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DON
BERNARDO O'HIGGINS (1778-1842)
The leader of Chile's first independent
government and a brilliant soldier, Bernardo
O'Higgins led the Chilean patriots in
their battle for independence. A reformer
and an idealist, he was the first national
leader in the Americas to abolish black
slavery.
O'Higgins
was born on Aug. 20, 1778, in Chillan,
Chile. His father was Spain's governor
for Chile and viceroy for Peru. In 1790,
O'Higgins went to Peru to study, staying
until he was 16, when his father sent
him to Europe. In Spain, O'Higgins met
Jose de San Martin, later the liberator
of Argentina.
In
1802, O'Higgins returned to Chile to manage
property left him by his father. He joined
the militia and rose to the rank of Colonel.
When Chile rebelled against Spain in 1810,
he offered his services and eventually
helped drive the Spaniards out of Chile.
When a new Spanish force invaded Chile,
he was made commander of the revolutionary
army but was defeated at the battle of
Rancagua in 1814.
O'Higgins,
with the other Chilean patriots, fled
to Argentina. In 1817, under O'Higgins,
these men came back to win Chacabuco and
Maipo, the battles that secured Chilean
independence. Chile's provisional government
asked O'Higgins to rule the country as
supreme director. During his rule, which
lasted for six years, he instituted a
number of reforms and also helped San
Martin build forces to fight Spain in
Peru.
O'Higgins'
liberal policies did not suit the Chilean
aristocrats. As a result, in 1823 he was
forced to resign. Peru offered him asylum,
and O'Higgins went there to spend the
rest of his life as an exile, away from
his heart--the country he had worked so
hard to free. Don Bernardo O'Higgins died
several years later on Oct. 24, 1842.
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