2.2: Post-Spanish Colonialism
- Page ID
- 216150
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Independence from Spain
Drawing their inspiration from the American Revolution and taking advantage of the political disarray in Spain following Napoleon’s invasion of Spain and rising resistance movements, independence minded Latin American figures such as Simon Bolivar and Francisco de Miranda began to organize anti-Colonial movements of their own. After successfully resisting the French occupation, Kind Ferdinand was once again in command and vowed to maintain his Spanish colonies and sent his army to quell the independence movements. Although ultimately successful, many of the independence movements lasted for over a decade and came at an especially high human toll. For example, Mexico’s independence movement, famously started in 1810 by the “Grito de Dolores” led by the parish priest Miguel Hidalgo leading Indigenous peasants and miners, ended in 1821 leaving more than 600,000 people dead, approximately 10 percent of the Mexican population.
Figure 𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 3.2.1: A fresco depicting Simon Bolivar leading rebel troops against Spanish forces in the Battle of Ibarra (1823). (CC BY-SA 4.0; MeisterDrukke via Wikimedia)
During and following the independence movements from Spanish Colonial rule, the Latin American freedom fighters received little support from US leaders. Based on a combination of factors such as self-interest (acquisition of Florida from Spain), racist notions regarding the ability of Latin American countries and people to thrive under democratic rule, and fear of slave revolts and the increase in manumission in Latin American countries, the American founding fathers and other Anglo leaders rebuffed pleas from leaders of independence movements during the wars with Spain and afterword as the fledgling Latin American countries struggled with the political growing pains as new democracies. Here are some of the quotes from influential Americans:
“However our present interests may restrain us with our limits, it is impossible not to look forward to distant times when our rapid multiplication will expand beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern if not the southern continent.” – Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Monroe, 1801
“Democracy is not better suited to Spanish Americans than to the birds, beasts, or fishes.” – John Adams, March 27, 1815
“We have no concern with South America. We can have no well-founded political sympathy with them. We are sprung from different stocks”. – Edward Everett, Editor, North American Review
With very little help or assistance from their North American counterparts, by the 1820s, all but Puerto Rico and Cuba had won their independence from Spain.
With regard to slavery and manumission, Simon Bolivar proclaimed at the founding congress of Bolivia in 1826 that slavery is the “negation of all law, and any law which should perpetuate would be a sacrilege.” U.S. plantation owners feared that such a commitment to abolish slavery would spread north to the United States. True to form, by 1850 all former Spanish colonies who had fought for and won their independence had abolished slavery.
Contributors and Attributions
- Ramos, Carlos. (Long Beach City College)
Works Cited
- Gomez, L. (2022). Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism. The New Press, New York
- Gonzalez, J. (2000). Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America. Penguin Books, New York