The Consolidation of Latin America, 1830-1920

1
The Consolidation of Latin America, 1830-1920

• C25
• EQ What forces drive Latin American independence
  movements in the early 1800s? How does Latin
  America evolve (or not evolve) once independent?

2
Themes

• 1. Independence movements were shaped by the
  European Enlightenment (parallel to revolution
  movements in Europe)
• 2. Colonial governments did not include
  participatory government (parallel to the
  American Revolution)
• 3. Class and regional interests divided different
  parts of Latin America (remember the social
  structure?)
• The Creole elites began to question the need to
  remain subjects of the Spanish crownpeople
  resented the new strict policies imposed by Spain
  (C19)early revolutions failed due to power of
  military or power of the social groups beneath
  them
• 4. Independent Latin American nations will
  largely escape direct imperial control during the
  19C (political, social, religious, etc.), BUT
  will not escape from indirect imperial control
  over its economic development

3
Four Sparks for Revolution

• 1. The American Revolution model for rebellion
  against the mother nation
• 2. The French Revolution provided base ideology
  though the radical end was rejected by LA
  revolutionaries
• 3. Haitian Slave Revolt (and Independence
  movement) led by Toussaint LOverture in 1791,
  led to Haiti becoming only the second new world
  free country in 1804became an example to avoid
  amongst elites in rest of Latin America
• 4. Turmoil in Spain and Portugal the Napoleonic
  invasions of both countries disrupted political
  control over the coloniesCreoles declared
  loyalty to the crown yet managed to gain power of
  rule over the colonies

4
Mexico, 1810-1821

• Father Miguel Hidalgo, a mestizo priest, knew the
  Creoles were plottinghe rallied ALL Mexicans
  with his speech, the El Grito De Delores on Sept.
  16, 1810 (Mexican Independence Day)he won
  support of the masses but lost the support of the
  Creoles, who naturally feared a rising by the
  peasantryeventually he was captured and killed
  and his cause was taken up by a Father Jose
  Morelos
• Rebellion festered in Mexico for a decade until
  1820 when Creoles under the direction of Augustin
  de Iturbide raised his armies and took control of
  Mexico City
• Iturbide was declared emperor, and the
  conservative Creoles set forth to establish a
  monarchy, which eventually fell apart by 1824

5
South America Bolivar and San Martin

• In the viceroyalty of New Granada (Colombia and
  Venezuela) rose the wealthy Creole officer Simon
  Bolivar, the George Washington of Latin
  Americahe was trained in the military arts in
  Spain and used his skills to mobilize support for
  a movementbetween 1817 1822, he won battle
  after battle in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador
  and united them as one nation, Gran
  Colombiawhich fell apart in 1830
• Jose San Martin was from Buenos Ariesalso
  trained in the military arts in Spain, he led the
  portenos (merchant traders of BA) in a push for
  autonomy from Spanish trade restrictionsafter
  freeing the Viceroyalty of La Plata (many parts
  of which split into different nations) he crossed
  the Andes and led independence movements against
  the Spanish in Chile and Peru
• By 1825, all of SPANISH South America was
  independent

6
Brazilian Independence

• Portugal was not going to let Brazil go
  easilyBrazil was Portugals number 1 economic
  production center
• Same story as in Spanish LAthe elite want
  freedom but fear what the minorities and crown
  would do to them
• In 1807, the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal
  forced the crown to move to Brazil where they
  established an empirethis helped raised Brazil
  to equal status with Portugal and gave the elite
  what they wanted, greater freedom for trade
• King Joao (John) VI ruled in Brazil until 1820
  when he returned to Portugal and took the crown
  with himbut he left his son Pedro to rule
  BrazilDom Pedro I rebelled against his father
  and declared Brazil a free empire in 1822after a
  3 year struggle, Brazil remained a monarchy, free
  from Portugal and the social structure remained
  status quo

7
New Nations, same Old Problems

• Religious freedom was expanded by liberals,
  angering some Conservatives who wished
  Catholicism to remain state religion in most
  nations
• By 1854, slavery was abolished in every free
  nation, yet remained in Spanish Caribbeanmita
  and tribute taxes on local populations only
  slowly began to vanishearly national
  Constitutions also did little to guarantee rights
  to many
• Though mestizos rose to some power positions
  during independence movements, most remained
  largely outside politics in newly freed Latin
  American nations
• Most new areas were lumped together in loosely
  held confederations that still were largely and
  wholly different (United Central Provinces of
  Central America 1823-1839, Gran Colombia
  1819-1830)regional rivalries amongst Creoles and
  differences in geography would cause further
  division and emergence of states in Latin America

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The Beginnings of Military Rule

• Latin America came to be dominated by caudillos,
  military rulers who controlled local areasthese
  caudillos would be called in as arbiters any time
  civil politicians were divided, usually usurping
  power for themselves
• In short, caudillos were dictators who held
  little regard for rule of law or democratic
  rulesome were sympathetic to minority causes
  (Rafael Carrera in Guatemala)
• Another major political issue that led to the
  rise of caudillos was what type of republican
  government to establish in a newly formed nation
• Centralists (strong central govt.) vs.
  federalists (regional states connected to a
  central govt.)
• Liberals (freedom/equality for all men, using US
  and France as models) vs. conservatives
  (continued status quo, state Catholic church)

9
Latin America and the World Market

• Great Britain led the charge to establish
  economic relations with Latin American nations by
  1) rebuking attempts by Spain to re-colonize
  freed nations 2) using dominant sea power to
  protect trade to Latin America
• The US also felt the need to exert some measure
  of influence, citing the Monroe Doctrine of 1823,
  a declaration that no further colonization by
  Europeans in LA would be allowedwas actually
  hard to maintain by the virgin US
• Britain literally replaced Spain as Latin
  Americas trading dictatorBritain regulated
  all trade with LA nationsBritain became the sole
  consumer of LA goods in the mid-19th century
  though some minor interaction occurred between
  LA, France and the USall this did was 1) cause
  Latin America to become dependant on foreign
  markets and 2) feed economic power to the landed
  aristocracy (Creoles)

10
Stagnation and Resurgence

• From 1820-1850 the Latin American economy was
  generally stagnant and suffering from a
  destroyed/undeveloped infrastructure
• By 1850, European demand for cash crops/goods
  changed this pattern
• Some LA countries found niches (guano in Peru)
• A major impact on this stagnation was the
  attempts by liberal reformers to break old
  colonial ties/idealsmost Latin American nations
  were not ready to break away form the status quo
  of large land holdings, control of the Catholic
  church, and military control (many felt the
  caudillos provided better system)
• Eventually conservatives (landowners) regained
  power, amazingly with the help of the peasantry
• During the latter 19th century, liberals made a
  comebackbased on the Positivist ideas of French
  philosophizer Auguste Comteaddress societal
  issues
• Liberals were able to join forces with
  landowners, merchants and investors to tie LA
  into the industrial movementHOWEVER, their
  distrust of their peasant populace impeded
  efforts (ancient barbarism)the peasantry was
  taxed monetarily AND via peonage labor (neo
  feudalism) and lost land and civil rights in the
  process

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Mexico Instability and Foreign Intervention

• Mexicos brief monarchy had failedthe federal
  constitution did not address the major problems
  of 1) unequal land distribution 2) status of
  natives 3) education issues and 4) poverty among
  the majority of the population
• By 1835, a military caudillo, Antonio Lopez de
  Santa Ana came to powerhe welcomed some foreign
  interventionhe lost Texas and the Mexican
  Cession to the US (1848)

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Mexico Instability and Foreign Intervention

• Santa Anas shortcoming led to the rise of
  liberal Indian lawyer Benito Juarez in 1854his
  La Reforma movement sought to eliminate church
  and military control in the state to promote
  economic growth
• In 1857 the liberals came to power and wrote a
  new constitutionthe government hoped to sell
  lands to individuals, mainly Nativesbut large
  landowners bought up even more land, and poor
  peasants and Natives ended up with less land than
  they already had
• As a result, civil war erupted and the
  conservatives and caudillos turned to Europe for
  assistancethe French Empire of Napoleon the III
  was glad to assistattracted by dreams of a
  colonial empire, economic wealth and help to
  Catholics, he sent troops to Mexico in 1862 AND
  sent a new ruler (BTW, the US was in the Civil
  War so we couldnt stop this)
• Maximilian von Hapsburg was sent to become the
  Emperor of Mexicohe actually attempted to get
  the support of Juarez and the liberals to no
  availeventually the French withdrew by 1867
  leaving Maximilian to be captured and executed by
  Juarez

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Argentina

• Quick summary
• There was an economic division between the port
  city of Buenos Aries and the pampas farming
  regionsliberals and federals clash once again
• The federals gained power under Juan Manuel de
  Rosas, establishing weak central government that
  favored regional autonomy PLUS those merchants
  and ranchers in the immediate Buenos Aries
  provinceNatives in rural areas were shut
  outRosas was a despotDeath to the savage,
  filthy Unitarians
• Eventually liberals and other caudillos managed
  to overthrow Rosas in 1852, but it would not be
  until 1862 the political stability and reforms
  (and a little help from foreign investment and
  European immigration) bring change to Argentina

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Brazilian Empire

• Quick summary
• So Pedro I now has control of the former
  Portuguese Brazilian Empireeventually he is
  forced out in 1831 and his young son Pedro II
  takes over in 1840 after rule by a regencya
  republican experiment
• HOWEVER, once again, liberals and conservatives
  argued over governmentto be a monarchy or
  notshould government be central or local
• New coffee plantations brought economic
  wealthslave trade to Brazil continued until 1850
  and slavery was not abolished until 1888wealth
  brought more foreign investment and improved
  infrastructure to Brazil
• The monarchy slowly declined all the way until
  1889 when a newly formed Republican party staged
  a coupHOWEVER, the new government was unable to
  address social and political issues caused by
  rapid modernization
• Canudos community of fanatics in Brazils NE back
  country

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The Great Boom 1880-1920

• Europes increasing industrial demands for raw
  materials fueled growth in LA economiesgrowth
  was mainly controlled by urban merchants and the
  landownerseach group fostered political
  alliances, all at the expense of the peasant
  class
• Foreign investments were always risky, but
  European nations and the US made themHOWEVER,
  the investment in manufacturing and
  infrastructure was allowed to remain under
  foreign control and rarely benefited the LA
  nation
• In Mexico, Porfirio Diaz rose to power on a
  promise to restrict foreign control of Mexican
  interests (nationalization), HOWEVER, Diaz still
  permitted foreign intervention as long as it
  benefited himselfthe peasant class of Mexico
  eventually rose to rebellion in 1910
• In Argentina, the large influx of foreign born
  persons brought foreign ideas into the
  countrysocialism emerged with the immigrant
  working classpolitical turmoil ensuedeventually
  the landed aristocracy emerged through caudillo
  control to stabilize Argentinas political system

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The US Enters Latin America

• After the Civil War, the US slowly began to seek
  imperial interests around the world, and what
  better place to do so than Latin America
• The Spanish American War was the beginning of a
  series of interventions in Latin America, with
  Cuba becoming dependant on the US and Puerto Rico
  becoming a commonwealth territoryTeddy Roosevelt
  added his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
• We took over the Panama Canal project after
  backing a revolution against Colombia in 1903
• US interventions continued into the early
  1900sCentral America became known as the Banana
  Republic, controlled by US fruit
  companiesrebellions in Haiti and the Mexican
  Revolution forced US military action
• Latin American began to become increasingly
  suspicious of American motives

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This Week (still broken)

• Monday Change Analysis (together)
• Tuesday Document/Conflict Analysis
• Wednesday/Thursday Test, c23/24/25 (30 MC, BOTH
  essays)