From his life as a wealthy noble scion, partaking of the pleasures of life, Bolivar decided to devote all his energies and direct all his future endeavors to the liberation of his country from her Mother Country, Spain. The great South American patriot had only one dream -- the creation of a strong confederation of independent South American republics.

The future Liberator first publicly declared himself unalterably opposed to further dominataion by Spain in 1809. His statements during that year made clear that he had completed the transformation from aristocrat to revolutionary. However, the route which led him to his decision is inclear for at least two reasons. First, he never took time out from his busy life to analyze in full the experiences which determined him to become an embattled crusader for freedom. Second, ata the moment he became a revolutionary, he was still far from having developed either a systematic philosophy of life or a coherent political theory.

The expressions of his first European sojourn might have headed the youthful Bolivar on his way to becoming a revolutionary. His serious introduction to the reading of books might have inspired him to search out a philosophy of his own.

Bolivar is one of the towering public figures that our hemisphere has produced. He was at once a visionary, soldier, statesman, political prophet and internationalist. His vision made it possible for him more than anyone else to see the potential of America, and he, more than anyone else, was responsible for keeping alive the idea of independence on the face of overwhelming odds. As a soldier, he gave warfare in America a new dimension by establishing that makeshift forces, if imaginatively led and with grass roots support, could triumph over better drilled, better equipped external armies. His contemporaries compared him to Washington. There seems to be much in common in the life of George Washington, North American Liberator, and Simon Bolivar, South American Liberator. Both came from fairly wealthy families but endured many periods of hardships during their leadership in battles for freedom; both were reviled by former so-called friends when they most needed support and comfort. One important gift that they have in common was the will and strength of mind and body so that they never gave up or lost their determination to carry through successfully the great causes for which they risked their lives and fortures.