2. Latin American Independence 1700-1788 Spanish monarchs introduce economic and political policies known as the Bourbon Reforms. These measures create new opportunities and conflicts within the colonies, as they expand trade, reorganize government authority, and establish colonial armies. 1804 Haiti, a former French colony, becomes an independent nation after a slave revolt and years of war 1806 Revolutionary Francisco de Miranda launches an unsuccessful invasion to seek Venezuela's independence from Spain. 1807 France attacks Portugal, forcing the Portuguese queen and her government to flee to Brazil. 1808 France occupies Spain, deposing King Ferdinand VII and placing Joseph Bonaparte on the throne; Spaniards rebel against the French. 1810 Responding to events in Spain, Spanish-American colonists form their own governments 1810 Mexican priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla launches a revolt on September 16 against the colonial rulers of New Spain (Mexico). The rebels are defeated and Hidalgo is executed in 1811. 1811 Paraguay (May 14) and Venezuela (July 5) each declare their independence 1814 Uruguay declares its independence 1814 Chilean independence forces led by Bernardo O'Higgins are defeated on October 1 in the Battle of Rancagua, and Chile again becomes a royal colony. 1815 Brazil becomes a separate kingdom equal to Portugal, ruled by the Portuguese monarch in Rio de Janeiro 1816 Buenos Aires and nearby provinces declare their independence from Spain .
4. Latin America At Midcentury First quarter-century of independent life brought numerous changes to Latin America There had been an increase in political turbulence, though with important variations among countries, and an increase in the extent of political participation as compared to the colonial era The decade of the 1820s did in fact see a flurry of reform activity almost everywhere The 1830s and 1840s were typified instead by a preoccupation with the attainment of order and a generally moderate approach to questions of religious, social, or economic policy The mood of Latin America, or at least of the middle and upper sectors of the population, changed again about mid-century, as most countries entered a period of around twenty-five to thirty years in which economic growth provided a renewed basis for optimism and liberal reformers generally seized the political initiative Economic growth was in fact the key variable-and it was by no means the only influence at work-it was centered General international trade increased five times from 1840 to 1870, and U.S. exports almost eight times from 1845 to 1880 An even more striking exception in some ways is Ecuador. In the early 1850s it both freed slaves and expelled Jesuits, and in 1857 it permanently abolished Indian tribute But from 1860 to 1875, it slipped under the control of Gabriel Garcia Moreno, who not only brought back the Jesuits but made Roman Catholicism an express condition for citizenship and had the nation formally dedicated, in a grand public ceremony, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Garcia Moreno was a single-minded devotion to maintaining the sway of the Roman Catholic religion set him definitely apart from other rulers of his day and made him a symbol of repressive obscurantism to liberals throughout Latin America
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6. British and latin America 'Spanish America is free,' George Canning, the British Foreign Secretary, asserted in December 1824, 'and if we do not mismanage our affairs sadly, she is English Leaders of the new nations regarded diplomatic recognition by the United Kingdom as essential for both their economic development and their political security Canning's success in advancing Britain's economic interests during the period of Latin American independence marked the culmination of more than two hundred years of attempts by privateers, merchants and ministers to break into the monopoly of the Spanish and Portuguese empires and to promote Britain's influence there against its commercial rivals, particularly the French. The first real concessions came in 1810, when the British government negotiated preferential trading privileges in Brazil in return for its support for the Portuguese royal family during the Napoleonic Wars In the Spanish empire, where the struggle for emancipation lasted from about 1810 until 1825 The British mania for Latin America rose in a crescendo early in 1825, just after the government's decision to grant formal recognition to some of the new nations. Latin America's exports began to grow in value. Products like hides and wool from the River Plate, copper from Chile and guano from Peru found markets in Britain and elsewhere in Europe.
8. Latin Americaâs wars of the 19th century On February 1, 1820, some 1,600 Provincials from Santa Fe and Entre Rios led by Estanislao Lopez defeated 2,000 Porteños (those inhabiting the port of Buenos Aires) led by Jose Rondeau at the Battle of Cepeda Only 900 escaped death or capture The Provincials compelled the Porteños to sign the Treaty of Pilar on February 23 which created a federation within modem Argentina. In 1820 and 1824 no federation existed; each province was sovereign. In 1816 the Congress of Tucuman belatedly declared independence of the United Provinces of South America from Spain  In 1819 the Congress in Buenos Aires dominated by the Portenos (having earned the enmity of the provinces by migrating from Tucuman) drafted a Unitarian, Centralist constitution which was opposed by the caudillos who ruled in the provinces-Estanislao Lopez in Santa Fe; Pedro Ramirez in Entre Rios; Martin Guemes in Salta; and BernabeAraoz in Tucuman In the 1820s, the population of Argentina was about 600,000 people. About one-quarter lived in the province of Buenos Aires . Buenos aireswas stronger than any other province but not equal to their combined weight. Of the 150,000 people living in the province of Buenos Aires, many lived in the port
9. Latin Americaâs wars of the 19th century Juan Manuel de Rosas dominated the Rio de la Plata from the late 1820s through the early 1850s. To this day, he is characterized as a "saint" by some and a "devil" by others. Those who laud this caudillo dwell on his opposition to the incursions of European nations into the region. Those who demonize Rosas focus on his brutality. His armies usually included an individual with the "rank" of executioner. Those executed typically had their throats slit.