Britain and Spanish American independence

British naval and military officers, soldiers, sailors and adventurers played a pivotal role in the wars fighting with the patriots and setting up the new republics: the feats of  Daniel O'Leary (Bolívar's closest companion), William Miller, Thomas Alexander Cochrane and Gregor MacGregor are legendary, not to mention Richard Vowell, Alexander Alexander and many others.

Great Britain was the first major nation in Europe to recognise the independence of the new countries in Spanish America. By taking this step, the British government wanted to protect the new formed nations against the threat of retaliation from Spain, establishing commercial links with these countries hitherto under the economic monopoly of the mother country. Spanish Americans welcomed this important international support. The institution of the republican regimes in the new Spanish America countries was heavily inspired by the British parliamentary system.

Raw materials and mineral resources, as well as investment opportunities and potential new markets for foreign products, attracted Britain to the Spanish American territories. Some of the fledgling states received British loans and signed trade agreements with Britain. Thousands of British merchants took up residence in Spanish America. Likewise, a number of Spanish Americans resided in London including the intellectual Andrés Bello and the revolutionary Francisco de Miranda, both from Caracas.

Spanish American independence movement was watched with interest in Britain and many related books were published in London.