_Bolívar in Exile and Morillo in Power. The "Jamaica Letter"_
(1814-1815)
At that time Napoleon's luck was beginning to turn in Europe. He had been
forced to free Fernando VII, who had been imprisoned since 1808. Fernando
VII started to govern his country as a despot, disregarding the national
constitution and the public clamor for greater freedom, and soon decided to
assert his power in the New World. For that purpose he organized a powerful
army, the total strength of which, exclusive of sailors, was nearly
,000
men, supplied with implements for attacks on fortified places, and with
everything necessary for warfare on a large scale. This army was placed
under the command of Morillo, who also brought with him a number of
warships and transports. The soldiers had had experience in the European
war and they had proved equal or superior to the armies of Napoleon. The
plan was to seize Venezuela and Nueva Granada, then go southward to Perú,
and then to Buenos Aires.
Morillo decided to land in the island of Margarita, whose inhabitants had
distinguished themselves by their heroism in the long war for independence
to such an extent that, upon becoming a province, the island changed its
name to New Sparta. Two men of equal bravery, Arismendi and Bermúdez, were
in command of a few more than 400 men. Morales was about to lead 5,000 to
6,000 men against the island, with 32 boats, of which 12 were armed with
artillery, when Morillo appeared with his huge army. Arismendi decided
to surrender. However, Bermúdez would not surrender, and, with reckless
daring, he got into a small boat, passed between Morillo's large vessels,
insulting the occupants, and then made his escape, going to join the
patriots in Cartagena.
Morillo was a very clever soldier; it is said that Wellington himself
recommended that he should be chosen, as the Spaniard ablest to subject
Venezuela and New Granada. He was as harsh as he was clever, and was ready
to wage a war of extermination. By the time Morillo reached the continent,
Venezuela was in the hands of Spain. That was at the end of 1814, a fatal
year for the cause of independence. From New Spain to the south, the
Spanish armies seemed to encounter no resistance. Morillo likened the
silence and peace he found everywhere to the silence and peace of the
cemeteries. There was no government anywhere, not even military authority.
Crime prevailed; cupidity and vengeance were the guiding principles of the
chieftains.
After leaving a garrison at Margarita and Cumaná, Morillo went to Caracas,
where he arrived on the 11th of May, immediately taking Cagigal's place as
captain general. There he published a proclamation announcing that he was
ready to go to Nueva Granada with his army, and, after levying exorbitant
tributes in money from the citizens and securing in the most outrageous
manner all the provisions he could possibly obtain, he sailed from Puerto
Cabello for Cartagena with 8,500 men, while Morales with 3,500 advanced by
land against the city.
Cartagena resisted the siege in such an admirable manner as to have her
name placed side by side with the most heroic cities of history. The
besiegers had all kinds of war material; the city lacked all. Still,
Cartagena fought constantly during one hundred and six days. The city
was then almost in ruins; its inhabitants were starving in the gutters;
soldiers and civilians were dying. When Morillo entered its streets he
found them almost deserted, and he made the few remaining persons suffer
the worst tortures he could devise. The able-bodied men succeeded in
escaping by sea.
Several more victories placed all of Nueva Granada in the power of Morillo.
The Congress had to dissolve and the Spaniards entered Santa Fé, marking
their entrance with the execution of more than 600 Americans, among them
men of the greatest prominence and highest social standing. All hope for
the liberty of South America seemed to be lost.
Bolívar arrived in Kingston in May, 1815, where he was very well received
personally by the governor. But he failed to obtain any substantial help
for an expedition to the mainland. Learning of the propaganda being made
everywhere against the cause of independence, he once more used his pen to
counteract this influence. His most important writing during his stay in
Jamaica was a letter addressed on September 6, 1815, to a gentleman of the
island, in which he analyzed the causes of the American failure and the
reasons he had to hope for the final success of the cause. The "Letter
of Jamaica" is counted as one of the greatest documents from the pen of
Bolívar.
First, he examines all the errors and crimes committed by the Spaniards
in America, describes the partial success of the American armies and the
development of the war, as well as the enormous sacrifices made for the
cause of independence everywhere, from New Spain to the provinces of the
River Plata and Chile. He deprecates the attitude of Europe, which does not
intervene to save America from the clutches of an oppressive government,
and proves that even for the good of Europe, the independence of America
should be secured.
"Europe itself," he said, "by reasons of wholesome policies, should
have prepared and carried out the plan of American independence, not
only because it is so required for the balance of the world, but
because this is a legitimate and safe means of obtaining commercial
posts on the other side of the ocean."
He very exactly described the true condition of the American people in the
following lucid way:
"I consider the actual state of America as when, after the coll
of the Roman Empire, each member constituted a political system in
conformity with its interests and position, but with this great
difference: that these scattered members reestablished the old
nationalities with the alterations required by circumstances or events.
But we, who scarcely keep a vestige of things of the past, and who, on
the other hand, are not Indians nor Europeans, but a mixture of the
legitimate owners of the country and the usurping Spaniards; in short,
we, being Americans by birth and with rights equal to those of Europe,
have to dispute these rights with the men of the country, and to
maintain ourselves against the possession of the invaders. Thus, we
find ourselves in the most extraordinary and complicated predicament."
After analyzing slavery in the abstract, he said:
"Americans, under the Spanish system now in vigor, have in society no
other place than that of serfs fit for work, and, at the most, that of
simple consumers; and even this is limited by absurd restrictions, such
as prohibition of the cultivation of European products; the mono
of certain goods in the hands of the king; the prevention of the
establishment in America of factories not possessed by Spain; the
exclusive privileges of trade, even regarding the necessities of life;
the obstacles placed in the way of the American provinces so that they
may not deal with each other, nor have understandings, nor trade. In
short, do you want to know what was our lot? The fields, in which to
cultivate indigo, cochineal, coffee, sugar cane, cocoa, cotton; the
solitary plains, to breed cattle; the deserts, to hunt the wild beasts;
the bosom of the earth, to extract gold, with which that avaricious
country was never satisfied."
* * * * *
"We were never viceroys or governors except by very extraordinary
reasons; archbishops and bishops, seldom; ambassadors, never; military
men, only as subordinates; nobles, without privileges; lastly, we were
neither magistrates nor financiers, and hardly merchants. All this we
had to accept in direct opposition to our institutions.
"The Americans have risen suddenly and without previous preparation
and without previous knowledge and, what is more deplorable, without
experience in public affairs, to assume in the world the eminent
dignity of legislators, magistrates, administrators of the public
treasury, diplomats, generals and all the supreme and subordinate
authorities which form the hierarchy of an organized state.
"The events of the mainland have proved that perfectly representative
institutions do not agree with our character, habits, and present state
of enlightenment.... So long as our fellow citizens do not acquire the
talents and the political virtues which distinguish our brothers of the
North, who have a system of government altogether popular in character,
I am very much afraid these institutions might lead to our ruin instead
of aiding us....
"I desire more than anybody else to see the formation in America
the greatest nation in the world, not so much as to its extension and
wealth as to its glory and freedom."
* * * * *
"Monsignor de Pradt has wisely divided America into fifteen or
seventeen independent states, ruled by as many monarchs. I agree on the
first point, for America could be divided into seventeen countries
As for the second point, although it is easier to realize, it is less
useful, and, consequently, I am not in favor of American monarchies.
Here are my reasons: The real interests of a republic are circumscribed
in the sphere of its conservation, prosperity and glory. Since freedom
is not imperialistic, because it is opposed to empires, no impulse
induces Repúblicans to extend the limits of their country; injuring its
own center, with only the object of giving their neighbors a liberal
constitution. They do not acquire any right nor any advantage by
conquering them, unless they reduce them to colonies, conquered
territories or allies, following the example of Rome.... A state too
large in itself, or together with its dependent territories, finally
decays and its free form reverts to a tyrannical one, the principles
which should conserve it relax, and at last it evolves into despotism.
The characteristic of the small republics is permanency; that of the
large ones is varied, but always tends to an empire. Almost all of the
former have been of long duration; among the latter Rome alone lived
for some centuries, but this was because the capital was a republic,
and the rest of her dominions were not, for they governed themselves by
different laws and constitutions."
Then Bolívar ventures to prophesy the destiny of all nations of the
continent, from Mexico to the River Plata, and he does so with such
accuracy of vision that almost to the word the history of the first half
century of independence in Latin America was shaped according to his
prediction. The tranquility of Chile, the tyranny of Rosas in Argentina,
the Mexican empire, all were clearly seen in the future by his genius. Near
the close of his letter, he adds these inspired words:
"How beautiful it would be if the Isthmus of Panamá should come to be
to us what the Isthmus of Corinth was to the Greeks! May God g
that some day we may have the happiness of installing there an august
congress of the representatives of the republics, kingdoms and empires,
to discuss and study the high interests of peace and war with the
nations of the other three parts of the world! This kind of cooperation
may be established in some happy period of our regeneration...."
He ends this capital document of his career as a political writer, by
pleading again for union as the only means of putting an end to Spanish
domination, in America.
Nothing better can be said than the following words of a biographer of
Bolívar:[1]
"Alone, poor, in a foreign land, when his friends had denied him and
had persecuted him, and his enemies had torn him to shreds in blind
rage, when everybody saw America carrying once again the yoke imposed
upon her, Bolívar saw her redeemed, and from the depth of his soul he
felt himself bound to this wonderful task of redemption. His spirit,
animated by an unknown breath, and which had lived a superior life, saw
Colombia free, Chile established, Argentina expanding, Mexico
Perú liberated, the Isthmus of Panamá converted into the center of
communications and activities of human industry; it saw South America
divided into powerful nationalities, having passed from slavery to
struggle and to the conquest of her own dignity, and from the times of
the sword to those of political civilization and organization of power;
national units weighty in the statistics of the world by reason of
their products, by their commerce, by their culture, by their wars,
their alliances, their laws, their free governments; with names of
their own, with famous histories, with supreme virtues. All that
Bolívar saw, and of all that Bolívar wrote. Can human intelligence go
any farther?"
[Footnote 1: Larrazábal, "Vida del Libertador Simón Bolívar," Vol. I. page
404.]