HUM 2461
Humanities of Latin America
Spring 2014
 Attendance
 Independence Movements in Latin
America and Latin American Thinkers:
Lecture by Carlos Hernández (Ph.D.
Student at Latin American History)
 POP QUIZ
Independence Movements in Latin
America and Latin American
Thinkers
Carlos Hernández
University of Florida
Ph.D. Student in Latin American History
Learning Objectives
•
•
•
•
“Independence” as process(es) and concept
“Latin America” as place and concept
Transatlantic connections
Relationship between race and nation
– Role of intellectuals
– Contestation from below
• Legacies today
What is independence?
• Discussion:
– What are some associations that come to mind?
– Does independence mean freedom? Democracy?
Constitutionalism? Civil rights?
• Reflection:
– How does your background affect the way you
think about these questions?
– Do these concepts have different meanings in
different contexts?
What is Latin America?
• “Latin America” is a
place and concept
• The concept has a
history
• That history is related to
colonization,
independence, and
beyond
• Presentation will focus
on Spanish America
– Mexico, Gran Colombia,
and Cuba
Presentation’s Focus
• Mexico, Gran Colombia, and Cuba
• Gran Colombia
– Roughly Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama, with
parts of Peru, Guyana, and Brazil
• Why these examples?
– MX as the beginning: first viceroyalty created and one of
the first to rebel
– Bolivarian legacies in South America
– Cuba as a latecomer and first major U.S. intervention
• Transatlantic connections
• Role of intellectuals in shaping race and nation
– Concept of independence related to national identity
Independence: From Empires to
Nations
• Before there were nations, there were empires
• Discussion:
– Are there differences between empires and
nations? If so, what are they?
• Reflection:
– We might be tempted to think of the transition as
neat and linear, but it was actually very messy
Colonial Organization of Spanish
America
• Spain generally managed colonies through
viceroyalties
– Cuba one of the exceptions
• Viceroys supposedly represented the king and
theoretically reported to him
• Established by late 18th C.
• New Spain, Peru, New Granada, and Río de la
Plata
Why Independence? Transatlantic
Connections
• Relative colonial peace since mid-16th C.
• Late 18th and early 19th centuries, “Age of
Revolutions”
• European wars=debt; led to new colonial policies
– Bourbon reforms and “the Enlightenment”: new line of
monarchs called for centralization, taxation, and
secularization
• U.S., French, and Haitian Revolutions
• Iberian crisis: Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808;
Mexico rebelled in 1810; others followed
The Viceroyalty of New Spain
Mexican Independence: Some Pivotal
Moments
• 1810: “Grito de Dolores”
• 1813: Chilpancingo Congress
– “Sentiments of the Nation”
• 1821: Mexico gained
Independence under the
“Empire” of Agustín de
Iturbide
• 1824: Mexico became a
constitutional federal republic
The Viceroyalty
of Peru and its
Transformations
Bolivarian Movements
• Spanish crisis
• “The Liberator”
– Roughly Venezuela, Colombia, Panama,
Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia
• Sought and accepted aid from Haiti
• Venezuela: 3 republics
– 1810-12; 1812-14; 1817-20
• Quito and Peru: 1821-24
• Ca. 1820-25: Pres. of Gran Colombia & Peru
• 1825: Upper Peru/Charcas (Bolivia)
• 1826-30: Internal divisions and collapse of Gran
Colombia into successor states
• 1830: Died of TB after his project failed
• Vision was to create a united and centralized
state
– Legacy resonates with the LA left today
What about Cuba?
• Not a viceroyalty
– Sugar colony
• Latecomer to
independence
– Remained loyal due
to economic reasons
• Independence
movements related to
abolition of slavery
Cuba’s Long Struggles for
Independence
• 1868, Grito de Yara
• Ten Years’ War, 1868-78
• Little War, 1879-80
– Gradual abolition scheduled for 1888
– Full abolition in 1886
• Independence War, 1895-98
– “Spanish-American” War of ’98
• “Independent” by 1898
• U.S. Occupation, 1902-04
Spanish American Independence in a
Comparative Context
• What would become independence movements
began with a desire for autonomy
• Pro-independence view won because Spain
became increasingly repressive
– 1808 Napoleonic invasion
– 1812 Cortes de Cádiz (liberal Span. Const.)
– 1814 Restoration of Ferdinand VII=absolutism,
revocation of 1812 Const.; rebels polarized
Escribir historia, hacer patria:
Inventing the Nation
• Discussion:
– What is a nation?
• Age of revolutions also the age of history
• Intellectuals “invented” the nation by writing about it
• The processes of independence became collapsed into
a single concept, “Independence”
– This was laregly retrospective
• Defining “independence” meant imagining “the nation”
• The nation needed a national subject
– Race and nationality became tied
Race and Nation in Latin American
Thought: Some Examples
• José María Morelos y Pavón’s
“Sentiments of the Nation”
• Simón Bolívar’s “Letter from
Jamaica”
• José Martí’s “Our America”
Morelos’s “Sentiments of the Nation”
(Sept. 14, 1813)
• Morelos’s vision of MX nation
– “America” rather than “Mexico”
• Listed 23 points:
– “America is free and independent of Spain and of all other
nations, governments, or monarchies.”
– Catholicism; Sept. 12 (Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe)
– Popular sovereignty, elimination of colonial privileges (laws
applied equally to all)
– Abolition of slavery and racial distinctions
– Right to private property
– End of “tribute”
– Defense of national sovereignty
– September 16th declared a national holiday; honored Hidalgo
•
Bolívar’s “Letter from Jamaica”
(1815)
Highlights:
– “We are, moreover, neither Indian nor European, but a species midway
between the legitimate proprieties of this country and the Spanish
usurpers. In short, though Americans by birth we derive our rights
from Europe, and we have to assert these rights against the rights of
the natives, and at the same time we must defend ourselves against the
invaders.”
– “I desire to see America fashioned into the greatest nation in the world,
greatest not so much by virtue of her area and wealth as by her
freedom and glory…Although I seek perfection for the government of
my country, I cannot persuade myself that the New World can, at the
moment, be organized as a great republic.”
– “I do not favor American monarchies…I think the Americans…would
prefer republics to kingdoms.”
– “Surely unity is what we need to complete our work of regeneration.”
Martí’s “Our America” (1892)
• “America” did/does not mean “U.S.”
• Highlights:
– “Whatever is left of that sleepy hometown in America
must awaken.”
– “In America, the good ruler does not need to know how the
German or Frenchman is governed”
– “Our own Greece is preferable to the Greece that is not
ours…Statesmen who arise from the nation must replace
statesmen who are alien to it.”
– “There is no racial hatred because there are no races.”
• Legacy in Cuba: Race became taboo to talk about;
today it’s “counterrevolutionary”
• Legacy outside Cuba: Pan-Americanism
Independence: From Processes to
Concept(s)
• Combatants were generally peasants, indigenous,
and, black, and of mixed races
• Women rarely fought but contributed in
significant ways
– Cooked, took care of sick, etc.
• Intellectuals imagined “the nation” in racial terms
– Lang. of mestizaje became the new baroque
• Creation of “heroes” vs. “villains”
• Left lasting legacy of competing and conflicting
visions of nationalism and politics
Meanings of Independence Today
• Bicentennial celebrations in 2010: Argentina,
Chile, and Mexico
– Mexico: 2010 also the Centennial of the Revolution
• “Bolivarian Revolution”: Chávez’s call for
“popular democracy” evoked Bolívar’s legacy
• Florida: large immigrant populations from Latin
America and the Caribbean
Suggested Readings
• Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities:
Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism. (2006 revised edition)
• Ferrer, Ada. Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation and
Revolution, 1868-1898. (1999)
• Mignolo, Walter. The Idea of Latin America.
(1991)
• Rodríguez, Jaime. The Independence of Spanish
America. (1998)