Latin American Independence
1750-1914:
An Age of
Revolutions
Latin American
Independence
Movements
3
Latin American Wars of Independence
• What caused discontent in Latin America?
• How did Haitians, Mexicans, and people in Central America
win independence?
• How did nations of South America
win independence?
3
What Caused Discontent in Latin America?
By the late 1700s, the revolutionary fever that gripped Western
Europe had spread to Latin America. There, discontent was rooted
in the social, racial, and political system that had emerged during
300 years of Spanish rule.
• Peninsulares were those born of Spanish parents in Spain;
therefore, they had the most wealth, education, & status.
• Creoles resented their second-class status.
• Mestizos and mulattoes were angry at being denied
the status, wealth, and power available to whites.
• Native Americans suffered economic misery under the
Spanish.
• Enslaved Africans who worked on plantations longed
for freedom.
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HAITI
In 1791, Toussaint
L’Ouverture led slaves in
revolt.
By 1798, enslaved
Haitians had been freed.
In 1802, Napoleon sent
an army to recapture
Haiti.
Napoleon’s forces
agreed to a truce, or
temporary peace.
In 1804, Haitian leaders
declared independence.
MEXICO
Father Miguel Hidalgo and
José Morales led popular
revolts.
Rebels led by Agustín de
Iturbide overthrew the
Spanish viceroy, creating
an independent Mexico.
Iturbide took the title of
emperor, but was quickly
overthrown.
Liberal Mexicans set up
the Republic of Mexico.
CENTRAL
AMERICA
Spanish-ruled lands
declared their
independence in the
early 1820s.
Local leaders set up the
United Provinces of
Central America.
The union soon
fragmented into
separate republics of
Guatemala, Nicaragua,
Honduras, El Salvador,
and Costa Rica.
Struggles for Independence
Independence in South America
3
In South America, Native Americans had
rebelled against Spanish rule as early as
the 1700s, with limited results. It was
not until the 1800s that discontent
sparked a widespread drive for
independence.
Simon Bolívar, called “The Liberator,” :the
George Washington of South America,” led
an uprising that established a republic in
Venezuela. He then captured Bogotá,
Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
•
In 1816, José de San Martín helped
Argentina win freedom from Spain. He then
joined forces with Bolívar.
•
Bolívar tried to unite the liberated
lands into a single nation called Gran
Columbia. However, bitter rivalries made
that dream impossible. Before long, Gran
Columbia split into three independent
countries: Venezuela, Columbia, and
Ecuador. (Panama)
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Independent
Nations of Latin America About 1844
3
Independence Movements in Latin America
Long-Term Causes
European domination of Latin America
Immediate Causes
Spread of Enlightenment ideas
People of Latin America resent colonial
rule and social injustices
American and French revolutions
Revolutionary leaders emerge
Growth of nationalism in Latin
America
Napoleon invades Spain and ousts
Spanish king
Immediate Effects
Toussaint L‘Ouverture leads slave
revolt in Haiti
Bolívar, San Martín, and others lead
successful revolts in Latin America
Colonial rule ends in much of Latin
America
Long-Term Effects
Attempts made to rebuild economies
18 separate republics set up
Continuing efforts to achieve stable
democratic governments and to gain
economic independence
Simón Bolívar
Miguel Hidalgo
Key
People
Pedro I
José de San
Martín
François ToussaintLouverture-
Latin American Independence Movements, 18th & 19th C.
Wars of
Independence
In Latin
America
Many Latin
American
nations tried a
break for
freedom while
Napoleon was
in power in
Spain &
Portugal
Results
• Caudillos
– Strong military leaders emerge
– Dictatorship and totalitarian systems emerge
• Dependency theory challenges “Modernity”
theory
– Western European markets determine the product
– South America dependent upon others buying their one
crop
• Banana Republics
– United Fruit Company controlled Central America in late
19th and early 20th century
– Phrase coined to designate politically unstable, dependent
on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, wealthy and
corrupt clique put in power by the United States
government in conjunction with the CIA and the US
business lobby
Latin American social classes
Peninsulares were men born in Spain or Portugal
who held highest offices and important military
and political positions
Creoles were Spaniards born in the Latin American
colonies who were officers in army, but not in
government and controlled much of the land
and business in the colonies. But they deeply
resented power of the peninsulares.
Mestizos made up the majority of the society
because it was mixed European and Indian.
They worked as servant to the peninsulares
and Creoles and as plantation overseers and
farmhands.
Mulatto-European and African mixed ancestry.
The Native Americans/Africans were the lowest
society group but also the largest. They were
not known as citizens but did much labor.
French colonies: Revolution in Haiti
• Saint Domingue, now known as Haiti
• Western third of island of Hispanola in
Caribbean Sea.
• The first Latin American uprising was in the French colony
of Haiti, which was where huge plantations of sugar,
cotton and coffee spread across the mountains and valleys
of the lush tropical land. The Plantations were owed by
French planters and worked by the colony’s enslaved
African population
• There was a high demand of sugar and coffee from the
small colony of Haiti
• 500,000 to 560,000 people living in Haiti in the late 1700s
were enslaved or had been
• Unrest erupted in the early 1790’s when enslaved Africans
led by François Toussaint-Louverture revolted by setting
fires to plantation homes and fields of sugarcane.
• Napoleon sent forces in 1802 in order to take control of
the colony and successfully captured Toussaint-Louverture
and imprisoned him in France until his death in 1803.
• Yellow fever was the death of thousands of French
soldiers which is what the Haiti people needed to defeat
the French and gain their independence in 1804.
Toussaint L’Ouverture
• Former slave, self-educated.
• Untrained in military and political matters, but
became a skilled general and diplomat.
• Allegedly got name (“opening” in French) from being
able to find openings in enemy lines.
• Took leadership of a slave revolt that broke out in
1791.
• 100,000 slaves in revolt.
• By 1801, L’Ouverture moved into Spanish Santo
Domingo (the eastern two-thirds of the island of
Hispanola), took control of territory and freed slaves.
• In January 1802, French troops landed.
• Toussaint agreed to an end of fighting if the French
would end slavery
• French accused him of planning another uprising.
• Sent him to a prison in the French Alps.
• He died 10 months later, April 1803.
May 8, 1753 –July 30, 1811
• Father Miguel Hidalgo was a
Mexican priest who was the
leader of the Mexican war for
Independence. He started the
movement of independence
in 1810. With his help, the
fight for independence lasted
for 11 years but Miguel did
not see it to the end. He was
executed in 1811 because of
traitors who sold him out to
the Spaniards.
• Miguel Hidalgo was known as
a risk taker with the motto:
“We want a free Mexico;”
with this motto, his fight for
independence never ended.
• Miguel Hidalgo led the fight against the Spanish
government in Mexico because of the deep care
he had for the poverty-stricken Native
Americans and mestizos.
• Hidalgo’s goals were political freedom, an end to
slavery, and improvements to living conditions
for Mexico’s poor and revolt was the only way to
bring change
• On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo gave a stirring
address that became known as “el Grito de
Dolores” that called for Mexicans to fight for
“Independence and Liberty.”
• In 1811 the well-trained Spanish army finally
overwhelmed the rebels and Hidalgo was
captured and executed
Simón Bolívar July 24,
1783 – December 17,
1830
Agustín de Iturbide
September 27, 1783 –
July 19, 1824
José Francisco de San
Martín
February 25, 1778 –
August 17, 1850
Chilean liberator Bernardo O’Higgins by the famous Mexican
muralist David Alfaro Siquieros at Chillán’s Escuela México.
The son of the Irish-born governor of
Chile, he was a leading figure in the
movement to overthrow the ruling
Spanish administration and was the first
head of state of the independent Chile.
O'Higgins Rides Again, Arica, Chile - Every
South American city displays its heroes in
bronze. In Arica, it's Bernardo O'Higgins
who does the honors. O'Higgins fought
alongside of Argentina's Jose San Martin,
defeating Spain at Chacabuco, bringing
independence to Chile in 1818, and served
as its first "Supreme Director".
• Agustín de Iturbide decisively ended the Mexican War of
Independence. After the liberation of Mexico was secured, he was
proclaimed President of Regency in 1821 and Constitutional Emperor
of the new nation, reigning as Emperor briefly from May 19, 1822 to
March 19, 1823. Agustín de Iturbide is also credited as the original
designer of the Mexican flag.
• Simón Bolívar led many colonies to independence because he
believed in equality and saw liberty as “the only object worth a
man’s life.” Bolívar’s nickname was “The Liberator” because he
devoted his life to the freedom for Latin Americans. In 1810, Simón
Bolívar started a revolt against the Spaniards in Caracas which lasted
9 years until he crushed Spain’s power in northern South America.
Also called “George Washington of South America”
• José de San Martín led Latin American armies over the Andes
Mountains and into Chile where he joined Bernardo O’Higgins. The
two men successfully achieved independence for Chile in 1818. In
1820, they also captured Lima and declared Peru independent. In
1826, Bolívar and his armies had liberated all of South America.
Bolivar
San
Martín
O’ Higgins
Gran Colombia, 1820-1830
Bolivar’s vision of a united South America.
Present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and
Panama.
Short-lived due to dissension amongst various
factions.
Bolivar resigned in 1828.
In 1830, Bolivar’s Gran Colombia divided into
Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Panama later split from Colombia with US assistance,
1903.
Brazil gains Independence
• Brazil gains independence without the
bloodshed because when Napoleon’s French
army had invaded Portugal, causing the
Portuguese royal family to flee to Brazil.
• King João transferred his monarchy to Brazil
and immediately introduced governmental
reforms in Brazil. With the different reforms
made by King João, Brazil was a self-governing
kingdom without the Portuguese in 1815.
• In September 1822 Brazil won full
independence from Portugal and crowned
Dom Pedro as Emperor Pedro I of Brazil.
• In 1825, Portugal finally recognized Brazil’s
independence.
Challenges that come with Growth
• Because of the high mountains and thick jungles made transportation and
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communication difficult, hindering trade and economic growth, which let many
fertile lands remaining undeveloped.
Stable food source is important to growth; building infrastructure is equally
important—schools, roads, hospitals…
In the Colonies the executive branch of the government had the political power.
The judicial branch was weak and limited, and
the legislative branch was practically nonexistent.
The leaders were well educated but had no experience in the legislative process,
and with low literacy rates, the people were slow to get a grip on democratic
process.
But there were still the separation between the upper and lower classes, but
now the creoles owned the best land and controlled business and government,
not the peninsulares.
• Although Catholicism remained the official religion and
Church and government continued to be closely tied.
• With the gain of independence came the increase of political
conflicts. Liberals called for separation of Church and state,
the breakup of large estates, higher taxes on land, public
social services, and civilian control of the government. There
were liberals than there were the creoles, most of whom
were rich landowners, church leaders, and military officers.
The decades that followed the wars for independence saw an
ongoing struggle for economic strength and social justice.
4
Imperialism
in the Caribbean and South America, 1898–1917
Referred to as Banana Republics