During the 1500’s, the present-day countries of Paraguay and Uruguay were colonies. Paraguay gained it’s independence on May 14, 1811, and Uruguay gained it’s independence on August 25, 1825.1 However, the way these two countries gained their independence was very different. Although both involved violent revolutions, Paraguay’s independence process was relatively short, whereas Uruguay’s fight for independence was a long and messy ordeal. This review focuses on the reason for the differences between Paraguay and Uruguay’s independence processes through the following readings: Artigas and the Emancipation of Uruguay, by John Street; Republican Hispanic America: A History, by Charles Edward Chapman; Latin America’s Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791-1899, by Robert L. Scheina; Colonial Latin America: Third Edition, by Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson; The Spanish American Revolutions: 1808-1826, by John Lynch; and the Independence of Spanish America, by Jaime E. Rodriguez O. These readings all gave accounts of Paraguay’s and Uruguay’s independence processes, and although none of them directly provide a reason for their different independence processes, there is one factor shared between these readings that could explain the differences. After carefully studying the readings, a conclusion can be made that the reason for Paraguay and Uruguay’s different independence processes was their geographical locations.
First, a brief history of Paraguay and Uruguay’s struggle for independence. When the Royalists in Asuncion heard of Buenos Aires’ establishment of the junta provisional in 1810, they gathered together and decided to recognize the council of regency.2 Buenos Aires, the people of which were known as Portenos, responded t...
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Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America: Third Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998
Chapman, Charles Edward. Republican Hispanic America: A History. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957
Lynch, John. The Spanish American Revolutions: 1808-1826. New York: W W Norton Company Inc., 1973
“Paraguay Profile.” PBS. Accessed December 3, 2013. http://www.pbs.org/frontline world/stories/paraguay604/additional.html Rodriguez O., Jaime E. The Independence of Spanish America. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998
Scheina, Robert L. Latin America’s Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791-1899. Washington D.C.: Brassey’s Inc., 2003
Street, John. Artigas and the Emancipation of Uruguay. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1959
“Uruguay.” Fact Monster. Last modified October, 2013. http://www.factmonster.com/
ipka/A0108124.html
This paper will be exploring the book The Vanguard of the Atlantic World by James Sanders. This book focuses upon the early 1800 to the 1900 and explores the development of South American political system as well expresses some issues that some Latino counties had with Europe and North America. Thus, Sanders focus is on how Latin America political system changes throughout this certain time and how does the surrounding countries have an effect as well on Latin political system. Therefore, the previous statement leads into some insight on what the thesis of the book is. Sanders thesis is, “Latin American’s believed they represented the future because they had adopted Republicanism and democracy while Europe was in the past dealing with monarchs
Models for post-revolutionary Latin American government are born of the complex economic and social realities of 17th and 18th century Europe. From the momentum of the Enlightenment came major political rebellions of the elite class against entrenched national monarchies and systems of power. Within this time period of elitist revolt and intensive political restructuring, the fundamental basis for both liberal and conservative ideology was driven deep into Latin American soil. However, as neither ideology sought to fulfill or even recognize the needs or rights of mestizo people under government rule, the initial liberal doctrine pervading Latin American nations perpetuated racism and economic exploitation, and paved the way for all-consuming, cultural wars in the centuries to come.
Bolivar illustrates the relationship between the Spanish American colonies and Spain. The relationship could be described as bitter, at least in the eyes of the Spanish colonies. Inferiority led the Spanish colonies to the ideas of revolution. Although their rights come from the Europeans, they do not acknowledge themselves as Europeans or Indians. The people of the Spanish colonies claim to be, according to Bolivar, “[…] a species midway between the legitimate proprietors of [America] and the Spanish usurper” (411). “Usurpers” meaning a position that is held by forces which entails an unwanted or uninvited relationship. It is because of the Europeans, as stated by Bolivar, that “we have to assert [European] rights against the rights of the natives, and at the same time we must defend ourselves against invaders [which] places us in a most extraordinary and involved situation” (411). This is also evidence of a bitter rela...
Mignolo, W. D. (2005). The Idea of Latin America (pp. 1-94). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
The Andes had a legacy of resistance that was unseen in other Spanish occupied place during the colonial period. There were rebellions of various kinds as a continued resistance to conquest. In the “Letters of Insurrection”, an anthology of letters written amongst the indigenous Andean people, between January and March 1781 in what is now known as Bolivia, a statement is made about the power of community-based rebellion. The Letters of Insurrection displays effects of colonization and how the “lesser-known” revolutionaries that lived in reducción towns played a role in weakening colonial powers and creating a place of identification for indigenous people.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Adams, Jerome R. Liberators and Patriots of Latin America. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers, 1991. Print.
Galeano, Eduardo. Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. Translated by Cedric Belfrage. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1997.
After gaining independence, Latin American countries had difficulty in how to govern the newly instated states. In the chaos, people took advantage of this and instated themselves as dictators. They had simply took the position from the Spanish that they tried to vanquish (class notes). The power structure remained and the people who fought for independence were largely ignored and continuously oppressed. These dictatorships had remained in power until very recently. Paraguay was finally freed from the dictatorship in 1989 (Chapter
By the fall of 1981, the Argentinean government under the leadership of General Galtieri and the military junta was experiencing a significant decrease of power. Economical...
In South America, Native Americans had rebelled against Spanish rule as early as the 1700s. These rebellions had limited results, however it was not until 1800s that discontent among the Creoles sparked a widespread drive for independence. Educated Creoles like Simo¢n Bolivar applauded the French and American Revolutions. He dreamed of winning independence for his country. When Napoleon occupied Spain, Simo¢n returned to his South America and led an uprising that established a republic in his native Venezuela. But his newly found republic quickly toppled by conservative forces. Bolivar then got a daring idea; he would march his forces across the Andes and attack the Spanish at Bogotá. He managed to free Caracas then moved into Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru to do the same.
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.
LaFeber, Walter. Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America. New York: W.W. Norton, 1984. Print.
Powers N. R., 1992, The Transition to Democracy in Paraguay: Problems and Prospectus, University of Notre Dame
Burns, Bradford E. Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2002.