Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins also known as Bernardo Riquelme was born on August 20, 1778 in Chillán, Chile. His parents were Ambrose O'Higgins and Isabel Riquelme. They weren't married to each other due to issues about the casts in which they were apart of. Bernardo's father Ambrose was an engineer at the time while his mother Isabel was part of a very prominent family that wouldn't allow her to marry Ambrose. At the end she was forced to marry Don Felix Rodriguez and also gave birth to a baby girl Rosa Riquelme Rodriguez.

The early life of Bernardo O'Higgins was spent shared with both his mother and biological father's partners. Bernardo rarely saw his father yet his father supported him and made sure he was taken care of. Ambrose or as known in South America Don Ambrosio made sure his son was well educated and did that by sending him all over the world to first Chile, then Peru, and last to England. In these places Bernardo learned about the liberal arts, which were the studies of French, art, music, history, geography, and other subjects. Along his journey he met Sebastian Francisco, a young Venezuelan who became his mentor in revolutionary thinking.

While Bernardo was in England he found himself bored, tired, and unhappy even with all the support that he received from his biological father. Though he didn't love England that is where he began to think of ideas for the independence of Chile. It was there he was considering the ideologies of Francisco de Miranda and his project to free the Spanish colonies. He then went to Spain for a while where he lived in poverty for few years.

In 1801 Bernardo's father passed away and left him a large amount of estate, which was called the Hacienda Las Canteras. He returned to Chile in 1802 and lived with his mother and half sister Rosa. By 1803 Bernardo O'Higgins was running his father's estate. He ran this estate very well and made a lot of money off of it. This part of his life