Download
1 / 14
140 likes | 271 Views
Revolutions Sweep Across Latin America. Objective: Explain connections among Enlightenment ideas and Latin American wars for independence.
E N D
Revolutions Sweep Across Latin America Objective: Explain connections among Enlightenment ideas and Latin American wars for independence.
Latin America is so named because most of the nations south of the United States in North and South America were once colonies of the “Latin” nations of France, Spain, and Portugal. The French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages are based on Latin, the ancient language of the Roman Empire.
Maps of Latin America All of Latin America
Colonial Society DividedLatin American Colonial Society Peninsulares-People who had been born in Spain, which is on the Iberian peninsula. Formed a tiny percentage of the population Only peninsulares could hold high office in Spanish colonial government
Colonial Society DividedLatin American Colonial Society Creoles-Spaniards born in Latin America, were below peninsulares in rank. Creoles could not hold high-level political office, but they could rise as officers in colonial armies. Together peninsulares and creoles controlled land, wealth, and power in the Spanish colonies.
Colonial Society DividedLatin American Colonial Society Below the peninsulares and creoles came the mestizos, persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry. Next were the mulattos, persons of mixed European and African ancestry, and enslaved Africans. Indians were at the bottom of the social ladder.
By 1790, wealthy and educated people in Latin America had read the same Enlightenment writers that had inspired the American and French Revolutions—Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. These Latin Americans had also read the writings of Thomas Jefferson and other Americans. They were ready for freedom from European rule.
Haiti and Toussaint-L’Ouverture The first Latin American nation to gain independence was Haiti, which is the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The French had colonized Haiti in the 1600s, bringing thousands of Africans there as slaves.
Haiti and Toussaint-L’Ouverture In 1791, the slave population of Haiti rose up in revolt. Their leader was Toussaint-L’Ouverture, a former slave.
Haiti and Toussaint-L’Ouverture In ten years of fighting, Toussaint-L’Ouverture conquered the island of Hispaniola. The French sent more troops and captured him. He died in a French prison in 1803. Nonetheless, within a year of his death, Haiti declared its independence. (French Revolution and Napoleon’s conquest of Europe Draws resources away from Haiti)
Other Latin American Nations Napoleon’s European conquests helped the colonists in Latin America win their independence. When Napoleon captured Spain in 1808, the Spanish colonists in Latin America seized the opportunity to achieve self-government.
Other Latin American Nations Rebellions broke out across Mexico, Central America, and South America. In 1821, led by Father Hidalgo, Mexico won independence from Spain.
Other Latin American Nations In that same year, colonists in Central America declared their independence from Spain. Led by Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin, the Spanish colonies of South America gained their independence by 1824. By 1822, the Brazilian colonists had freed themselves from Portugal. Brazil became a republic in 1889.
