The Struggle for National Identity in the Countries of Latin America

Following an independence revolution a nation tends to proceed into a period where they learn independence and can function on their own with their own identity. They learn to respect the rights of its citizens, provide national security, instill a sense of patriotism, and learn to handle economic endeavors in a way to benefit the nation as a whole. After their revolutions for independence, the countries of Latin America did not achieve many of these milestones. The countries of did not show any signs of becoming anything close to independent after their revolutions. They allowed Great Britain and the U.S. to come in and dictate their economic infrastructure by exploiting the masses and allowing only a few individuals to enjoy wealth. This in return led to brutal political dictators, a large number of landless farm workers, a low literacy rate, and worker repression. Latin America is a rich land with poor people as its inhabitants because leaders of each country have failed to recognize how to effectively create an independent nation.

After most of the Latin American countries achieved independence from Spain in the late 19th century the issue of what type of government the countries would adopt and who would oversee them arose. Many wanted to maintain the Spanish American tradition of a monarch ruling; while others were intrigued by the teachings and doctrines of the Enlightenment and admirers of the American success and wanted to start fresh as a republic. The federalist and centralist factions became aligned with two main political currents that dominated Latin American politics during the nineteenth century: liberalism and conservatism. Generally, liberals viewed the United States as a model whereas, conservatives ...

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...ndividuals in power were too selfish to worry about the nation as a whole. Their only concerns were to make themselves as rich as possible regardless of the well-being of others. In a sense, Latin America is not “detached” from Spain. The core of Colonial Spanish America was to exploit the masses and to restrict power and wealth amongst the elite. This notion has been prevalent throughout Latin American History. Until Latin American countries can break away from exploitation and the involvement of foreign powers in their economy they will never be able to ha[-]. The United States partook a large role in the lack of progessiveness in Latin American following the nineteenth century. Anything that challenged business interests of the United States in Latin America led to a radical reaction by the United States. These radical reactions put fear into many citizens.