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The Independence of America
(Reads: 300, 03-Mar-2010)The events which led to the political emancipation of Latin America form part of a historical process which unrolled between 1808 and 1824, beginning in the Caribbean as a response to the unity movement which developed in Spain to defend the rights of Fernando VII after he was taken prisoner by Napoleon.
From the start its character was oriented towards autonomy and federalism, and it finally developed into full-blown rebellion. It found its consummation in the wars of independence. This transcendent process, which occurred almost simultaneously throughout virtually the whole of the American continent, has been interpreted in a multitude of ways.
Without wishing to claim that this emancipation can be explained by the mechanical play of cause and effect, and merely by way of illustrating the diversity of opinions which have been focused on such a complicated issue, we here summarise the historical motives considered to be the causes of American independence. They may be divided into two principal groups:
Internal causes These are given a negative value. Emancipation is seen as a struggle to right certain wrongs, namely: bad administration, the relaxation of mores, the monopolistic commercial regime, the unfavourable treatment of criollos (Spaniards born in the colonies) and people of mixed blood, the absolutism and tyranny of vice-regal authority, cultural restrictions, etc.
External causes These are given a positive character, being events which promote the pursuit of the objective, including: the influence of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, the influence exercised by European politicians on educated criollos, the influence of the French Revolution, the example of the independence of the United States, the role played by secret societies, the active participation of the Jesuits expelled from the colonies, etc.
To these may be added, as factors which served to hasten the process, the invasion of Spain by Napoleon and the reaction produced in America by the absolutism of Fernando VII after his restoration in 1814. No doubt these contribute to the explanation of the phenomenon, but they only acquire real significance when placed within the complexity of their context.
Some further comments will help to shed additional light: Independence is not consummated with the constitution of the Juntas (the locally imposed governing committees), nor at the moment in which it is declared. It develops over a period of some fourteen years, and is achieved when the criollo armies defeat the royalist forces in the so-called Wars of Independence. The nature of these wars is basically civil war: the principal confrontation is almost always between Spanish colonists and criollos, but there are elements of both on both sides.
This fact explains why the armed struggle was relatively long, even though Spain sent only weak military forces to the Americas. The political and military events which defined the process are framed by three specific moments, caused by the appearance of three combinations of a historical and political nature, each of which served to modify the structures existing at the time. These are:
1) The crisis in the monarchy of 1808, caused by the abdication of Fernando VII and Carlos IV in favour of Napoleon, which produced a reaction in Spain and America in the form of the Junta movement. This started as a loyalist movement but drifted little by little towards autonomy and separatism.
2) The absolutist reaction of 1814 is manifest with the return to power of Fernando VII, who refused to recognise the Liberal Constitution of 1812 and inaugurated a policy of "pacification" of the American possessions. The American response to the absolutism of Fernando was the propagation of the ideal of independence to social sectors which had previously remained indifferent to the movement.
3) The Spanish liberal movement of 1820, with the revolt of Riego, reimposed the 1812 Constitution, undermined the Bourbon attempt to send strong military forces to pacify America and caused a reaction by the politically predominant conservative groups in Mexico and Lima; these groups, in order not to submit to the Spanish liberals, now favoured the independence of their respective regions.
4) The independence movement is local in character, resulting from the regional interests which had developed. It hardened around the capitals of the indian administrative centres, by force of the gravitation exercised by the city councils ("Cabildos") of the metropolitan cities. Its later historical manifestation would be the formation of nation states based on regional social assumptions. The characteristic note of the independence of America is its high degree of complexity, both in respect of the territories and the specific factors. However this heterogeneity is by no means an indication of a lack of unity: simply that the fact occurs in its own way in each different area. This lies behind the agreement that the whole revolutionary process cannot be defined by a single principle, and nor is it valid to apply a single theory to all the different regions. Nevertheless a certain degree of generality may be admitted.
From the start its character was oriented towards autonomy and federalism, and it finally developed into full-blown rebellion. It found its consummation in the wars of independence. This transcendent process, which occurred almost simultaneously throughout virtually the whole of the American continent, has been interpreted in a multitude of ways.
Without wishing to claim that this emancipation can be explained by the mechanical play of cause and effect, and merely by way of illustrating the diversity of opinions which have been focused on such a complicated issue, we here summarise the historical motives considered to be the causes of American independence. They may be divided into two principal groups:
Internal causes These are given a negative value. Emancipation is seen as a struggle to right certain wrongs, namely: bad administration, the relaxation of mores, the monopolistic commercial regime, the unfavourable treatment of criollos (Spaniards born in the colonies) and people of mixed blood, the absolutism and tyranny of vice-regal authority, cultural restrictions, etc.
External causes These are given a positive character, being events which promote the pursuit of the objective, including: the influence of the philosophy of the Enlightenment, the influence exercised by European politicians on educated criollos, the influence of the French Revolution, the example of the independence of the United States, the role played by secret societies, the active participation of the Jesuits expelled from the colonies, etc.
To these may be added, as factors which served to hasten the process, the invasion of Spain by Napoleon and the reaction produced in America by the absolutism of Fernando VII after his restoration in 1814. No doubt these contribute to the explanation of the phenomenon, but they only acquire real significance when placed within the complexity of their context.
Some further comments will help to shed additional light: Independence is not consummated with the constitution of the Juntas (the locally imposed governing committees), nor at the moment in which it is declared. It develops over a period of some fourteen years, and is achieved when the criollo armies defeat the royalist forces in the so-called Wars of Independence. The nature of these wars is basically civil war: the principal confrontation is almost always between Spanish colonists and criollos, but there are elements of both on both sides.
This fact explains why the armed struggle was relatively long, even though Spain sent only weak military forces to the Americas. The political and military events which defined the process are framed by three specific moments, caused by the appearance of three combinations of a historical and political nature, each of which served to modify the structures existing at the time. These are:
1) The crisis in the monarchy of 1808, caused by the abdication of Fernando VII and Carlos IV in favour of Napoleon, which produced a reaction in Spain and America in the form of the Junta movement. This started as a loyalist movement but drifted little by little towards autonomy and separatism.
2) The absolutist reaction of 1814 is manifest with the return to power of Fernando VII, who refused to recognise the Liberal Constitution of 1812 and inaugurated a policy of "pacification" of the American possessions. The American response to the absolutism of Fernando was the propagation of the ideal of independence to social sectors which had previously remained indifferent to the movement.
3) The Spanish liberal movement of 1820, with the revolt of Riego, reimposed the 1812 Constitution, undermined the Bourbon attempt to send strong military forces to pacify America and caused a reaction by the politically predominant conservative groups in Mexico and Lima; these groups, in order not to submit to the Spanish liberals, now favoured the independence of their respective regions.
4) The independence movement is local in character, resulting from the regional interests which had developed. It hardened around the capitals of the indian administrative centres, by force of the gravitation exercised by the city councils ("Cabildos") of the metropolitan cities. Its later historical manifestation would be the formation of nation states based on regional social assumptions. The characteristic note of the independence of America is its high degree of complexity, both in respect of the territories and the specific factors. However this heterogeneity is by no means an indication of a lack of unity: simply that the fact occurs in its own way in each different area. This lies behind the agreement that the whole revolutionary process cannot be defined by a single principle, and nor is it valid to apply a single theory to all the different regions. Nevertheless a certain degree of generality may be admitted.
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