Wars and Independence in Latin America
Section III (Pages 473-478)
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This section is about:
The class structure of colonial
Latin American society.
How enlightenment thinkers
influenced Latin American
leaders.
How Haiti won its
independence and how other
Latin American countries
gained their independence by
1825.
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Back to the Americas:
also some changes to
get rights for the people.
This section is a time
period right after the
American Revolution –
which influences some
of the events in Latin
America.
Look at the Main Ideas
on page 473.
The map on 476 is also
a good thing to look at
before we get started.
Social Structure in Latin America
(Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean)
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2.
The Spanish controlled much
of this area still in the late
1700’s.
But, Portugal still controlled
Brazil.
The French, Dutch, and British
had little pieces.
There were two major
influences on the culture of
Latin America:
The culture of the governing
countries.
The culture of the natives and
slaves.
Classes of Society
(we saw this before)
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Penisulares (the highest – came
from the peninsula of Spain and
Portugal): had the best, most
powerful jobs and made the most
money.
Criollos/Creoles (whites who were
descendants of penisulares):
owned the land and most of the
mines, a little less important and
jealous of the peninsulares.
Mestizos (part Native American and
part Spanish) and Mulattoes mix of
Europeans and Africans): viewed
as inferior – usually had skilled jobs
and could read/write, but not
allowed to own land.
Native Americans and Africans: the
lowest – viewed as peasants or
slaves who might be able to buy
their freedom.
The Role of the Church
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The ruler of Spain was also the
head of the Church in all it’s
colonies.
Made all decisions about
money, leaders, new churches,
missionaries, etc…
The Latin American Church
was very wealthy (in Mexico
they owned about 1/3 of the
land).
The Church usually supported
the government and society in
the colonies, but didn’t say
much about the treatment of
Native Americans and slaves
(the Church actually even
owned thousands of slaves).
Challenges to the System
The Age of Enlightenment Reaches Latin America
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The Enlightenment affected Latin
Americans who had contact with
European ideas (of Locke, Voltaire,
Rousseau, etc…).
They wanted some of these changes
in Latin America, too.
They also heard about the Declaration
of Independence, George Washington,
and the American Revolution.
Then, they heard about the French
Revolution.
They also hoped to rise up against
their rulers and demand their rights
(especially Criollos, Mestizos,
Mulattoes, Natives, and Slaves).
Independence for Haiti
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The first successful uprising was
at Saint Domingue (Haiti).
It was France’s wealthiest
colony (sugar and coffee
plantations with ½ million
slaves).
News of the French Revolution
led to a Mullato and slave
uprising – they wanted the same
rights as French settlers.
One of the main leaders:
Francois Dominique Toussaint.
He was a slave who learned to
read and write and helped his
owner family be safe during the
start of the revolt.
He decided to do even more and
called himself L’Ouverture (the
Opening).
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Toussaint and his army were
successful in the revolt – France
passed a law freeing all slaves.
Toussaint was made Lieutenant
Governor and made many reforms,
eventually taking total control.
But Napoleon was in charge in
France (and didn’t like slaves or the
idea an ex-slave was running a
French colony).
Napoleon sent 20,000 troops to retake the island, Toussaint was
captured, taken to France, and died
in prison.
Others took over “the cause” and
eventually got rid of the French.
They called their new country Haiti.
This ended Napoleon’s hopes of
establishing an empire in the
Americas.
Haiti served as an inspiration to the
rest of Latin America.
The Revolution Spreads
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When Napoleon invaded
Portugal, the old King
(Prince John) and his
family went to Brazil.
Then, Napoleon forced
King Charles IV out of
Spain and put his brother
(Joseph B.) in charge.
It was a great time for
Latin American countries
to start to break away
from their mother
countries.
Simon Bolivar as Liberator
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One of the “liberators” of South
America was Simon Bolivar.
He had been a Creole aristocrat
who had traveled to Europe and
had heard all about the
Enlightenment.
He led independence movements
in Venezuela and then New
Grenada, until Spanish troops
drove him to Haiti.
He gathered supplies and troops
and went back (this time
defeating the Spanish).
He became the new president of
a union of Venezuela, Columbia,
and Panama, and later Ecuador.
Jose de San Martin
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San Martin was trying to liberate
South America for years.
He took his army into the Andes
Mts. and then into Chile, where
he was victorious.
His aide, Bernard O’Higgins led
the new Chilean government.
San Martin kept going and
liberated most of Peru.
Bolivar helped him win the rest,
controlling all of Peru and a place
they’d call Bolivia.
Brazil was different. When King
John went back to Portugal, he
left his son in charge.
They decided to make Brazil a
constitutional monarchy.
Mexico and Central America (1810)
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A priest named Miguel Hidalgo
y Costilla led a peasant revolt
against the Spanish army.
He wanted reform and
independence, support for
Native Americans, Africans,
and Mestizoes, and an end to
slavery.
Before long, he was arrested
and executed.
Another priest, Jose Maria
Morelos y Pavon took up the
cause and issued a Declaration
of Independence.
He was also captured and
executed.
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In 1821, Augustin de
Iturbide (a Spanish Creole
general) joined the rebels.
With his help, Mexico
declared it’s independence,
and Iturbide continued as
the new countries emperor.
Mexico at the time
included parts of Central
America, but by 1838, they
wanted their own
countries.
They then became
Guatemala, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Costa Rica.
There were only a few
small Caribbean islands left
that were still British,
French, or Dutch.
the date is observed to commemorate
the Mexican army's unlikely victory
over French forces at the Battle of
Puebla on May 5, 1862,
Reaction in the United States
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All those Latin American wars cost a
lot of money (for the L.A. countries).
Spain and Great Britain still had some
money and power and thought about
going and getting them back.
The United States liked that they
were gone – and back in Europe.
In 1823, the United States (and
President Monroe) made a statement:
It said, The U.S. would not interfere
in Europe's business or it’s colonies
that were left, but… Europe needed
to stay away from the rest of the
Western Hemisphere or there would
be problems.
This was called “The Monroe
Doctrine.”