialized European countries, it was difficult to pass liberal reforms.  With that and bitter rivalries, this made Bolivar’s dream impossible.  Before long, Gran Colombia split into four independent countries: Columbia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Bolivar faced another disappointment as power struggles among rival leaders triggered destructive civil wars.  Before his death in 1830, a discouraged Bolivar wrote, “We have achieved our independence at the expense of everything else.” Contrary to his dreams, South America’s common people had simply changed one set of masters for another.

 

Questions

 

  1. When did the Latin American wars of independence end?
  2. Instead of independence, what did it bring?
  3. What dream (goal) did Bolivar tirelessly worked to accomplish?
  4. What were some challenges that prevented Bolivar in achieving his dream?
  5. Did Bolivar achieve his dream and what was the result?
  6. What did Bolivar mean by his quote?

 

 

 Enrichment Set

  1.  During Simon Bolivar’s “Address to the Congress of Venezuela”, he referenced the enlightenment thinker Rousseau’s quote “Liberty is a succulent morsel, but one difficult to digest…”. In a paragraph, what is the meaning of this statement? Please include facts from the article to support your answers.