The most striking global consequence of the Napoleonic Wars was independence for much of South America. At the turn of the 19th century, most of the continent was part of the Spanish empire; Brazil was ruled by the Portuguese, with a few other territories held by the French, British and Dutch.
The European war triggered – but did notmonarchy to strengthen its grip on its colonies, provoking a backlash among creole elites, and from discontent among the colonies’ merchants chafing against the Spanish monopoly of trade. A rebellion in what is now Peru in 1780–83 (led by Túpac Amaru until 1781) against Spanish reforms, taxation and the repression of indigenous and mestizo (mixed race) people had also shaken Spanish rule to the core.
