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FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What were the causes of the Latin American wars of independence?


• How and why were the Latin American and North American struggles for
  independence different?


• How was the struggle for home rule different from the struggle over who would
  rule at home?


• What were the four main centers of the struggle for independence, and how did
  they compare?


• What were the main political, economic, and social consequences of the wars for
  independence?

8

The Independence of

Latin America

HE BOURBON REFORMS, combined with

the upsurge of the European economy

in the eighteenth century, brought

material prosperity and less tangible benefi ts to many

upper-class creoles of Spanish America. Enlightened

viceroys and intendants introduced improvements

and refi nements that made life in colonial cities

more healthful and attractive. Educational reforms,

the infl ux of new books and ideas, and increased op-

portunities to travel and study in Europe widened

the intellectual horizons of creole youth.

These gains, however, did not strengthen

creole feelings of loyalty to the mother country.

Instead, they enlarged their aspirations and sharp-

ened their sense of grievance. The growing wealth

of some sections of the creole elite made more gall-

ing its virtual exclusion from important posts in

administration and the church. Meanwhile, the

swelling production of creole haciendas, planta-

tions, and ranches pressed against the trade bar-

riers maintained by Spanish mercantilism. The

intendant of Caracas, José Abalos, warned that “if

His Majesty does not grant them [the creoles] the

freedom of trade which they desire, then he cannot

count on their loyalty.” At the same time, Bour-

bon policy denied American manufacturers the

protection they needed against crippling European

competition.

Background of the Wars

of Independence

CREOLES AND PENINSULAR SPANIARDS

The confl ict of interest between Spain and its colo-

nies was most sharply expressed in the cleavage

between the creoles and the peninsular Spaniards.

This quarrel was constantly renewed by the arrival

of more Spaniards. In the late eighteenth century, a

typical immigrant was a poor but hardworking and

thrifty Basque or Navarrese who became an ap-

prentice to a peninsular merchant, often a relative.

In the course of time, as his merits won recogni-

tion, the immigrant might receive a daughter of the

house in marriage and eventually succeed to the

ownership of the business. One of the merchant’s

T