Independence movements in Latin America

Theory of Mercantilism

• A countries wealth & power is measured in the amount of gold & silver they control

• To do this the country must:

– Create a favorable balance of trade– Export more then you import– Create colonies to use as markets to sell

your goods– Restrict colonies from trading with other

nations

Causes of Latin American Independence movements

1. Latin American colonies were controlled by Spain and Portugal

2. Napoleonic wars in Europe3. Ideologies of the American and

French revolutions based on Enlightenment ideas

4. Nationalism (patriotism) developed in Latin American nations

Inspiration of American & Inspiration of American & French RevolutionsFrench Revolutions

Declaration of Declaration of Independence, 1776Independence, 1776

Declaration of the Declaration of the Rights of Man & of Rights of Man & of the Citizen, 1789the Citizen, 1789

EnlightenmentEnlightenment Thinkers Thinkers

John Locke, Voltaire, & Jean Rousseau;

Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine

Make up of Spanish colonies in Latin America

• Encomenderos – original conquerors who were granted vast estates known as the encomienda system

• Hacienda – self-sufficient farming estate (ex. cattle, sugarcane)

• Indians work the farms, mines, etc until disease and poor treatment wipes out many

• African Slaves imported to replace Indians

encomienda system

Encomenderos

Spanish Hacienda

Latin American Colonial Society

PeninsularesEuropeans born on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal)

Creoles White Europeans born in Latin America

Mestizos (mixed) Native Indian &European ancestryMore in Mexico

Mulattoes (mixed) African & European ancestry More in Brazil

Indians Africans

Peninsulares – high ranking royal officials owned large estates, mines

Creoles – discriminated by peninsulares some enjoyed great wealth

Role of the Roman Catholic Church

• Native inhabitants converted to Roman Catholic Christianity

• Church could protect or exploit the native Indians

• Jesuit priests became very powerful owning haciendas, mines, and slaves

• Jesuit order eventually disbanded in Spain and Portugal

• Kings seized all Jesuit colonial holdings

Bartolome de Las Casas

• Advocate for the Indians

• He decried the mistreatment and oppression of the Indians

• Wrote books, letters and petitions to try to stop the mistreatment

Napoleon on the March in Napoleon on the March in EuropeEurope

Provides a model & a diversion!Provides a model & a diversion!

Preoccupation of Spain & Preoccupation of Spain & Portugal in fighting Portugal in fighting

Napoleonic Wars gave Latin Napoleonic Wars gave Latin American countries the American countries the

opportunity to rebelopportunity to rebel

Latin American Revolutions!Latin American Revolutions!

Toussaint-LouvertureToussaint-LouvertureLeads a RevolutionLeads a Revolution

in Haitiin Haiti(1804)(1804)

Toussaint-Louverture• Mulattoes and blacks under

Toussaint-Louverture, a freed slave, won the only successful slave rebellion anywhere in the world

• Napoleon I sent an army to stop the rebellion and re-establish slavery

• Toussaint-Louverture was captured and died in a French prison

• French could not retake the island

• Haiti becomes the first independent country in Latin America (1804)

Hanging the French

Mexico and Central America

• Creole priest

• Army of peasants

• Declared an end to slavery

• Spanish army and creoles join against him

• Betrayed by one of his officers, captured and executed

Miguel Hidalgo

Mexico and Central America

• Mestizo farm worker turned priest

• Favored independence, land reform and the end of slavery

• More successful leader• Upper class Creoles feared

him and remained loyal to Spain

• Captured and shot in 1815

Jose Morelos

Napoleon said, “With three such men as Morelos, I could conquerthe world”

Mexico & Central America gain independence

• 1821, upper middle class Mexicans stage their own independence movement

• Agustin de Irudbide, a military general, proclaims himself Emperor Agustin I

• 1823, his dictatorial rule ends when he is overthrown

• Mexico becomes a republic• Reps from Guatemala, El

Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica meet to form an independent federal union

Agustin I

Bolivar & San Martin Fight Bolivar & San Martin Fight for Independence!for Independence!

Spent time in Europe and the newly-independent United States.

Studied enlightenment works of Voltaire etc.

Creole leader of the revolutions in Venezuela.

Exiled twice Wealthy Venezuelan creole

Simon Bolivar – the “brains” & the “liberator”

Bolivar in the North

• January 1819, Bolivar led his army on a daring march over the Andes into what is now Columbia

• Spanish army caught by surprise and defeated

• Venezuela becomes independent in 1821 and is organized into Grand Columbia

• Bolivar marches south to Ecuador where he meets up with San Martin

Bolivar’s AccomplishmentBolivar’s Accomplishment

Jose de San Martin

• Argentinean Creole officer

• Trained in European armies

• Liberated Argentina from Spanish control 1816

• Fought in Chile and Peru against the Spanish

• Met with Bolivar in Guayaquil in 1822. While Bolivar favored democracy, San Martin felt only monarchy could work.

• Turned his army over to Bolivar

• Died in obscurity in Europe

Simón Bolivar meets José de Simón Bolivar meets José de San MartinSan Martin

Bolivar Bolivar coming from coming from the North.the North.

Argentinean José de San Argentinean José de San Martín and Chilean Martín and Chilean Bernard O’Higgins cross Bernard O’Higgins cross the Andes Mountains to the Andes Mountains to fight in Chile. After fight in Chile. After several victories Chile is several victories Chile is free.free.

Bolivar’s FailureBolivar’s Failure

After uniting Venezuela, Columbia, & Ecuador into Gran Columbia, he left to help free the rest of Latin America.

He died a year later, with his goal of uniting all of South America unfulfilled!

Brazil

• 1807 - Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil when Napoleon I invades Portugal

• After Napoleon, an 1820 revolt in Portugal causes Dom Joao now King John I to return to Portugal

• 1822 - his son, Dom Pedro, declares Brazil’s independence

• Dom Pedro II ruled until his death in 1889

• Brazil becomes a military dictatorship after his death

Dom Pedro IDom Pedro II

Independence for some but no unity for Latin Am nations• Portugal lost all their possessions in

Latin America• Spain lost its empire except for Cuba

and Puerto Rico• Failure of Bolivar’s dream for a united

South America:– Many newly independent countries

struggle with civil wars.

• Distances, geographical barriers, regional rivalries prevented unity

Monroe Doctrine

“The American continents…are henceforth not to be

considered as subjects for future colonization by

any European powers.” - James Monroe 1823

Results of the Independence movements

• International trade expanded which was good for their economies

• Slavery abolished throughout Latin America by 1888

• Conflicts between liberals and conservatives continued

• No orderly rule for establishing governments – Rebellion and election

Independence Brought Independence Brought More PovertyMore Poverty

The wars frequently disrupted trade.

The wars devastated the cities and the countryside.

Many Countries were left Many Countries were left in the Control of in the Control of CaudillosCaudillos

– Ambitious mestizo military leaders

– Ruled by personal power

– Posed as reformers with goals to improve the economy and better the lives of the common people.

– Provided stability but not freedom Porfirio Díaz