Latin American Independence

I

Introduction

Latin American Independence (1807-1824), political and military movement that ended colonial rule by Spain and Portugal over Mexico, Central America, and South America and gave birth to the modern independent nations of Latin America.

When the independence movement began at the beginning of the 19th century, Latin America contained two large and productive colonial empires, the Spanish and the Portuguese. Spain’s colonies stretched from what is now the western United States and Mexico to Argentina, while Portugal’s empire was in Brazil. Under the system of colonialism, these territories were subject to extensive and complex networks of control by Spain and Portugal.

Both empires functioned fairly well for three centuries. But by the mid-1700s grievances developed among the colonists, who complained about economic restrictions and tax burdens imposed by the imperial powers. Those born in the colonies also resented the fact that European-born residents were favored for important bureaucratic and administrative positions.

There were many reasons why independence movements arose in Latin America when they did. Colonists were influenced by new political ideas from Europe’s Age of Enlightenment, which questioned traditional beliefs and authority and introduced such concepts as limiting the power of monarchs. The American Revolution and the French Revolution, both in the late 1700s, provided inspiration for some Spanish-American and Brazilian colonists to seek more control over their economic and political affairs.

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Against this background, dramatic events in Spain and Portugal sparked the independence movements, beginning in 1807. Warfare with France caused Spain to loosen control over its American colonies, which led to a degree of colonial self-government. The war forced the Portuguese royal court to flee to Brazil, which became for a time the center of that empire. By 1824 both of the great empires had collapsed.

Once the Spanish colonies and Brazil won their independence, however, they found themselves ill-prepared to function effectively. Because of the colonial system, their economies were not diversified, their roads and ports were not developed, and their people lacked experience at representative government. Leaders were divided over the roles that government and the church should play in the new nations. Within many countries, regions fought with each other for political or economic power. The independent nations created somewhat more open societies than the colonial regimes they replaced, introducing republican institutions, gradually ending slavery, and allowing some improvement in the status of nonwhites. But many of the countries came under the control of military dictators, setting a pattern that continued into the 20th century.

II

Background

A

Colonial System

The colonial system was based on the economic principle of mercantilism. Under this policy, colonies existed to benefit the economy of the parent country, supplying it with precious metals, agricultural products, and other raw materials to be used in manufacturing trade goods. In the Spanish Empire, this meant a very restricted system of trade between the colonies and Spain, which imposed strict governmental supervision. Spain barred its colonies from trading with other nations and limited their trade with each other. Spain encouraged its colonies to produce exports such as gold and silver, but colonial manufacturing was discouraged, so Spanish Americans could buy goods only from Spain, often at high prices. Similarly, Portugal encouraged production of sugar, gold, and diamonds but discouraged colonial manufacturing.

The movement for independence began first in Spain’s American colonies, coming later, through a different course, to Brazil (which will be discussed below). The Spanish-American movement was fostered by developments in the late 1700s, when Spain suffered a number of military disasters. The monarchy, determined to improve imperial defenses, needed to increase revenues. It set in place a series of measures, known as the Bourbon Reforms, to raise money, provide for defense, and centralize government authority. Many of these reforms occurred during the reign of King Charles III, from 1759 to 1788, and led to significant changes in the economic, political, and religious structure within the colonies.

As part of his reforms, Charles reorganized the administration of the colonies, which had been divided into large administrative regions called viceroyalties. Each region was governed by a representative of the king, the viceroy. In 1776 Charles created a new viceroyalty, the Viceroyalty of the Río de La Plata, in the southern part of South America, with its capital at Buenos Aires. The new viceroyalty was made up of territory formerly governed under the Viceroyalty of Peru and included the sparsely populated lands east of the Andes that now form Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. It also took over the rich silver-mining area of Upper Peru (present-day Bolivia), which reduced Peru’s wealth and power as a trade center, shifting some of the empire’s economic focus to the Atlantic Coast. The other viceroyalties were New Granada, including what is now Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, and New Spain, which encompassed Mexico, most of Central America, and Spanish territory in the Caribbean.

To defend its empire, Spain created colonial armies and enlarged militia units in Spanish America as part of its reforms. Tens of thousands of Spanish American colonists were armed and trained in some kind of military service. Ironically, this measure to protect the Spanish Empire contributed to its downfall, as these militias later formed the base of the armies of independence.

The most famous of Charles’s reforms was the freedom of trade decree of 1778, which lifted restrictions on trade between many Spanish and colonial ports. The decree undermined the power of a small group of merchants in Cádiz, Spain, who had enjoyed a monopoly on the important international trade. The decree also permitted widespread trade among colonies, which previously had been limited. This reform allowed the colonists a greater role in commerce, increased their wealth, and encouraged many of them to conclude that they could benefit even more if they were allowed to direct their economies.

Another of the Bourbon reform measures provoked deep resentment from many colonists. To centralize its power, the Crown created important administrative positions in the colonies and filled them with Spanish-born officials, known as peninsulares (those from the Iberian Peninsula). Spanish colonists born in the Americas, called criollos (Creoles), were excluded from these posts. Although peninsulares had traditionally been favored in colonial society, Creoles had gained economic as well as some political power as large landowners and merchants. By favoring European-born bureaucrats and diminishing the Creoles’ political power, the monarchy further alienated many colonists from the imperial system, making them susceptible to the allure of independence.

Other members of colonial society, less powerful than the Creoles, also had grievances against Spanish authority. Spanish America was legally divided into castes, with the whites, who were a minority of the population, at the top. Beneath them were the Native Americans—officially wards of the Crown but nevertheless greatly exploited and abused. They were subjected to forced labor on farms and in mines. As part of its reforms, Spain imposed new taxes and demanded more tribute from Native Americans, putting even heavier demands on the already oppressed masses. Mestizos, those of mixed Native American and white heritage, were also ranked below whites and suffered both legal and social discrimination. In an even lower caste were the free people of color—free blacks and mulattoes, those of mixed black and white descent. Both mestizos and the free people of color were barred from serving in the bureaucracies of the church, state, or military. The free people of color were held to be inferior and were not permitted a university education. In the lowest caste were the African slaves.

As the Spanish monarchy tried to increase its authority, it was hampered by the power of the Catholic Church. The church, including various religious orders, had acquired great wealth, including large holdings of land, in the colonies. The Jesuit order especially had gained extraordinary wealth and political influence, and it also controlled much of the university and high school education in the colonies. To control this rival authority, the monarchy curtailed special church privileges. In 1767 the king expelled the Jesuits from Spain and the colonies, and confiscated their great economic holdings. Finally, in 1804, the crown seized all land and capital belonging to the church’s charitable works and chantries (endowments for chanting Mass). This action alienated many colonists and also many parish priests, most of whom depended on the chantries for their meager incomes. By 1810 many of the lower clergy were receptive to the talk of independence.

B

Enlightenment Ideas

The frustration of the Spanish Americans was fueled by the intellectual movement of the Enlightenment. With its emphasis on science and reason, the Enlightenment challenged political and social institutions such as monarchy, religion, mercantilism, and class distinctions. Many Creoles read the works of the leading Enlightenment writers, and many future leaders of the Spanish-American independence movements spent time in Europe as students, soldiers, or on business.

The American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799) provided an example for the Spanish American colonists. Some Creoles fought in those revolutions, which were grounded in the ideas of the Enlightenment and saw colonists cast off monarchs to form independent, republican governments. However, many Spanish Americans were also frightened by the social upheaval that followed the French Revolution, including the bloody war for independence in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue, which became the nation of Haiti (seeHaitian Slave Revolt).

C

Crisis in Spain

At the same time that colonists were becoming dissatisfied with imperial rule, Spain began to face problems at home. During the 18th and 19th centuries Spain became involved in a number of international wars, which seriously strained the kingdom’s finances. During the early years of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), Spain was pressured by French emperor Napoleon I to join France in a war against Britain. To isolate Britain from the European continent, Napoleon sent an army across Spain in 1807 to attack Portugal, a British ally. The French forced the Portuguese royal court to flee Lisbon for Brazil and cut off British access to Portugal’s ports. This changed the course of history for Brazil, making it the center of the Portuguese empire and postponing its independence for a decade and a half.

After conquering Portugal, Napoleon turned on his Spanish allies and occupied a portion of northern Spain. King Charles IV abdicated in 1808 and his son Ferdinand VII took the throne. But Napoleon deposed Ferdinand and made his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, king instead. This caused Spaniards to rise in rebellion against the French on May 2, 1808, in a war of independence (seePeninsular War). Refusing to recognize Bonaparte as king, councils called juntas formed in cities around Spain to fight the French and govern in the name of King Ferdinand. These councils soon joined together and formed a central junta, later replaced by a Council of Regency. Despite the British sending an army to help the Spanish, the French controlled most of the country by 1809.

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