Transcript Latin American Independence Movements

Latin American Independence
Movements
•Our Lady • Social
of Lourdes Studies
Department
High
School
Nationalism
• Definition:
– The belief that each group of people should
have their own country, with clearly defined
borders & their own government
– People should be loyal to the government
rather than the leader
– Pride in one’s country; being patriotic
What makes a nation?
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Nationality (common ethnicity)
Language (communication)
Culture (a shared way of life)
History (common experiences)
Religion (common to most/all of the people)
Territory (where the nation is located)
Background to Independence
• By early 1800s, ideas of the Enlightenment,
French Revolution & Napoleonic wars had
influenced Europeans
• Turmoil in Europe had influenced those living
in the Spanish & Portuguese colonies in the
Americas
• The influence of the American Revolution also
played a role in Latin America Independence
movements
Colonial Society
• Based on a racial hierarchy
– The lighter the skin, the more valuable the person
– A hierarchy is defined as: a system or organization
in which people or groups are ranked one above
the other according to status or authority.
Colonial Society
• Peninsulares: white people born on the
Iberian peninsula in either Spain or Portugal to
Spanish or Portuguese parents
• Creoles: the children of peninsulare parents
born in the new world. White people, but
held a permanent 2nd class status
– Where is the Iberian Peninsula?!
Colonial Society
• Mestizo: a person of mixed European and
Indian blood
• Mulatto: a person of mixed European and
African blood
Colonial Society
• African $lave$: people brought to New Spain
as a labor force to replace the Indians
• Indians: indigenous people with the least
amount of value in this hierarchy because they
could not do the work the slaves could
Colonial Economy
• Mercantilism: economic theory that states
there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world
& that in order to receive a larger share, one
country has to take some wealth away from
another country
Colonial Economy
• The main purpose of the Latin American
colonies was to provide their respective
mother countries, merchants and white
colonists, with as much wealth as possible
• The Europeans took as much gold, silver and
plantation crops as possible from the colonies
Colonial Economy
• Hacienda: The main economic center in New
Spain
– A large, self-sufficient farming estate
• Given to conquistadors & court favorites by the
monarch
• Indians first worked the land, but because of
abuse and disease, many died
• African slaves were imported to work as
replacements
Growing Discontent
• Discontented creoles (why are they
discontented?) attracted to the ideas of the
Enlightenment, French and American
revolutions
– Stuck in permanent 2nd class status
– Feared losing economic monopolies because of
king’s relaxing of mercantilist restrictions
– Resented paying taxes for European wars
– Liberal government came to power in Spain
Haiti Goes First
• Known as St. Domingo on the island of
Hispaniola in the West Indies
• During French Revolution, the radicals had
abolished slavery in the French colonies
– Napoleon had restored slavery in the colony and
slaves revolted
• What choice did the former slaves have?
Haiti
• Former slaves led in battle by Toussaint
L’Ouverture (the “opening” in English because
it was said he could find an opening in the
French lines when he had to
• Napoleon saw L’Ouverture as a threat to
controlling Haiti and sent an army to crush
him
Haiti
• French army eventually signed a deal with
L’Ouverture and he was then arrested and
sent to France where he died in 1803
– The French tricked him
• After L’Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Dessaline took
up the fight and defeated the French
• Independent Haiti proclaimed in 1804
• First free African slave colony in New World
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808 set
wheels in motion
– Spanish nationalism, fueled by Napoleon, grew in
the American colonies
– Unhappy creoles, mestizos & Indians were to join
the revolution in Mexico
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• After Spanish King Ferdinand VII was removed
from throne, a junta developed in Spain to
rule in king’s name
• Same thing happened in Mexico, but creoles
wanted to run it
– Peninsulares said that was a bad idea– they
should support Spain with peninsualres in charge
– Peninsulares tend to be more conservative
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• Tension grew between peninsulares & creoles
• Creoles formed “literary societies” to plot
their next move
• The leader of the most famous of these clubs
met a priest called Miguel Hidalgo
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• Hildalgo promised revolution before the end
of 1810 in Mexico
• 16 September 1810: Grito de Dolores
– The “call of Dolores”
– Called on the Indians, mestizos and creoles to take
up arms against Spain
– Hildalgo’s army quickly became a mob and turned
uprising into class war
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• 30 October 1810: Battle of Las Cruces
– Hildalgo won, but did not follow up the victory
– Spanish army counter-attacked and captured
Hidalgo
– Hidalgo was tried and executed by the Holy Office
of the Inquisition (he was a priest, after all)
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• After Hildalgo, leadership was taken
over by Jose Maria Morelos, a
mestizo priest
– Morelos added a social element to the
revolution that angered many of the creoles
– He was later defeated and executed in 1815
Mexico Ends Spanish Rule
• 1820: Revolt against Ferdinand VII by the
liberals in Spain
• Creoles in Mexico joined the revolution in
droves
• Spanish army commander joined rebel side
• Revolution over & Mexico independent by
September 1821
Independence in Spanish S. America
• Began in 1810 in La Plata when creoles took
control of the government there & declared
their independence
– La Plata was later named Argentina
– Paraguay later declared its own independence
from Spain
Independence in Spanish S. America
• In the rest of South America, things got bloody
• Led by Simon Bolivar (the Liberator)
– Started in Caracas (in modern Venezuela) in 1810
– Destroyed Spanish power in New Granada (NW
South America)
– Created new nation of Greater Colombia
Independence in Spanish S. America
• Greater Colombia:
– Colombia
– Venezuela
– Ecuador
– Panama
Independence in Spanish S. America
• Jose de San Martin crossed Andes into
modern Chile, joined with Bernardo O’Higgins
and defeated Spanish army there by 1818
• From Chile San Martin moved north to Lima,
Peru & declared independence by 1821, but
totally free until 1825
Brazil Goes Its Own Way
• Napoleon’s 1808 invasion of Portugal forced
king John VI to flee to Brazil
• Brazil then became equal to Portugal and
mercantilist restrictions on trade removed
• John VI stayed in Brazil until 820 when he
returned to deal with revolution in Portugal
Brazil Goes Its Own Way
• Once John VI left Brazil he tried to return it to
colony status
• Creoles in Brazil persuaded prince Pedro to
become independent ruler of Brazil as a
constitutional monarch
• King in Portugal agreed to allow it and no
blood was spilled