1. Independence movements in Latin America

2. Theory of Mercantilism
A countries wealth & power is measured in the amount of gold & silver they control
To do this the country must:
Create a favorable balance of trade
Export more then you import
Create colonies to use as markets to sell your goods
Restrict colonies from trading with other nations

3. Causes of Latin American Independence movements
Latin American colonies were controlled by Spain and Portugal
Napoleonic wars in Europe
Ideologies of the American and French revolutions based on Enlightenment ideas
Nationalism (patriotism) developed in Latin American nations

5. Inspiration of American & French Revolutions
Declaration of the Rights of Man & of the Citizen, 1789
Declaration of Independence, 1776

6. Enlightenment Thinkers
John Locke, Voltaire, & Jean Rousseau;
Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine

7. Make up of Spanish colonies in Latin America
Encomenderos – original conquerors who were granted vast estates known as the encomienda system
Hacienda – self-sufficient farming estate (ex. cattle, sugarcane)
Indians work the farms, mines, etc until disease and poor treatment wipes out many
African Slaves imported to replace Indians

8. encomienda system
Encomenderos

9. Spanish Hacienda

10. Latin American Colonial Society
Europeans born on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal)
Peninsulares
White Europeans born in
Latin America
Creoles
Mestizos
(mixed) Native Indian &
European ancestry
More in Mexico
Mulattoes
(mixed) African &
European ancestry
More in Brazil
Indians
Africans
Peninsulares – high ranking royal officials owned large estates, mines
Creoles – discriminated by peninsulares some enjoyed great wealth

11. Role of the Roman Catholic Church
Native inhabitants converted to Roman Catholic Christianity
Church could protect or exploit the native Indians
Jesuit priests became very powerful owning haciendas, mines, and slaves
Jesuit order eventually disbanded in Spain and Portugal
Kings seized all Jesuit colonial holdings

12. Bartolome de Las Casas Advocate for the Indians
He decried the mistreatment and oppression of the Indians
Wrote books, letters and petitions to try to stop the mistreatment

13. Napoleon on the March in Europe Provides a model & a diversion!

14. Preoccupation of Spain & Portugal in fighting Napoleonic Wars gave Latin American countries the opportunity to rebel

15. Latin American Revolutions!

16. Toussaint-Louverture Leads a Revolution in Haiti (1804)

17. Toussaint-Louverture
Mulattoes and blacks under Toussaint-Louverture, a freed slave, won the only successful slave rebellion anywhere in the world
Napoleon I sent an army to stop the rebellion and re-establish slavery
Toussaint-Louverture was captured and died in a French prison
French could not retake the island
Haiti becomes the first independent country in Latin America (1804)
Hanging the French

18. Mexico and Central America
Miguel Hidalgo
Creole priest
Army of peasants
Declared an end to slavery
Spanish army and creoles join against him
Betrayed by one of his officers, captured and executed

19. Mexico and Central America
Jose Morelos
Mestizo farm worker turned priest
Favored independence, land reform and the end of slavery
More successful leader
Upper class Creoles feared him and remained loyal to Spain
Captured and shot in 1815
Napoleon said,
“With three such
men as Morelos,
I could conquer
the world”

20. Mexico & Central America gain independence
1821, upper middle class Mexicans stage their own independence movement
Agustin de Irudbide, a military general, proclaims himself Emperor Agustin I
1823, his dictatorial rule ends when he is overthrown
Mexico becomes a republic
Reps from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica meet to form an independent federal union
Agustin I

21. Bolivar & San Martin Fight for Independence!

22. Simon Bolivar – the “brains” & the “liberator”
Spent time in Europe and the newly-independent United States.
Studied enlightenment works of Voltaire etc.
Creole leader of the revolutions in Venezuela.
Exiled twice
Wealthy Venezuelan creole

23. Bolivar in the North
January 1819, Bolivar led his army on a daring march over the Andes into what is now Columbia
Spanish army caught by surprise and defeated
Venezuela becomes independent in 1821 and is organized into Grand Columbia
Bolivar marches south to Ecuador where he meets up with San Martin

24. Bolivar’s Accomplishment

25. Jose de San Martin Argentinean Creole officer
Trained in European armies
Liberated Argentina from Spanish control 1816
Fought in Chile and Peru against the Spanish
Met with Bolivar in Guayaquil in While Bolivar favored democracy, San Martin felt only monarchy could work.
Turned his army over to Bolivar
Died in obscurity in Europe

26. Simón Bolivar meets José de San Martin

27. Bolivar coming from the North.
Argentinean José de San Martín and Chilean Bernard O’Higgins cross the Andes Mountains to fight in Chile. After several victories Chile is free.
Bolivar coming from the North.

28. Bolivar’s Failure
After uniting Venezuela, Columbia, & Ecuador into Gran Columbia, he left to help free the rest of Latin America.
He died a year later, with his goal of uniting all of South America unfulfilled!

29. Brazil
Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil when Napoleon I invades Portugal
After Napoleon, an 1820 revolt in Portugal causes Dom Joao now King John I to return to Portugal
his son, Dom Pedro, declares Brazil’s independence
Dom Pedro II ruled until his death in 1889
Brazil becomes a military dictatorship after his death
Dom Pedro I
Dom Pedro II

30. Independence for some but no unity for Latin Am nations
Portugal lost all their possessions in Latin America
Spain lost its empire except for Cuba and Puerto Rico
Failure of Bolivar’s dream for a united South America:
Many newly independent countries struggle with civil wars.
Distances, geographical barriers, regional rivalries prevented unity

31. Monroe Doctrine “The American continents…are henceforth not to be
considered as subjects for future colonization by
any European powers.” James Monroe 1823

32. Results of the Independence movements
International trade expanded which was good for their economies
Slavery abolished throughout Latin America by 1888
Conflicts between liberals and conservatives continued
No orderly rule for establishing governments – Rebellion and election

33. Independence Brought More Poverty
The wars frequently disrupted trade.
The wars devastated the cities and the countryside.

34. Many Countries were left in the Control of Caudillos
Ambitious mestizo military leaders
Ruled by personal power
Posed as reformers with goals to improve the economy and better the lives of the common people.
Provided stability but not freedom
Porfirio Díaz