For the rest, little was achieved, while
farther south development was proceeding along the lines which have
brought into being the great republics of to-day.
Then Venezuela gave to South America Simon Bolivar, and the storm of
revolution which swept the Continent shook these northern dependencies
into transient wakefulness and energy, until the great day of Boyaca
dawned, and New Granada and Venezuela, as Spanish colonies, ceased to
be. Fit or unfit as they might have been for self-government at the
time, these peoples set out to make histories as independent States, and
the Spanish colonial era, having lasted over two and a half centuries,
came to an end.
CHAPTER XV
THE LAST DAYS OF EMPIRE
We have now arrived at the most critical of all the periods which
Spanish South America has undergone in the course of its history, the
decade or so which preceded the actual outbreak of the revolutionary
wars. In order to arrive at a just appreciation of the situation it is
necessary to realize that, although the policy of Spain had consistently
demonstrated itself as discouraging towards learning and progress in
every direction, to such an extent had the population of the colonies
grown that this task of repression of the intelligence of a Continent
had now become Herculean and altogether beyond the powers of the
moderately energetic Spanish officials.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218