The Height of Imperialism Part 4

The Height of Imperialism

Nation Building in Latin America

Nationalist Revolts
• By the end of the eighteenth century, the political ideals stemming from the

revolution in North America put European control of Latin America in peril.

• Latin America’s social classstructure played a big role in how the nineteenth-century

revolutions occurred and what they achieved.

• Social classes divided colonial Latin America.

• Peninsulares were Spanish and Portuguese officials who resided temporarily in Latin

America for political and economic gain.
• At the top of the class structure, peninsulares dominated Latin America.

•They held all important positions.
• Creoles controlled land and business and resented the peninsulares.

• The peninsulares regarded the creoles as second-class citizens.

• Mestizos were the largest group, and they worked as servants or laborers.

• Prelude to Revolution

• Creoles were the descendants of Europeans born in Latin America who lived

there permanently.

• The creoles especially favored the revolutionary ideals of equality of all people in the

eyes of the law, free trade, and a free pass.
• The creoles disliked the domination of their trade by Spain and Portugal.

•When Napoleon overthrew the monarchies of Spain and Portugal, the authority of their colonial
empires were severely weakened.
• Then, between 1807 and 1825, a series of revolts enabled most of Latin America to become

independent.

Nationalist Revolts

• Prelude to Revolution Cont.

• Before the main independencemovements began, an unusual revolution took

place.

• In the French colony of Saint Domingue, on the island of Hispaniola, Francois-

DominiqueToussaint-Louverture led more than 100,000 slaves in revolt.
• They seized control of all of Hispaniola.

•In January 1, 1804, the western part of Hispaniola, now called Haiti, announced its freedom.
• Haiti became the first independent state in Latina America.

• Revolt in Mexico

• Beginning in 1810, Mexico, too, experienced a revolt.

• The first real hero of Mexican independence was Miguel Hidalgo.

• A parish priest, Hidalgo lived in a village about 100 miles from Mexico City.

• Hidalgo had studied the French Revolution.

• He roused the local Native Americans and mestizos(people of mixed European and

Native American descent) to free themselves from the Spanish.

Nationalist Revolts

• Revolts in Mexico Cont.

• On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo led this ill-equipped army of thousands of

Native Americans and mestizos in an attack against the Spaniards.

• He was an inexperienced military leader, however, and his forces were soon crushed.

• A military court sentenced Hidalgo to death.

•However, his memory lives on.
• In fact, September 16, the first day of the uprising, is Mexico’s Independence Day.

• The participation of Native Americans and mestizos in Mexico’s revolt against

the Spanish control frightened both the creoles and the peninsulares.

• Afraid of the masses, they cooperated in defeating the popular revolutionary forces.

• Conservative elites-both creoles and peninsulares-then decided to overthrow Spanish rule.

•The conservatives wanted an independent nation ruled by a monarch.
• They selected a creole militaryleader, Agustin de Iturbide, to help bring in this new government.

• In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain.

• Iturbide named himself emperor in 1822 but was deposed in 1823.

• Mexico then became a republic.

Nationalist Revolts

• Revolts in South America

• Jose de San Martin of Argentina and Simon Bolivar of Venezuela both members

of the creole elite, were hailed as the “Liberators of South America.”

• These men led revolutions throughout the continent.

• Jose de San Martin believed that the Spaniards must be removed from all of the Spaniards

must be removed from all of South America if any South American nation was to be free.

• Bolivar began the struggle for independence in Venezuela in 1810.

• He then went on to lead revolts in New Granada(Colombia) and Ecuador.

• By 1810, the forces of San Martin had liberated Argentina from Spanish

authority.

• In January 1817, San Martin led his forces over the Andes to attack the Spaniards in

Chile.
• The journey was an amazing feat.

•Two-thirds of the pack mules and horses died during the trip.
• Soldiers suffered from lack of oxygen and severe cold while crossing mountain passes.

• The Andes mountains were more than two miles above seal level.

• The arrival of San Marin’s forces in Chile completely surprised the

Spaniards.
• Spanish forces were badly defeated at the Battle of Chacabuco on February 12,

1817.

• In 1821, San Martin moved on to Lima, Peru, the center of Spanish authority.

Nationalist Revolts

• Revolts in South America Cont.

• By the end of 1824, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Columbia, Venezuela, Argentina,

Bolivia, and Chile had all become free of Spain.

• Earlier, in 1822, the princeregent of Brazil had declared Brazil’s independence from

Portugal.
• The Central American states had become independent in 1823.

•In 1838 and 1839, they divided into five republics: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and
Nicaragua.

• Threats to Independence

• In the early 1820s, only one major threat remained to the newly won

independence of the Latin American states.

• Members of the Concert of Europe favored the use of troops to restore Spanish

control in Latin America.
• The British, who wished to trade with Latin America, disagreed.

•They proposed joint action with the United States against any European moves against Latin America.

Nationalist Revolts

• Threats to Independence Cont.

• Distrustful of British motives, James Monroe, the president of the United

States, acted alone in 1823.

• In the Monroe Doctrine, he guaranteed the independence of the new Latin

American nations.
• The Monroe Doctrine also strongly warned against any European intervention in the

Americas.

• More important to Latin American independence than American words,

however, was the British navy.

• Other European powers feared the power of the British navy, which stood between

Latin America and any planned Europeaninvasion force.

Nation Building

• The new Latin Americannations faced a number of serious problems between

1830 and 1870.

• The wars for independence had resulted in a staggering loss of people, property, and

livestock.
• Unsure of their precise boundaries, the new nations went to war with one another to settle

border disputes.
•Poor roads, a lack of railroads, thick jungles, and mountains made communication, transportation,
and national unity difficult.
• During the course of the nineteenth century, the new Latin American nations would become

economically dependent on Western nations once again.

• Rule of the Caudillos

• Most of the new nations of Latin America began with republican governments,

but they had no experience in self-rule.

• Soon after independence, strong leaders known as caudillos gained power.

• Caudillos ruled chiefly by military force and were usually supported by the

landed elites.

• Many kept the national states together.

• Some were also modernizers who built roads and canals, ports, and schools.

•Others were destructive.

Nation Building

• Rule of the Caudillos Cont.

• Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, FOR EXAMPLE, ruled Mexico from 1833 and

1855.

• During this time, he served as President for 11 two-year terms.

• Calling himself the “Napoleon of the West,”Santa Anna misused state funds, halted

reforms, and created chaos.
•As one historian judged: “Any progress in Mexico achieved during the era of Santa Anna had nothing
to do with him.”

• In 1835, American settlers in the Mexican state of Texas revolted against Santa

Anna’s rule.

• Texas gained its independence in 1836 and United Statesstatehood followed in

1845.
• War between Mexico and the United States soon followed (1846-1848).

•Mexico was defeated and lost almost one-half of its territory to the United States in the Mexican War.

• Fortunately for Mexico, Santa Anna’s disastrous rule was followed by a period

of reform from 1855 to 1876.

• This era was dominated by Benito Juarez, a Mexican national hero.

• The son of Native American peasants, President Juarez brought liberal reforms to Mexico.

•Some of Juarez’s Laws of Reform included separation of church, toleration of all faiths, curbing the
power of the military, an educational system for all of Mexico, and the redistribution of land to the
poor.

Nation Building

• Rule of the Caudillos Cont.

• Other caudillos, such as Juan Manuel de Rosas in Argentina, were supported by

the masses.

• These caudillos became extremely popular and brought about radical change.

• Unfortunately, the caudillo’s authority depended on his personal power.

•When he died or lost power, civil wars for control of the country often erupted.

• A New Imperialism

• Political independence brought economic independence, but old patterns were

quickly reestablished.

• Instead of Spain and Portugal, Great Britain and the United States now dominated

the Latin American economy.

• Great Britain now dominated trade in Latin America for most of the nineteenth

century.

• British merchants moved into Latin America in large numbers, and British investors

poured in funds.
• By the late 1920s, the United States replaced Europe as the source of loans and

investments.
•Direct U.S. investments in Latin America reached $3.5 billion, out of a world total of $7.5 billion.

Nation Building

• A New Imperialism Cont.

• American, British, and other foreign investors built transportation and

communication systems and power plants.

• These investors also introduced new technologies such as refrigeration, steam

engines, and mining equipment.
• These innovations led to increased production of export commodities such as wheat,

tobacco, wool, sugar, coffee, and hides.
•At the same time, Latin Americacountries imported finished consumer goods, especially textiles, and
had limited industry.

• Economic Dependence

• The emphasis on exporting raw materials and importing finished products

ensured the ongoing domination of the Latin American economy by foreigners
who reaped many benefits and profits.

• On the other hand, most Latin American countries experienced uneven economic

development since they were almost wholly three cash crops-crops that are grown
for sale rather than for personal use.
• A drop in world prices for the crops or failed harvests could be devastating to an economy

based on cash crops.

• Latin Americancountries remained economically dependent on Western

nations, even though they were no longer colonies.

• In Central America and the Caribbean, export economies still dominated long into

the 1900s.

Nation Building

• Economic Dependence Cont.

• In some areas, such as in Cuba with sugar, in Brazil with coffee, and in Central America with

bananas, an entire national economy continued to depend on a single cash crop.

• Persistent Inequality

• A fundamental problem for all of the new Latin American nations was the

domination of society by the landed elites.

• Large estates remained a way of life in Latin America.

• By 1848, FOR EXAMPLE, the Sanchez Navarro family in Mexico possessed 17 estates made

up of 16 million acres (6,480,000ha).
•Latin American estates were often so large that they could not be farmed efficiently.

• Land remained the basis of wealth, social, prestige, and political power

throughout the nineteenth century.

• Landed elites ran governments, controlled courts, and kept a system of inexpensive

labor.
• These land owners made enormous profits by growing single cash crops, such as coffee for

export.
•Most of the population had no land to grow basic food crops.
• As a result, the masses experienced dire poverty.

Change in Latin America

• After 1870, Latin American governments, led by large landowners, wrote

constitutions similar to those of the United States and European democracies.

• The ruling elites were careful to keep their power by limiting voting rights, however.

• The U.S. in Latin America

• By 1900, the United States had emerged as a world power.

• It began to intervene in the affairs of its southern neighbors.

• As a result of the Spanish-American War (1898), Cuba became a protectorate of the United

States.
•That same year, Puerto Rico was also annexed to the United States.

• In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt supported a rebellion that allowed

Panama to separate from Colombia and establish a new nation.

• In return, the United States was granted control of a 10-mile strip of land running

from coast to coast.
• There the United States built the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914 and was one of the

greatest engineering feats in the world at that time.

Change in Latin America

• American Investments

• American investments in Latin America soon expanded, as did the resolve to

protect those investments.

• Beginning in 1898, U.S. military forces were sent to Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala,

Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to
protect American interests.

• Some expeditions stayed for years.

• U.S. Marines were in Haiti from 1915 to 1934 and in Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933.

• Increasing numbers of Latin Americans began to resent this interference from the “big

bully” to the north.

• Revolution in Mexico

• In some countries, large landowners supported dictators who looked out for the

interests of the ruling elite.

• Porfirio Diaz, who ruled Mexico between 1877 and 1911, created a conservative,

centralized government.
• The army, foreign capitalists, large landowners, and the Catholic Church supported Diaz.

•All these groups benefited from their alliance with Diaz.
• However, growing forces for change in Mexico le to a revolution.

Change in Latin America

• Revolution in Mexico Cont.

• During Diaz’sdictatorial reign, the wages of workers had declined.

• Ninety-five percent of the rural population owned no land, whereas about 1,000

families owned almost all of Mexico.
• A liberal landowner, Francisco Madero, forced Diaz from power in 1911.

•The door to a wider revolution then opened.

• Madero made a valiant effort to handle the revolutionary forces at work.

• He put some of the best officials in his administration, and he sought a balance in

dealing with foreign interests.
• However, his efforts proved ineffective.

• The northern states were in near anarchy as Pancho Villa’s armed masses of

bandits swept the countryside.

• The federal army was full of hard-minded generals who itched to assert their power.

• Even the liberal politicians and idealists found fault with Madero for not solving all of the

country’s problems at once.

• Madero’s ineffectiveness created a demand for agrarianreform.

• This new call for reform was led by Emiliano Zapata.

• Zapata aroused the masses of landless peasants and began to seize and redistribute the

estates of wealthy landowners.
•While Madero tried to reach an agreement with him for land reforms, Zapata refused to disarm his
followers.

Change in Latin America

• Revolution in Mexico Cont.

• Between 1910 and 1920, the Mexican Revolution caused great damage to the

Mexican economy.

• Finally, a new constitution was enacted in 1917.

• This constitution set up a government led by a President.

•It also created land-reform policies, established limits on foreign investors, and set an agenda to help
the workers.

• The revolution also led to an outpouring of patriotism throughout Mexico.

• National pride was evident, FOR EXAMPLE, as intellectuals and artists sought to

capture what was unique about Mexico, with special emphasis on its past.

• Prosperity and Social Change

• After 1870, Latin America began an age of prosperity based to a large extent on

the export of a few basic items.

• These included wheat and beef from Argentina, coffee and bananas from Central

America, and sugar and silver from Peru.
• These foodstuffs and raw materials were largely exchanged for furnished goods-textiles,

machines, and luxury items-from Europe and the United States.
•After 1900, Latina Americans also increased their own industrialization.
• They built factories to produce textiles, foods, and construction materials.

Change in Latin America

• Prosperity and Social Change Cont.

• One result from the prosperity of increased exports was growth in the middle

sectors (divisions) of Latin Americansociety.

• Lawyers, merchants, shopkeepers, business people, school teachers, professors,

bureaucrats, and military officers increased in numbers.
• After 1900, these middle sectors of society continued to expand.

• Middle-class Latin Americans shared some common characteristics.

• They lived in cities and sought education and decent incomes.

• They also saw the United States as a model, especially in regard to industrialization.

•The middle class sought liberal reform, not revolution.
• Once they had the right to vote, they generally sided with the landholding elite.