Latin American RevolutionsLatin American Revolutions
•From 1500 to 1800,Latin America wascolonized by Europe,especially Spain
•European nationsgained wealth fromtheir Americancolonies
•Catholic missionariesfrom Spainconverted Indians
I. Latin American SocietyI. Latin American Society
•White Europeans were at thetop of society
oPeninsulares oPeninsulares were royalgovernors sent by the kingto enforce laws & maintainorder in the colony
II. SocialHierarchy inLatin AmericaII. SocialHierarchy inLatin America
creolesoSpanish colonists living inAmerica were calledcreoles; They had land &wealth but had nopolitical power
II. SocialHierarchy inLatin AmericaII. SocialHierarchy inLatin America
•The lack ofEuropean womenin America led tointermarriage & amixed-racepopulation
oMestizos oMestizos werethe offspring ofEuropeans & Indians
oMulattos oMulattos werethe offspring ofEuropeans & Africans
oAmerindians & SlavesoAmerindians & Slavesmade up the bottomof the hierarchy andwere used as workersin plantations
•From 1800 to 1830, Latin American colonies begandeclaring independence from European nations &establishing democracies throughout the Americas
Quick Class Discussion:
(1)Which social group will lead theseLatin American Revolutions? Why?
(2)Where did they get the idea torevolt & created democracies?
Creoles in South America
African slaves in Haiti
Indians in Mexico
By the late 1700s,Latin Americanswere inspired togain independencebecause of thesuccess of theAmerican & FrenchRevolutions
The ideas of theEnlightenmentinspiredindependenceespecially amongthe well-educatedcreole class
•Haiti was the first LatinAmerican colony to freeitself from European rule
•Haiti was a French colonywith 500,000 slaves workingon sugar plantations
•Plantation ownerswere brutal toslaves
•In 1791, slaves rose in revolt;Toussaint L’Ouverture became theleader of the slave uprising &helped free all the slaves by 1801
III. Revolution Begins in HaitiIII. Revolution Begins in Haiti
•From 1802 to 1804, Haitiansfought for their independenceagainst Napoleon’s French army
•In 1804, France granted Haiti itsindependence & created arepublic
•From 1811 to 1824, Venezuelancreole Simon Bolivar led an armyof revolutionaries against Spain
•Bolivar helped create new nationsof Grand Colombia, Peru, Bolivia
IV. Simon BolivarIV. Simon Bolivar
•Argentinean creole San Martín ledthe independence movement insouthern South America
•San Martín helped create newnations of Argentina, Chile & Peru
V. San MartinV. San Martin
VI. Mexican IndependenceVI. Mexican Independence
•Unlike the SouthAmerica creoles, inMexico the Indians &mestizos played theleading roleindependence
Miguel Hidalgo •In 1810, a poor but well educated Catholic priestnamed Miguel Hidalgo used Enlightenment idealsto call for a revolution against Spain
•Hidalgo led an army of 80,000Indian & mestizosrevolutionaries against theSpanish military
•During the rebellion,Hidalgo was killed butMexicans found newleaders to continuethe fight another 10years
•In 1820, the creolesswitched sides & joinedthe revolt against Spain
•In 1821, Mexico becameindependence & arepublic was formed
•New democraticrepublics werecreated in LatinAmerican
•Many of the newgovernments wereunstable
•Military dictatorscalled caudillosseized power &made few reformsfor citizens
•Latin Americabecamedependent on theUSA
VII. New Democratic RepublicsVII. New Democratic Republics