Jose De San Martin: The 3 Reasons He Is Famous Today

Born	25th of February 1778
Died	17th of August, 1850
Famous Quote	“If there is victory in overcoming the enemy, there is a greater victory when the man overcomes himself.”
Know For	Liberating southern South America from Spanish rule, voluntarily giving up power, enacting progressive policies to the people of South America
Region of World	South America, 18th and 19th centuries
Further Reading	Simon Bolivar: His 3 Major Accomplishments and Monroe Doctrine: The 3 Lasting Impacts On U.S History

Jose De San Martin remains one of the most famous South American people of the 19th century. While Simon Bolivar was fighting to liberate the northern part of South America José de San Martín would fight to liberate the southern end. That is where the similarities between two great liberators of South America end however.

Today there are 3 reasons why José de San Martín is famous. First, he helped liberate southern South America from Spanish rule. Second, José de San Martín voluntarily gave up power. Third, While in power José de San Martín would enact progressive policies that helped the people of South America.

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Without further ado, here are the 3 reasons why José de San Martín is famous today.

Martin Helped Liberate Southern South America From Spanish Rule

Easily one of the main reasons that José de San Martín is so famous today is because he was a major driving force in liberating South America from Spanish rule.

Today José de San Martín is remembered across South America as one of the great liberators of the people from the Empire of Spain. His military campaigns took him across Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

Martin would learn of how European militaries would fight while serving in the Peninsular War for Spain against France. After this war Martin would transfer this knowledge back to the new world and lead several successful military campaigns against Spain.

In particular Martin would train his army and military to march in fast maneuver warfare. Some historians have compared José de San Martín’s style of military warfare to the American General George Washington.

Because of this fast maneuver warfare, Martin was able to easily maneuver around the numerically superior Spanish forces.

As a result of this military success José de San Martín would be able to liberate the modern nations of Argentina, Peru, and Chile.

As such, one of the main reasons that José de San Martín is so famous today is because of his massively successful military campaign against the Spanish which resulted in liberation of much of southern South America.

José de San Martín Voluntarily Gave Up Power And Retired In Europe

Another reason that José de San Martín is so famous today is because he voluntarily gave up power to retire in Europe.

After securing the liberation of Peru, Chile, and Argentina Jose Martin would meet up with Simon Bolivar at the Guayaquil conference. This conference took place on the 26th of July and there has been much speculation by historians as to what happened.

What we know is that after returning back to Peru José de San Martín decided that he was done with political life. After a couple days its reported that Martin decided to turn over his army to Simon Bolivar and return to Argentina.

Initially Martin would retire in the Cuyo province of modern Chile/Brazil. However, the Argentine Civil Wars would continue and eventually come to Cuyo.

Martin wanted to remain neutral in the civil war but decided it was best for him to leave South America completely. In 1823 he would travel back to Buenos Aires and he and his daughter would travel to Europe where Martin would finally retire.

José de San Martín remains a rare occurrence of a powerful person voluntarily giving up power to seek retirement. This was highly uncommon during the 19th century, especially in South America.

As a result this remains one of the main reasons why Jose Martin is so famous across South America today.

While In Power Jose De San Martin Would Enact Policies Which Benefited The People

One of the main reasons that José de San Martín is so famous today is because he enacted several policies which helped the people of South America.

Across Peru, Chile, and Argentina José de San Martín would begin to enact several policies which sought to both destabilize Spanish power while also benefiting the people.

An example of this can be seen when Martin was the Protector of Peru during 1821. Since the Spanish authorities relied upon indigenous Spanish labor one of the first actions that Martin took was to give the natives of Peru citizenship. Further, all forms of forced labor for the natives was abolished.

Martin did not abolish slavery as a significant of the elite of Peruvian society held slaves. However, he did make it so that slaves could no longer be born into slavery. Instead all people born from slaves were considered free citizens.

Further, Martin abolished the Spanish Inquisition and created policies of freedom of speech.

As a result of these policies José de San Martín would become incredibly famous across southern South America. To this day you can find statues of Martin from Argentina to Washington DC in the U.S.

Conclusion

There you have it; an entire article on the 3 reasons why Jose de San Martin is famous today.

The military tactics of Martin remains a fascinating subject of study for potential historians. For the past 50 years people have attempted to research and replicate several aspects of Martin’s legendary military campaigns. Prospective graduate students will find substantial material for a dissertation or thesis.

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Sincerely,

Nick