Heg: Latin American Revolutions (1750-1914)
General Formula
Mexico – Detailed Example
During its colonial era, Latin America was a culture
highly stratified by race and social status. In 1800, a
small influential group of Europeans, known as
peninsulares, and numbering about 30,000 headed
society as church officials, large landowners, and
colonial administrators. Though governed by
peninsulares, Latin American colonies all had a large,
wealthy, and powerful class of American-born
descendants of Europeans, known as creoles, numbering
approximately 3.5 million. The majority of these
societies were people of mixed, indigenous, and African
blood. Despite the colonies’ large population – about 10
million in all – of less privileged classes, Latin America
was clearly dominated by its elites, and even still creoles
continued to expand their power during the 18 th century
as they increasingly established plantations and
participated in the burgeoning trade with Spain and
Portugal.
In 1810 Mexico was Spain’s wealthiest and most
populous colony. Its silver mines were the richest in
the world, and the colony’s capital, Mexico City, was
larger than any city in Spain. The large number of
peninsulares in Mexico dominated its government,
church, and economy. Less than 1% of Mexico’s
population owned 85% of its land.
As creoles’ wealth expanded so too did their grievances.
Inspired by Enlightenment political thought, creoles
occasionally took part in tax revolts and popular
uprisings against colonial governments that were seen as
tyrannical. So when the news of Napoleons’ invasion of
Spain and Portugal reached Latin America,
revolutionary ideals traveled beyond Saint-Domingue
and struggles for independence broke out in Argentina,
Venezuela, and Mexico in the face of weakened colonial
authority. However, the creoles desired neither the
social reform of the French Revolution nor the
egalitarianism of the Haitian Revolution. Basically, they
sought political independence free of oppression by
displacing the peninsulares while retaining their
privileged position in society. Between 1810 and 1825,
creoles led movements that brought independence to all
Spanish colonies in the Americas – except Cuba and
Puerto Rico – and established creole-dominated
republics. Following the example of the United States,
creole elites usually established republics with written
constitutions for the newly independent states of Latin
America. Yet constitutions were much more difficult to
frame in Latin America than in the United States.
Before gaining independence, Latin American leaders
had less experience with self-government because
Spanish and Portuguese colonial regimes were far more
autocratic than the British imperial government in North
America. Creole elites responded enthusiastically to
Enlightenment values and republican ideals, but they
had little experience putting their principles into
practice. The peninsulares returned to Europe, but Latin
American society remained as rigidly stratified as it had
been in 1800. Indeed, independence brought little social
change in Latin America.
The first stage of the revolution against Spain occurred
in central Mexico. In this region wealthy ranchers and
farmers had aggressively forced many lower class
communities from their agricultural lands. At the same
time, miners and urban poor faced higher food prices
and rising unemployment. Coupled with Napoleon’s
invasion of Spain, fear and anger spread sparking the
most serious peasant rebellion in Mexico led by a
parish priest, Father Hidalgo, who rallied indigenous
peoples and mestizos against colonial rule. Many
contemporaries viewed Hidalgo’s movement for
independence from Spanish rule as social and
economic warfare by the masses against the elites of
Mexican society. Conservative creoles soon captured
Hidalgo and executed him, but his rebellion continued
to flare for three years after his death.
In an effort to preserve their own power, creoles allied
and general Augustin de Iturbide declared
independence from Spain, ending colonial rule in 1821.
The conservative origin of Mexico’s transition to
independence was highlighted by the decision to create
a monarchial form of government and crown Iturbide
emperor. Neither Iturbide nor his empire lasted for
long. Though an able general, Iturbide was an
incompetent administrator, and in 1823, he was forced
from office and a republic was established.
Independent Mexico experienced a succession of
governments, from monarchy to republic to caudillos
rule, and the government in power often faced both
foreign and domestic challenges to its authority.
Although a liberal government was with a constitution
in 1824 that guaranteed basic civil rights,
maldistribution of land and poor education plagued the
masses. Additionally, British and American companies
controlled most of Mexico’s railroads, mines, and
plantations. The plight of the masses and out of touch
liberal leadership, led to violent reactions and the
assumption of power by regional strongman, General
Santa Anna. Between 1835 and 1854, Santa Anna, in
typical caudillo fashion, utilized intermittent
authoritarian rule to shape politics in Mexico.
Weary from authoritarian rule, a new wave of liberals
swept into power with a new constitution and new
energy for a reform agenda, La Reforma. Led by
Creole elites also dominated the newly independent
states and effectively prevented mass participation in
public affairs. The new states permitted the continuation
of slavery, confirmed the wealth and authority of the
Roman Catholic church, and repressed the lower orders.
Less than 5% of the male population was active in Latin
American politics in the 19th century, and millions of
indigenous peoples lived entirely outside the political
system. Without institutionalized means of expressing
discontent or opposition, those disillusioned with the
system had little choice beyond rebellion.
Additionally, the newly independent states often ceded
military authority to local strongmen, known as
caudillos, who challenged the authority of elected
officials. The wars for independence had lasted well
over a decade, and they provided Latin America with
military rather than civilian heroes. After independence,
military leaders took to the political stage, appealing to
populist sentiments and exploiting the discontent of the
masses. Caudillos were often instrumental in restoring
order by using reconciling competing interests in
authoritarian fashion. However, limiting freedoms and
undermining the republican ideals that gave rise to the
new nations also fueled opposition movements that
aimed to overthrow the caudillos and work for liberal
reforms that would promote democratic forms of
government.
Aggravating political instability were differences among
elites. Whether they were urban merchants or rural
landowners, Latin American elites divided into different
camps as liberals or conservatives, secularists or Roman
Catholics. As a result, several Latin American lands
lurched from one constitution to another as leaders
struggled to create a machinery of government that
would lead to political and social stability. Ultimately,
the only clear beneficiaries of independence in Latin
America were the creole elites.
President Benito Juarez between 1857 and 1872, La
Reforma aimed to limit the power of the military and
church, create a rural middle class, and guarantee
universal male suffrage. Juarez sought to help
peasants through land reform programs that
redistributed land and get Mexico on more stable
financial footing. However, postponing debt payments
to foreign powers and challenging the position of
conservative elites led to virtual civil war and brief
foreign rule between 1861 and 1867. In the end, the
efforts of Juarez were unsuccessful. The poverty of
peasants and wealth of elites meant that much of the
lower class gradually sold their and the redistributed
ended up in the hands of large landowners.
After the fall of the overly ambitious, liberal Juarez
government, conservative interests placed dictator,
Porfirio Diaz in power, who ruled between 1876 and
1910. Diaz favored freedoms for rich hacienda owners
and foreign investors to acquire more land in order to
take advantage of Mexico’s labor, soil, and natural
resources. Mexico City became a showplace of paved
streets, rail lines, and electric street lighting. But this
material progress benefitted only a handful of wellconnected businessmen as the average Mexican saw his
standard of living decline. Though a mestizo himself,
Diaz discriminated against nonwhites and sought to
eradicate Mexico’s rustic traditions. To the educated
middle-class, the devaluation of Mexican culture
became a symbol of the Diaz regime’s failure to defend
national interests against foreign influences. Mexico
ended the long 19th century on the verge of revolution,
yet again.