MODERN ERA:

1750 - 1914Latin America:

Independence to WWI

GENERALIZED EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL

REVOLUTION• Increased Population• Increased Urbanization• Increased migration, immigration• Increased wealth• Spread of wealth to middle class• New consumerism• New roles for women, poor, minorities• Change in child rearing, childhood• Rise of a technical, managerial class• Invention of leisure time, common culture• Increasing demand for social reform, worker

rights• Increased life span, living standard;

decreased death rate• Emancipation of slaves, serfs

INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

• Latin American society rigidly hierarchical

– Social classes: peninsulares, creoles, mestizos, slaves, indigenous peoples

– Creoles sought to displace the peninsulares but retain their privileged position

– Mestizos form the largest part of population, wanted rights

INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

• Mexican independence – Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1807

weakened royal control of colonies – 1810: peasant revolt in Mexico led by

Hidalgo, defeated by conservative creoles – 1821: Mexico briefly a military

dictatorship, then in 1822 a republic

INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

• Southern Viceroyalty of New Spain split into several independent states in 1830s

• Simon Bolivar to 1822– Led independence movement in South America – Inspired by George Washington, took arms

against Spanish rule in 1811

– Creole forces overcame Spanish armies throughout South America, 1824

– Bolivar's effort of creating the Gran Colombia failed in 1830s

• Jose de San Martin to 1825– Led independence movements in Bolivia,

Argentina, Chile– United efforts with Bolivar

• Brazilian independence – Portuguese royal court fled to Rio de Janeiro,

1807– Brazil declared a separate kingdom during exile – The king's son, Pedro, agreed to Brazilian

independence, 1821 – Became Emperor Pedro I in the independent

Brazil (reigned 1822-1834)

Gran Columbia

INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA• Creole dominance in Latin

America – Independence brought little social

change in Latin America – Principal beneficiaries were creole

elites– Creole elite merged with

peninsulares to rule Latin America– Mestizos acquired some benefits,

Indians/blacks marginalized• Caribbean remained largely

under European control

THE NEW AMERICAN MAP

WHAT TO DO AFTER INDEPENDENCE?

• Old Problems confront new realities– Leaders came from

Enlightenment: spoke of equality, freedom, BUT:• No allowance for freedom of religion• Slavery ended but not exploitation of

poor, Indians• Equality was too threatening to elite• Democracy uncommon, rich men

voted• Old color distinctions did not

disappear rapidly, easily, or at all– Political fragmentation

WHAT TO DO AFTER INDEPENDENCE?

• Political instability after independence – Creole leaders ruled but had little experience with self-

government • White minority dominated politics• Peasant majority was without power

– Political instability aggravated by division among elites– Constant argument between centralizing and

federalizing pressures• Conflicts between farmers, ranchers, indigenous

peoples common – Intense fighting in Argentina, Chile; modern weapons

against native peoples – Colonists had pacified most productive land by 1870s

• Caudillos, Caudillism, Politics and the Church– Military leaders who held power after revolutionary era

• Used military to seize power, stay in control; interested only in power for own sake

• Opposed liberalizing effects; often made alliances with aristocratic elites, land owners

– Ruled through the church and opposed an secularization, reform of society

WHAT TO DO AFTER INDEPENDENCE?

• Mexico: war and reform from 1821-1911 – Shifted from monarchy to republic to caudillo

rule – La Reforma: liberal movement in 1850s led by

President Benito Juarez – Granted universal male suffrage; limited

power of priests and military – Reforms strongly opposed by landowning

elites

LATIN AMERICAN DEPENDENCE• Colonial legacy

– Prevented industrialization – Spain, Portugal never

encouraged industries • Limited success at

industrialization – 1820 – 1850: Economic

Stagnation• Wars of independence had

disrupted economy• Most wealth tied to land,

agriculture• Export of primary, unfinished goods

especially guano, coffee, hides– Too many unsolved social

problems retarded industrialization

LATIN AMERICAN DEPENDENCE• Economic growth part of 2nd Industrial

Revolution – Change grew out of liberalizing effects,

reforms in late century• Entrepreneurs, intellectuals, landowners brought

in foreign investments• Facilitated by new technologies (railroads,

steamships)– Great Boom driven by exports

• Demand for rubber, copper, tin, silver, beef, bananas, oil, coffee, cocoa

• Capital intensive development of primary product exports

• Trade increased by almost 50% from 1870 – 1880• British initially preeminent; Germany and US

increasingly rivals for area– Mexico, Brazil, Argentina

• Society, infrastructure transformed by this Great Boom

• But wealth often in hands of foreigners, upper elite

• Growth was often at the expense of local interests, poor, minorities

• Liberal idealism often sold out to wealth of elite, profit

MEXICO IN MODERN ERA:INSTABILITY AND FOREIGN

INTERVENTION• Mexican Republic under Santa Anna

– Until his death dominated Mexico– Saw himself as a Latin Napoleon– Constantly in debt to foreigners– Revolt of Texas led to conflict with US

• Mexican American War 1846 – 1848– Mexico lost 1/3 of its territory– Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo– US expanded to Pacific and annexed Texas

MEXICO IN MODERN ERA:INSTABILITY AND FOREIGN

INTERVENTION• The French Intervention

– Benito Juarez • Liberal Indian President of Mexico• He started a liberal revolt• La Reforma which was powerful

– Conservatives turned to French for support• French troops land• French install an Austrian emperor on throne• Backed emperor with French troops, French money

– US demanded French withdrawal in 1867– Supply insurgents with arms; Juaristas win

• Diaz Era Dictatorship to 1910– Encouraged foreign investors – Built rails, telegraphs; developed mines, plantations– Country largely became property of American businesses – Mexican oligarchy and foreign investors got wealthy – Average Mexican standard of living declined; Indians

exploited

BRAZIL: EMPIRE TO REPUBLIC

BRAZIL• Social and Gender

– 1750: Plantation casted society with minority whites, majority black population: slaves, poor rural

– Slave Trade, Slavery abolished in 1888 by decree of Princess Regent– 1888: Society with whites, blacks, mixed populations; remained

casted– Society dominated by the landed, generally white elite; poor rural

blacks were landless proletariat– Middle class began to grow in cities with rise of industry, export;

workers were Italian, immigrant• Cultural

– Ruling population thoroughly Europeanized; blacks retained many African traditions

– Catholicism is the only unifying force and it is a syncretic blend; many traditional African beliefs

• Technology– Railroads, steamboats, paddlewheelers opened up interior, united

Brazil– Development of some industries related to export, trade; Sao Paolo

rises as the industrial center • Environment and Demography

– Sugar economy gave way to coffee, cocoa plantations– Mining increased, gold rush to Minas Gerais; rubber boom in

Amazon led to mass immigration– Massive European immigration (laborers) especially Italians

LATIN AMERICAN SOCIETY• Latin American societies

– Organized by ethnicity and color, legacy of colonialism– European descendants dominate all aspects of state,

economic, social life– Europeanization of all aspects, classes, activities of

society – Bipolar society

• Male vs. Female• Elite vs. Masses• White vs. Colored• Urban vs. rural

• Castes– Legally abolished by revolutions but de jure is not de

facto– Stigma of color and former status prevented much

change– Liberal reforms, Positivism often sacrificed legal rights,

color for economic wealth, profit• Large-scale migration in nineteenth century brought

cultural diversity – Small number of Chinese in Cuba assimilated through

intermarriage – East Indians in Trinidad, Tobago preserved cultural

traditions – European migrants made Buenos Aires "the Paris of the

Americas“– Most cultural diverse society was Brazil with Europeans,

Blacks, Indians, mixed

LATIN AMERICAN SOCIETY• Male domination

– Central feature of Latin American society in nineteenth century

– Machismo: culture of male strength, aggression

• Women’s Rights– Women barred legally from any influence;

remained under nearest male’s influence– No significant women's movement– Aristocratic women more constrained

than lower classes– Poor women worked, often controlled

local markets– Efforts to improve education girls

increased opportunities for women (as teachers)