Table Of ContentIndependence and Nation-Building in
Latin America
Independence and Nation-Building in Latin America: Race and Identity in the
Crucible of War reconceptualizes the history of the break-up of colonial
empires in Spanish and Portuguese America. In doing so, the authors critically
examine competing interpretations and bring to light the most recent scholar-
ship on social, cultural, and political aspects of the period.
Did American rebels clearlypushforindependence,or did others trulyadvocate
autonomywithinweakenedmonarchicalsystems?Ratherthanglorifyrebellionsand
“patriots,” the authors begin by emphasizing patterns of popular loyalism in the
midst of a fracturing Spanish state. In contrast, a slave-based economy and a relo-
catedimperialcourtprovidedforrelativestabilityinPortugueseBrazil.Chapterspay
attention to the competing claims of a variety of social and political figures at the
timeacrossthevariegatedregionsofCentralandSouthAmericaandtheCaribbean.
Furthermore, whileelections and theriseofa newpolitical cultureareexploredin
some depth, questions are raised over whether or not a new liberal consensus had
taken hold. Through translated primary sources and cogent analysis, the text pro-
videsanupdatetoconventionalaccountsthatfocusonpolitics,themilitary,andan
older paradigm of Creole-peninsular friction and division. Previously marginalized
actors,fromIndigenouspeoplestofreepeopleofcolor,oftentakecenter-stage.
This concise and accessible text will appeal to scholars, students, and all
those interested in Latin American History and Revolutionary History.
Scott Eastman, Professor of Transnational History at Creighton University,
USA, most recently has written A Missionary Nation: Race, Religion, and
Spain’sAgeofLiberalImperialism,1841–1881(2021)andcontributedarticlesto
European History Quarterly and Historia y Política, among other journals. He
has received major funding from LASA and the Fulbright Commission.
Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, Professor of Latin American History at the University
of Kent, UK, has written The Caudillo of the Andes: Andrés de Santa Cruz
(2011), in addition to several books in Spanish. She has published in European
History Quarterly and The Americas and has been funded by grants and
awards from the Leverhulme Trust, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation,
LASA, and the British Academy.
Seminar Studies
Series Editors: Clive Emsley and Gordon Martel
History is the narrative constructed by historians from traces left by the past.
Historical enquiry is often driven by contemporary issues and, in consequence,
historical narratives are constantly reconsidered, reconstructed and reshaped.
The fact that different historians have different perspectives on issues means
that there is often controversy and no universally agreed version of past events.
Seminar Studies was designed to bridge the gap between current research and
debate, and the broad, popular general surveys that often date rapidly.
The volumes in the series are written by historians who are not only familiar
with the latest research and current debates concerning their topic, but who
have themselves contributed to our understanding of the subject. The books are
intended to provide the reader with a clear introduction to a major topic in
history. They provide both a narrative of events and a critical analysis of con-
temporary interpretations. They include the kinds of tools generally omitted
from specialist monographs: a chronology of events, a glossary of terms and
brief biographies of ‘who’s who’. They also include bibliographical essays in
order to guide students to the literature on various aspects of the subject. Stu-
dents and teachers alike will find that the selection of documents will stimulate
the discussion and offer insight into the raw materials used by historians in
their attempt to understand the past.
Independence and Nation-
Building in Latin America
Race and Identity in the Crucible of War
Scott Eastman and
Natalia Sobrevilla Perea
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ISBN:978-0-367-82072-5(hbk)
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DOI:10.4324/9781003011781
TypesetinSabon
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
To the students who have inspired us to be better teachers and to
reflect deeply on the processes of historical change charted in the
following pages.
Contents
Illustrations x
Chronology xi
Who’s Who xviii
Maps xxv
Acknowledgments xxx
Introduction 1
Structure of the Book 2
1 Colonialism, Enlightenment, and Reform 4
Historiographical Debates 6
Colonial Majorities: Race, Class, and Gender in the Americas 7
The Hispanic Enlightenment 11
Administrative Reforms 14
The Economics of Colonialism 16
The Tumultuous 1780s and 1790s 19
2 Sovereignty and Insurgency in the Revolutionary Atlantic 30
Napoleonic Europe and the Crisis of Iberian Monarchies 32
Loyalty in 1808 36
Insurrection in 1810 38
The First Republic 40
The Hispanic Constitution of Cádiz 42
Civil Wars in Spanish America 47
Andean Loyalism: Popayán, Quito, Peru, and Chile 49
Conclusion 50
viii Contents
3 The 1814 Restoration 54
Popular Royalism in the Venezuelan Llanos 56
The Morillo Expedition 58
From Reconquest to Restoration 61
Restoration in the Centers of Loyalism 63
Independence in the Río de la Plata 68
Conclusion 72
4 Total War 75
A Sojourn in Haiti 75
From War to the Death to Total War 79
Threats of Race War 81
From Angostura to the Republic of Colombia 84
Between Independence and Instability in the Río de la Plata and
Chile 87
Monarchies or Republics? 91
5 Loyalism, Monarchy, and Constitutionalism in America 97
Constitutionalism in New Spain and New Granada 100
Consolidating New American States 104
The Last Frontier of Loyalism: Peru 106
Divergent Legacies of Civil Wars: Racism and Regionalism 111
6 Nations-in-the-Making: The Republican Tradition in Latin
America 118
Centralism and Federalism 120
Conflict and Constitutions 126
Inclusion and Exclusion 132
Conclusion 136
7 Epilogue: Postcolonialism 140
Documents 144
Document 1: Count Aranda’s 1786 Proposal for America 144
Document 2: Dionisio Inca Yupanqui, Speech given at the Cortes,
December 16, 1810 145
Document 3: Simón Bolívar, Reply from a South American to a
Gentleman of this Island, Kingston, Jamaica, September 6,
1815 146
Contents ix
Document 4: 1816 Petition by María de la Peña, an Enslaved
Woman from Buenos Aires Who Requests Payment of Her
Husband’s Salary to Cover the Cost of Her Freedom 148
Document 5: Decree of General José de San Martín Assuming
Supreme Political and Military Command, with the Title of
Protector, August 3, 1821 149
Document6:Pension Request,FranciscaCaballeroyQuiroga 151
Glossary 154
Index 156
