Transcript VIII. The Porfiriato

Independence Mexico & Latin America
Imperialism & NationBuilding
Don Quixote calavera
Causes of LA
Independence
 Liberal Ideas – Enlightenment,
Amer Rev, French Rev
 Napoleonic wars created
chaos for Spain & Portugal –
ruler of Spain contested
 local elites – want all power
over land & wealth – not
upset the status quo too much
– no power to lower classes
Haitian Revolution
 French sugar colony – St. Domingue January 1, 1804
 Toussaint L’Overture - self-educated
former domestic slave
 first free black republic in the world
 Napoleon too concerned w/European
wars but sent forces to retake island –
captured l’Overture – died in French
prison – Haitian forces beat french
 A light-skinned elite took control of
political and economic power
Mexico
 1810 – Catholic Priest - Father Miguel
de Hidalgo
 Coalition of Indians & Creoles (native
born elites) – creoles captured &
executed Hidalgo b/c they feared an
indian rebellion
 Augustine de Iturbide – army creole
general in favor of independence (but
royalist supporter)
 1821 – independence declared; Iturbide
named emperor of Mexico
Plan de Iguala -1st Mexican
Constitutional document
 Mexican independence from Spain
 Catholic church – official state
church (maintains its monopoly &
large tracts of land)
 Legal equality of all mexicans
(peninsulares & creole – males!)
 Conservative document based on
some liberal ideas
Mexican Independence
Conservative or liberal??
 Iturbide named emperor for life
 Overthrown in 7-8 months
 Closed Congress, press, jailed political
opponents
 Economic problems after 11 years of war –
many national debts
 Santa Anna – General stationed in
Veracruz led coup against Iturbide
 1836 – French invasion – Santa Anna’s
leg 1846 rioters angry about US-MX war
- dogs
 B/w 1833 & 1855 - 35 different
govts/presidents (avg 7.5 months)
Centralists vs. Federalists
 Federalists – liberals –
republican govt with local
powers distributed among states
(like U.S.)
 Centralists – Mexico’s historical
tradition – centralized power in
Mexico City – very little local
power
South American Independence
 Simon Bolivar – wealthy Creole
Army officer
 1817-1822 – won battles in
Venezuela & Equador over Spanish
troops
 Proponent of Republican govt –
refused efforts by some to crown
him king
South America
 Jose de San Martin – autonomy /
independence for Argentina, Bolivia,
Paraguay
 All had independence (from Spain) by
1825 – republics (not Constitutional
Monarchs) – Liberal ideas
 Caudillos – charismatic military
leaders who take political power (often
by force) w/out regard to political
ideology – ex. Santa Anna (11 times
Pres)– change political views to fit
circumstances
Brazil – independence from
Portugal
 Fear of slave uprisings (Haiti)
 Napoleonic Wars – Portuguese King
& family moved to Brazil to rule
 Brazil trading opened up; schools;
urban improvements;
 1820 – liberal revolution in Brazil –
parliament instituted
 Dom Pedro I – 1st constitutional
emperor
1830
Benito Juárez – La Reforma
 Zapotec Indian who led a liberal revolt in1854

New constitution, 1857
 Privileges of army and church diminished
 Goal: nation of small farmers
 In reality - lands bought up by wealthy landowners
 By 1910 – ½ Mexicans owned NO LAND
 Conservative reaction to La Reforma: convinced
French to intervene in 1862

Maximilian von Habsburg - reformist

1867, French withdraw; Maximilian executed
 Juárez in office to 1872 – increased autocracy due to
instability
 Branded as madmen,
mystics &
revolutionaries, the
inhabitants of Brazil's
city Canudos were
poor, illiterate peasants
who came into conflict
w/ Brazilian gov’t only
after they had been
forced off their land.
Dispossession -- a
common occurrence in
19th century Latin
America -- frequently
resulted in violence &
conflict, often along
race and class lines.
Latin American Economies and World
Markets, 1820-1870
Britain, U.S. support independence in exchange for
economic power
Economies dependent on foreign consumers &
investment
 Mid-Century Stagnation
1820-1850

After 1850 - European IR creates more demand
 Church, conservatives slow change

Landowners, peasants ally in opposition
 Economic Resurgence and Liberal Politics
Liberals in power, late 1800s

Auguste Comte, positivism
Argentina
 United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, 1816
 Liberals v. federalists
 Juan Manuel de Rosas- 1831 – Federalist –
despot, forced Indians off their land
 Overthrown in 1852
 Reunification – Argentine Republic 18621890
 President - Domingo F. Sarmiento – liberal
reformer
The Brazilian Empire
 Pedro I - 1824, liberal constitution; Abdicated (disliked b/c
of autocratic rule) in 1831
 Pedro II (young) - Regency, 1831-1840 – conflict b/w
liberals & conservatives
 Economic prosperity
 Coffee export - fazendas
 slavery intensified
 Infrastructure improved
 Abolition of slavery - 1888 – leads to downfall of monarchy
& power of landowners
 Republican Party – formed in 1871 – urban & rural poor

Coup overthrew Emperor in 1889

Republic founded – military influence & positivism
 Peasants in backlands – unrest; econ/social instability Canudos
New Imperialism in LA
 Great Britain & U.S. came to
dominate the LA economy after
independence from Spain & Portugal
 British investors/merchants moved
to LA in large numbers – built RRs &
brought electricity
 LA exported to U.S. & G.B. raw
materials – wheat, tobacco, sugar,
coffee, hides
 LA imported technology & finished
products – esp. clothing
Electric streetcar calavera
Mexico and Argentina: Examples of
Economic Transformation
Porfirio Díaz
 1876, president - 19th C liberal - admired European
culture
 Foreign capital (US & GB) used for infrastructure – RR,
roads, canals, telegraph lines
 Revolt suppressed - dictator
 Argentina
 Meat exports; European immigration
 Distinct culture
 1890s - Socialist party forms; strikes from 1910

Radical Party Middle class; 1916 – gain power
Inequality in LA
 Politics & economies in LA were
dominated by wealthy elites who
owned large tracts of land –
haciendas
 Grew cash crops – coffee, sugar
 95% of the population –
peasants
 forced to work on haciendas for low
wages
 no land to grow basic food crops
 suffered from severe poverty
The US in LA
 1898 – Spanish – American War




Cuba – protectorate of US
Puerto Rico – annexed to the US
Philippines – protectorate of US
Guam – protectorate of US
 1903 – US urged Panama to fight
for independence from Colombia
 US supplied military
 Panama gave up rights to a 10 mile
strip of land for the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
 French started the canal in 1881
 Continued by US between 1904 and
1914
 Canal is 51 miles long; average
crossing time is 8-10 hrs
 6 pairs of locks – locks lift ships 85
feet above sea level
 140 million tons of commercial cargo
pass through the canal each year
US Investment in LA
 1898 – US military forces sent to
Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama,
Colombia, Haiti, & Dominican
Republic to “protect” U.S.
corporations & other economic
interests
 Latin Americans came to resent the
“big bullies” from the North
 “el mosquito
americano”
 Signs of antiAmerican
sentiment
Causes of Mex. Rev.
 20th C Liberal ideas
challenge conservative,
centralized govt of
Porfirio Diaz (“President” of
Mexico from 1877 – 1911)
 Labor unrest
 Economic downturn – 95%
population owned no land
The Mexican Revolution
The call to arms
 1. Liberal landowner Francisco
Madero forced Diaz from power
(1911) - Plan de San Luis Potosí
Free elections
Basic freedoms for all
Mexicans
 2. Madero’s reforms were not
significant enough to appease
the landless peasants –
organized themselves into
armies & began seizing land
from wealthy elites
The Mexican Revolution
The Constitutionalist
coalition – 3 leaders:
 1. Venustiano
Carranza
controlled Mexico
City
 2. Pancho Villa
controlled North
 3. Emiliano Zapata
controlled SW
Alliance of Villa & Zapata
 Peasant armies
occupy Mexico City
 a. Villa & Zapata
had limited ideas
about forming a
govt; their
troops behaved
badly on the
streets of
Mexico City
 Villa enjoying
himself--Zapata
feeling very
uncomfortable.
This is in Dec.
1914
The Constitution of 1917
Constitutional Gov’t
*president - 6 year term
*2 houses of Congress
 Articles 3 – education would be
free & secular
 Article 27 – land reform; all of
Mexico’s land is owned by the
Mexican people
 Article 123 – rights for
workers; right to join a union
Kahlo painting &
Rivera mural
Mexican Nationalism
 Revolution led to new levels of
patriotism
 Writers & artists tried to capture
the uniqueness of Mexico & the
Mexican people
 Frido Kahlo
 Diego Rivera
Mexico from 1934 - 1940
 President Lazaro Cárdenas
 “Revolution” in action
 a. Land reform policy
 b. “Socialist” education
 c. 1938 - nationalization of the
oil fields – conflict with the
United States
Mexico today
 Industrialization
 WWII – provided raw materials to U.S.
 “Bracero” program – Mexican workers
worked in U.S. industries
 North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) – United States/Mexico/Canada
 US corporations reinvest in Mexico
 Mexican crop prices (corn) decrease
 Mexican farmers cannot continue to
make a living in the country
 Migrate to Mexico City & United States