BORN IN BLOOD AND FIRE:
a concise history of Latin America
by John Charles Chasten
Chapter 3
© 2011 The Granger Collection.
http://www.granger.com
1
Chapter 3:
Independence
Key questions from Chapter 3:
1.What was the context within
which the revolutions began?
2.What ideas and events
influenced the rebellion?
3.Who was and was not
involved? How?
4.How did the outcomes of the
revolutions match the founding
ideals?
Chapter 3: European context
Bad governance in Spain
•Carlos IV drove state into bankruptcy
•Increased taxes and sale of political
office for revenue
•Resentment among Spanish Americans
Violence and invasion
•Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)
•Imprisonment of Spanish king gave
colonies de facto independence
Chapter 3: European ideals fly across the Atlantic
liberalism
&
sovereignt
y
France
Spain
Americas
Chapter 3: Social hierarchies and revolutionary
cries
Creoles (native-born, of Spanish blood):
Peninsulars (Spanish- born):
•Rebels
•Loyalists
•Social
•Selected
competition made creoles resentful of
peninsulars.
•Greater in number than peninsulars
to rule colonies
•Smallest demographic
Natives, Africans, mixed-races:
•Rebels,
maybe
•Uninterested in social concerns of creoles
•Resentful of creoles and peninsulars
•Largest demographic
Slaves:
•??????
What was at stake for each of these groups?
Chapter 3: American rebellions begin...slowly
Mexico
•Hidalgo inspired peasants, but “too
indigenous” for the creoles.
•Father Morelos, a mestizo, energized creoles
and lower classes.
Peru
•Tupac Amaru II’s revolt of 1780s scared them
away from uniting natives.
The Fringes: Venezuela and Argentina
•Both countries had active creole movement
against Spanish.
•Movements helped by experienced horsemen.
¡Viva la revolución!
Chapter 3: Uniting creoles and natives against
Spain
Creoles found themselves in a
pickle...
“Nativism”
•Too few creoles for a successful
“them”.
•Birthplace distinguished “us” from
•Creoles, mestizos, and natives were
revolution
•Considered indigenous rebellion to be now “Americanos”.
dangerous
•Peninsulars were not Americanos.
•Needed to unify with lower classes to •Now “Americanos” vs. “Spainish”
oppose the Peninsulars.
Creoles
Americanos
vs.
Spanish
Chapter 3: What about Brazil?
Background:
•King Jão had been living in Brazil
to escape Napoleon.
Brazilian beaches...
•Jão left son to rule over Brazil
when forced back to Portugal.
•New leader declared “Empire of
Brazil”
Key differences:
•No need to fight the king -- the
king declared independence!
•Imperial armies loyal to Portugal
too small to oppose declaration of
independence.
If you were King Jão, would
you want to leave?
Chapter 3: The liberators
Simon Bolívar
•Began revolutions in Venezuela, then moved
on to Ecuador
•Finished the work of San Martín after he fled
to Europe
José de San Martín
•Launched surprise attack from Argentina
through Chile
•From Chile, captured Lima in Peru
•Made his way towards the center of the
continent, but had to flee
•Bolívar finished the liberation in highlands.
Chapter 3: An unfinished revolution?
New hat, same system:
• Patriarchy
• Classism
• Racism
Spanish control
Elite control
Chapter 3: Was Bolívar the Latin American George
Washington?
Let’s ask George Bush and Hugo Chávez!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B8VpHJvS08&feature=player_embedded&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
Chapter 3: Vocabulary
• Popular sovereignty
• Legitimacy
• Nativism
• Americanos