LATIN AMERICA AFTER INDEPENDENCE

I. Introduction: Avoiding Stereotypes

A. Latin American societies have a democratic tradition.

1. In some ways, political systems right after independence more open and inclusive than U.S. after its revolution.
2. Backlash by elites and concerns over disorder led to greater restrictions on democracy after the middle of 19th century.

B. Colonial legacies apparent in Latin American societies, but there has been change.

1. People of indigenous and African descent face prejudice.
2. Resistance to prejudice increasingly through united front and using modern means.

II. Continuity and Change

A. Economy

1. World Market

a. change: free trade
b. continuity: dependent on primary exports

2. Labor

a. slave trade ended and free womb laws, but not abolition in most cases

i. Mexico and Chile abolished at independence
ii. Argentina, Venezuela and Peru in 1850s
iii. Cuba and Brazil: late 19th century

b. rural areas

i. brief opening for small farmers and indigenous communities to have greater autonomy
ii. late 19th and into 20th century: increasing concentration of land in hands of elite and growing landlessness among the poor.

B. Politics

1. Authoritarianism: "caudillos" (military strongmen), but sometimes populist
2. Rivalries/civil wars, elites vie for popular support
3. Claims to citizenship

a. indigenous communities
b. urban artisans

C. Gender

1. Excluded from citizenship
2. Poor women repressed as disorderly
3. Elite women maintain some influence

D. Race and Ethnicity

1. Abolition of formal caste system
2. Informal racism and real effects
3. Comparison to United States

a. In US, few free people of color
b. In US, most Native Americans segregated into separate nations

III. Conclusions

A. Comparison to United States

1. Suffrage broader in many early Spanish American republics (did not discriminate by race)
2. May have contributed to greater instability in Spanish America

B. Gradual closure of political openings throughout 19th

1. Increasing restrictions on suffrage
2. For women, rising ideology of domesticity

C. History Matters

1. Colonialism shapes contemporary societies
2. But societies are not static and people can effect change

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