History 307 - Latin America – October 27, 2003

 Constructing the New Republics: Three Success Stories

 

I.     1824 - Wars of Liberation end - and Shocking difficult task of Nation-Building Nations

 

II.  Success Story #1: Brazil

 A.     First Empire (1822-31)

1.       Vast nation: 3.2 million sq. miles (USA, 48 lower states, 3 million sq. miles)

2.      1822: peaceful independence

3.      Emperor Dom Pedro I

4.      Deeply conservative Empire:

·          Constitutional monarchy with strong role for unelected Emperor (the “moderating power”)

·          Emperor closely tied to Fazenda elite

·          Slavery

 B.      Second Empire (1831-1889)

1.       “Regency Years” confusion

2.      Factions within Brazil’s Elite

 

Liberals	Conservatives
Commercial classes Big cities Change, experiment Democracy (at least for them!)	Fazenda Agricultural elite Country-side Tradition Authority/ elite rule (rule by them!)

 3.      Emperor Dom Pedro II & Princess Isabel

4.      Brazil emerges as major power

·          Two Wars with Argentina over “Cispalatine;” – Paraguay & Uruguay

·          1865-70: Brutal War of the Triple Alliance (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay v. Paraguay)

5.      rapid growth of cities, industry, middle classes, urban working-class

6.      SLAVERY: CLASH between “Liberals” & “Conservatives”

à      Conservatives: unfree labor is key to Sugar Barons’ success!

à      Liberals: slavery is drag on development: slaves are purposely kept uneducated, immobile, unskilled; slavery as international embarrassment

 C.      Crisis of 1888-9

1.       Liberals: protests, arguments, denunciations of slavery & entire Fazenda-Imperial system

2.      1888: Golden Law: Slavery abolished!

3.      1889 - “Liberal” army officers abolish Monarchy

4.      Note ambiguity!  “Liberalism” via a military coup!

 D.     The First (“Old”) Republic (1889-1930)

1.       “Liberals” set a very “conservative” agenda - for example, slaves are freed - but - slave-owners are compensated by taxes paid by slaves (and others)!;  central role of Army;

2.      limited democracy (elections; free press; social freedom but within the middle classes & elite);  yet: crushing poverty among former slaves; Indians; workers

3.   Dramatic Growth: cities, immigration, factories

 

III.    Success story # 2: CHILE

A.     “Latin American Heaven!”: California-style climate; agriculturally rich central valley

B.      1817-18: San Martin crosses Alps; expels Spaniards

C.      1818-1823: BERNARDO O’HIGGINS as “Enlightened Ruler”

D.     1823-1830: Chile’s age of Caudillos

E.      1830: Liberal-Conservative CONSENSUS

·          Conservatives: keep hacienda system; special privilege for landlords, Church, Army

·          Liberals: active democracy; elections; free press; civil rights

F.      1830s à  Conservatives & Liberals agree on need for Economic Progress

·          Copper; agriculture

·          rapid growth of middling classes, cities, foreign investment

·          massive immigration from Spain, Italy

 G.     Chile as local power:

1.       WAR OF THE PACIFIC (1879-1883) - Chile v. Peru & Bolivia

2.      destruction of Araucanian Indians

 H.     Chile as “Model”?

1.       Political stability - members of elite take turns as president

2.      Rapid economic development - copper & agriculture

3.      Foreign investment

4.      Immigration

 

IV.     Success Story #3 - ARGENTINA

A.     Argentine oddities: vast size (even after Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay become independent); centrality of Buenos Aires & its ‘Portenos;’  vast Pampas & rancher/ “gaucho” class

C.      1830s – 1850s: Rosas, el Caudillo (1830s)

1.       Rosas: “Elite Caudillo”? or a “Folk Caudillo”?

2.      Anti-Rosas forces: Buenos Aire’s merchant elite; city’s intellectuals; middle-to-upper classes; E. Echevaria, “The Slaughterhouse;”  D. Sarmiendo, Facundo - or - Civilization or Barbarism?

 D.  1850s: fall of Rosas; Conservative-Liberal consensus: Progress

 E.      Argentina’s spectacular growth:

·          GDP growth rate: 5-6% per year from 1860-1914, one of the fastest growing economies in history

·          Buenos Aires, 1865:150,000;  1914: 1.4 million

·          huge boom in agricultural exports - beef, grain, leather

·          waves of European immigrants from esp. Spain & Italy; In 1914, 30% of population is foreign born

·          Agro-business: by 1914, only a handful (8.2% of all farms) of huge farms (2500+ acres)—yet these huge farms in fact control 80% of all farmland

·          Foreign investment—or foreign domination? By 1929, 30-40% of entire economy owned by either US or UK firms, who tend to ship profits home and away form Argentina

 

V.     Latin America’s Economic “Boom” of the late 1800s:

A.     URBANIZATION:       Mexico City: 137,000 (1803) à 345,000 (1900)

                                         Buenos Aires 40,000 (1801) à 1.5 million (1914)

B.  RAILROADS:              Mexico:  400 miles (1876) à 15,000 miles (1910)

C.  FOREIGN INVESTMENT: UK: 85 mil. Pounds (1870) à 757 mil. Pounds (1913)

D.  INDUSTRY: Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil - all become major industrializing nations

D.     IMMIGRATION: mass immigration especially to Argentina; Chile; Brazil

E.      SOCIAL CLASSES:  rapidly growing MIDDLE CLASS & INDUSTRIAL PROLETARIAT

 

VI.     OMENS: “PROGRESS” – FOR WHOM?

A.      Everyone wants a prosperous DEMOCRACY and a democratic PROSPERITY, but

B.      DEMOCRACY?

1.  “Conservatives” and “Liberals” are both part of ELITE

2. Workers, Native Peoples, Poor are excluded from System

3. No ACTIVE DEMOCRACY; no stake in system; chronic problem with “lawlessness”

C.       PROSPERITY?

1.  CONTINUATION OF COLONIAL SYSTEM: export of one product/crop; dependence on external markets for everything; extreme vulnerability to external forces

2. ELITE MONOPOLY OF WEALTH AT HOME

3. GROWTH (increase in wealth for at least some) v. DEVELOPMENT (widespread improvement in housing, education, health care, transportation)

D.     A FUNDAMENTAL CONTRADICTION: Everyone wants Prosperity & Democracy – BUT – only the elite enjoy them è intense popular frustration

E.      A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: can the system of power and privilege be changed peacefully?

 

VII.  Back to Mexico

 

 

 

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Modified by:  H.  Kamerling