Bolivar, the Haitian revolution and democratic expansion

This article presents a description of the colonial structures up to the 18th century, it alludes to the Bourbon reforms and then focuses on the Haitian Revolution at the end of that century and the beginning of the 19th century in order to determine its influence on the republican thought of Simon Bolivar. It is argued that the liberation of slaves, the elimination of all kinds of servitude, as well as other principles of republicanism, are taken by Bolivar from the Haitian revolution rather than from the French and English enlightened political thought. Finally, it is argued that Bolivar's wager represents a classic example of the struggle for the democratic expansion of rights where education, civic virtue, the fight against corruption and the search for more egalitarian societies are constitutive of republicanism.