Spanish and Portuguese follow mercantilism in organizing colonies
Profits from colonial Latin America came from silver, gold, plantation crops
(ex sugar)
Major economic units- haciendas (large, self-sufficient farming
estates) & smaller farms (haciendas as similar to European feudalism�s
manors)
Monarchs granted large estates to conquistadors and court favorites who
would then sell them to rich merchants and mining entrepreneurs
Landowners who did not live on their haciendas hired overseers to manage
them
A
lot of Indians die in Latin America (certain parts, like the Caribbean)
because of disease and forced labor in mines or land
Indians become free subjects under Portuguese and Spanish law; worked for
wages 7 became bound to their work because of debt
Labor shortage-> African slaves imported
Portuguese discovered gold in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil (this
discouraged ppl from staying on farms)
Rio de Janeiro
(became colonial capital in 1763) grew because located near mines
Discovery->labor shortages->more slaves imported
Europeans impressed by wealth of Spanish & Portuguese (large populations,
architecture)
Colonial gov�t had built immense fortresses (ex port San Juan) to protect
against pirates and sea dogs
Colonial Society
Spain, Portugal & all their colonies had their religion and the Church in
common
Highest ranks: royal bureaucrats, owners of large estates, great merchants
Lowest ranks: town workers, peasants, slaves
Language barriers (Indians, blacks)
Much racial discrimination:
peninsulars- white people born in Portugal or Spain; ruled
society
creoles- whites born in colonies; social snobbery & job
discrimination by peninsulars (eventually became majority & wanted
equality)
people of mixed race (by
1700s the majority):
mestizos- of Indian and white background; prominent in Mexico
mulattoes- of black & white ancestry; prominent in Brazil
In Andes, southern
Mexico, & parts of Central America- Indians remained the majority
Roman Catholic Church has great power and influence in S & P�s colonies
Missionaries try to convert Indians to Catholicism, took interest in Indian
culture, tried to prevent gov�t and colonists from abusing them
Jesuits (missionaries w/ different approach than other missionaries, lived
w/ the ppl & used love) had become powerful & rich through ownership of
haciendas, mines, slaves, town property
Mid-1700s, S & P kings dissolved Jesuit order in their kingdoms & seized
their colonial property
S &
P influence social customs in colonies- male dominated society, restricted
women
At
lower levels of society- women more active in economic life, often headed
households that lived off their incomes, some ran small businesses
Growing Discontent
Late 1700s, S & P colonies undergo administrative reform & economic growth
partly inspired by the Enlightenment
Revolutionary events in British N. America and France (but not really so
much in US became they became isolationists after the war) aroused interest
of discontented creoles (had begun to fill upper-level positions in colonial
gov�t but King Charles III of Spain still gave peninsulars top jobs)
Charles III relaxed some of the stiff mercantilist restrictions-> creoles
feared they�d lose their monopolies
Spain & Portugal had little industry-> merchants supplied colonists w/ goods
from Great Britain & France but took a large profit for themselves->
widespread smuggling
Spanish colonists resented paying taxes to finance Spain�s wars
1815, Creole revolutionary- Simon Bolivar, �The hatred that the
Peninsular has inspired in us is greater than the ocean which separates us.�
Haiti�s Slave Revolution
First successful revolt; Haiti- French colony in West Indies
Small number of French planters had grown sugarcane & coffee trees on
plantations tended by African slaves
When French Revolution broke out, free mulattoes demanded same rights as
French settlers
1794- black slave population rebelled
Mulattoes & blacks united under Francois-Dominique Toussaint-Louverture,
a freed slave, and won control of Haiti
Napoleon sent an army to reestablish French authority; captured Louverture
(died in prison)
Rebel army defeated the French and drove out white settlers
Haiti
proclaimed its independence in 1804
Mexico and Central America
Napoleon�s conquest of Spain & Spain�s revolt gave Spanish colonists an
opportunity to declare their independence
Revolutionary activities in Mexico- creoles, mestizos, Indians
1810- Miguel Hidalgo: priest; started the first important
independence mov�t in Mexico, led an army of Indian peasants against
Spanish, creoles & peninsulars; his forces achieved some early victories;
captured and executed by the Spanish, army dispersed
Jose Morelos: priest; wanted land reform & abolition of slavery;
assumed leadership of the rebels; captured and shot by upper-class Mexican
creoles
1814- the very conservative Ferdinand VII regained throne of Spain
Mexican creoles (who had been frightened by Hidalgo) liked him ^
Liberal army rebels in Spain stripped the king of some of his powers
Upper-class Mexicans feared the new Spanish gov�t would apply liberal
reforms in colonies-> 1821, carried out their own independence mov�t
Agustin de Iturbide: militia general; proclaimed himself Emperor
Agustin I (dictator); Mexican generals overthrew him
Mexico
declared a republic in 1824
For
a brief time Central America part of Iturbide�s Mexican Empire
United Provinces of Central America:
1823, federal union formed by Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua &
Costa Rica
Spanish South America
Three of the great South American leaders (Bolivar, Jose de San Martin,
Bernardo O�Higgins) had traveled or studied in N. America and Europe-> knew
well the ideas of Enlightenment & French Revolution
1810, in La Plata- creole rebels seized control of gov�t, 6 yrs later
declared the independence of the United Provinces of La Plata (later,
Argentina)
Paraguay
declared its independence
Simon Bolivar: �the Liberator�; (wanted equality) led the civil war
in South America; 1819- destroyed Spain�s power in New Granada; defeated the
Spanish at Boyaca
Bolivar became president (almost absolute power) of the new nation, Great
Columbia (today- Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador & Panama)
Jose de San Martin: Argentine general; crossed the Andes into
Chile w/ his army, joined forces with the Chileans (led by Bernardo
O�Higgins) & overcame Spanish resistance there in 1818
San
Martin went to capture Lima, in Peru; Spanish viceroy fled
San
Martin declared independence of Peru in 1821, but royalist forces remained
in some parts
Internal squabbling among independence leaders-> some Peruvians invited
Bolivar to help them defeat the Spanish
San
Martin turned leadership over to Bolivar
Bolivar conquered Spanish at Junin in Peru & revolutionaries victorious at
Ayacusho -> Peru is free
1825, northern territpry of Upper Peru became separate republic- �Bolivia�
Brazil
Napoleon invaded Portual in 1808 so King John VI & family fled to Brazil
John elevated Brazil, equal to Portugal; opened its ports to foreign trade
John stayed in Brazil even after overthrow of NB
Revolt broke out in Portugal-> John returned home
Portugues tried to reinstate Brazil as a colony
Angry Brazilian creoles persuaded Pedro (John�s son) to become ruler of
independent Brazil
1822, Brazil declared its independence as a constitutional monarchy
Brazil & Argentina struggled over territory btwn them
Patriots in this^ territory gained independence-> 1825, Uruguay
Portugual lost its New World Empire; Spanish lost its colonies except Cuba &
Puerto Rico
Only a few Caribbean islands, parts of Central America, the Guianas & the
Falkland islands still under colonial rule
Foreign Reactions to Independence
British hoped to benefit from Latin American independence (Spain was trading
competition):
wanted to increase
trade w/ them (thought it to be richer than it was)
viewed LA as
potential allies against conservative continental Europe
so
British had provided rebels w/ arms
US
did little to help LA:
1.distracted w/ War of 1812
2.did not wish to anger Spain when trying to
convince her to give up Florida
3.even after Spain ceded Florida, US had no LA
policy until President Monroe
4.but did see the region as vast new market;
alarmed when Spain tried to regain colonies
Monroe Doctrine: US would not intervene in affairs of Europe
or her remaining colonies in the Western hemisphere; US would opposed any
European attempts to reestablish lost colonies, form new ones or to
interfere w/ any of the American gov�ts in the Western Hemisphere
European leaders opposed to it^ but no one tried to defy it
Combination of British & US power discouraged them from meddling in LA
affairs
Doctrine: statement of policy but not really legally binding
Ecuador & Venezuela broke away from Great Columbia
United Provinces of CA broke into 5 countries
Argentina
threatened w/ internal divisions
1840-LA contained 17 independent nations
The Panama Congress:
1826, called by Bolivar to promote unification; only Columbia, Peru, CA &
Mexico attended
LA
still cherished ideal of unity
Internal Problems
Independence
benefited the creole upper class (sold more goods abroad at higher prices,
bought manufactured goods more cheaply) but rarely built lasting political
institutions
Political instability because of failure to establish strong central gov�t &
conflicts btwn conservatives & liberals
Conservatism thrived because colonial gov�t never prepared local people for
political leadership
In
some republic dictators rose to fill the gap (of no king) -> political
stability but no freedom
LA
gov�t did little to promote social justice- conservatives thought reforms
had gone too far, lacked economic resources to finance welfare
Creoles abolished slavery
Creoles sought to take over positions of privilege and communal lands that
belonged to Indians (claimed that such lands slowed economic progress);
haciendas continued to grow
Liberals wanted gov�t to take over previously church functions (ex right to
run schools) and its extensive landholdings
First 50 or 60 yrs of independence difficult
Late 1800s, trade & gov�t tax revenues increased, controversies concluded->
LA achieves some stability & economic growth
