Question #20db5
1 Answer
The Spanish government simply did not have the power or ability to intervene directly, as they were under the control of Napoleon.
Explanation:
Revolutionary thought and ideas had been around in Spanish colonies from the very conception of the colonies centuries ago. They were just unable to ever do anything because Spanish loyalists were quick to quell most rebellions within the colonies. With Spain exerting all of its power over its colonies, the chance for revolution was very slim and likely would have resulted in a lot of bloodshed and violence within the colonies.
Enter Napoleon.
For the most part, they did it because they had the chance to. With Spain under French control, there was nobody who could come over and stop any Latin American revolutions. The people of Spain were concerned with getting their own homeland back and were not as concerned with what their Latin American colonies were doing. Much of Europe did not plan to intervene in the revolutions either, as everyone was for the most part trying to deal with Napoleon's expansion of power throughout Europe. Napoleon had also asserted control over the Spanish military and navy, and the Spanish government had no control over where it went. Napoleon himself was not very interested in colonization in the Western Hemisphere, so it did not really concern him that the colonies were breaking away from Spain; and even if he did, he would not have been able to afford to send troops over to Latin America, considering he was waging war with almost every single European superpower, meaning he needed all of the troops he could get.
All of these factors combined meant that the colonies could comfortably declare their independence from Spain. They did have to deal with some opposition from Spanish loyalists and officials that resided in the colonies, but a small resistance was much easier to deal with than the entire Spanish military and navy.
