LATIN AMERICA AFTER INDEPENDENCE

1. Border Conflicts between the new states

At first there was no absolute agreement on the boundaries between nations were setting throughout the nineteenth
century. In 1825, the United Provinces of the Ro de la Plata declared war on the Empire of Brazil that had occupied the
territory of the Eastern Band, Current Uruguay. Argentina was winning. However, there was no agreement on who
belonged these territories, arbitration of a foreign power like England was required. The result was the creation of the
Republic of Uruguay, with capital Montevideo. Peru, under the chairmanship of Marshal Jos de la Mar, invaded in
November 1828 to Guayaquil, for the purpose of appropriating this province. In January 1829, the great Colombian
troops, commanded by Marshal Antonio Jose de Sucre, evicted the Peruvian invaders. Bolivia and Peru also faced
because Peruvian aspirations to unify the Lower and Upper Peru. Between 1837 and 1839, there was a confederation
between Peru and Bolivia, which was attacked by Argentina and Chile considering it a threat to regional stability.

2. Relations with the world

Venezuela and Mexico, as a result of the destruction caused by the process of independence, unable to recover their
levels of export and domestic economies suffered a deep crisis. Argentina, Peru and Chile were luckier change in the
placement of some products in the international market through England. Other countries during the first half of the
nineteenth century, were in a continuous race to find a product that will generate exportable currency to their
impoverished economies. England was the power that acted in the Latin American scene as a lender, with capital for
investment and trade. The United States, although to a lesser extent England, got monetary resources for their territories
through commercial subsidiaries of different companies and investment in mining and colonizing companies, starting its
consolidation as a world power.

3. The United States and Latin America

In December 1823 the US president, James Monroe, warned Europe that would not allow the establishment of colonies
or monarchies in America sponsored by foreign governments. Implicitly, he also won the US dominance on the Uncharted
Territories north of the continent and was one horizon to the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Monroe made public the US
interest in Latin American politics determined according to their interests and make their way in America moving
European influence, particularly that of the English. The motto of this doctrine was "America for the Americans".
Nevertheless, Latin America witnessed several European interventions such as the occupation of the Falkland Islands
by England, in 1833, and the entry of Spanish troops to the Dominican Republic in 1861.

4. American Intervention in Mexico

Consistent with the Monroe Doctrine in 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico, under the pretext that this
country had not accepted the independence of Texas - formed as an independent Republic of Mexico in 1836 and its
annexation to the United States in 1845. Mexico lost the war and more than half of its territory. He also suffered the
humiliation of seeing its capital occupied by foreign forces commanded by Winfield Scott. The leader of the Mexican
forces, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna fled and went into exile. The United States also seized California and New Mexico,
winning for themselves territories rich as the rich gold deposits in California, discovered in 1848.

5. Social Transformations
Independence did not produce immediate changes in Latin American social structure. The ideals of equality were not for
everyone. Democracy and citizenship were restricted. The completion of the caste system in the Republican era allowed
mestizos brown and appear in prominent positions unthinkable in the colonial regime. Independence leaders like Andres
de Santa Cruz Bolivian and Venezuelan Jose Antonio Paez, were mestizos and were presidents of their nations. In
Central America, the founder of the Republic of Guatemala, Jose Rafael Carrera, he was a mestizo peasant. Slavery
persisted, suffering a gradual decline until the 1850s, in most Latin American countries, the abolition of slavery was
declared. However, most of the population continued in a state of inequality and discrimination. The resistance to change
manifested itself in cases like the island of Cuba under Spanish rule until 1898. Here the importation of slaves increased
from the first decades of the nineteenth century while in the free territories of colonial power decreased. Another case
was that of Argentina, where they were not allowed to brown and mestizos enter college until 1850.

6. Economic Changes
Some countries such as Peru, Argentina and Chile had some success with some export: Peru, with Guano, Argentina,
with meat and hides, and Chile copper mine production. The agricultural frontier advanced in most of the new republics,
thanks to internal colonization processes that contributed to the increase of the peasantry and the expansion of the
haciendas. In turn, the general increase in population allowed further development of settlements in formerly abandoned
territory. The end of the Indian tribute and personal obligations and individualization of the lands of indigenous
communities allow greater dynamism of the purchase and sale of land, damaging Aboriginal communities and benefiting
landowners and ranchers. The raw materials export economy did not favor the development of a domestic industry for
the elites preferred to adopt a European lifestyle importing from there everything they needed.

WORKSHOP
1. Make a timeline on border disputes between the new states.
2. How was the relationship of Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile and the United States with the world?
3. What was the interest of Monroe on the United States to Europe?
4. Why the United States declared war on Mexico?
5. What were the social transformations that led to independence in those countries?
6. Make a concept map explaining economic changes.