<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable . Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources . Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted . (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable . Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources . Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted . (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Latin American wars of independence were the revolutions that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and resulted in the creation of a number of independent countries in Latin America . These revolutions followed the American and French Revolutions, which had profound effects on the British, Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonies in the Americas . Haiti, a French slave colony, was the first to follow the United States; the Haitian Revolution lasted from 1791 to 1804, when they won their independence . From this emerged Napoleon Bonaparte as French ruler, whose armies set out to conquer Europe, including Spain and Portugal in 1808 . The Peninsular War with France, which resulted from the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, caused Spanish Creoles in Spanish America to question their allegiance to Spain, stoking independence movements that culminated in the wars of independence, which lasted almost two decades . At the same time, the Portuguese monarchy relocated to Brazil during Portugal's French occupation . After the royal court returned to Lisbon, the prince regent, Pedro, remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newly independent Brazil . </P> <P> Spain's international wars at the second half of the 18th century evidenced the empire's difficulties in reinforcing its colonial possessions and provide them with economic aid . This led to an increased local participation in the financing of the defense and an increased participation in the militias by the locally born . Such development was at odds with the ideals of the centralized absolute monarchy . The Spanish did also formal concessions to strengthen the defense: In Chiloé Spanish authorities promised freedom from the encomienda for those indigenous locals who settled near the new stronghold of Ancud (founded in 1768) and contributed to its defense . The increased local organization of the defenses would ultimately undermine metropolitan authority and bolster the independence movement . </P>

When did the latin american independence movement began