toussaint l’overture and el libertador. one of the key moments in the spread of the atlantic...
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BACKGROUND TO A REBELLION One of the key moments in the spread of
the Atlantic revolutions to Latin America and the Caribbean was the Haitian Rebellion (1791-1804)
It was the only large-scale slave revolt to succeed in the “New World”
The Haitian Rebellion was inspired in large part by the American Revolution and caused directly by events related to the French Revolution
HAITI The island of Haiti, known then as Santo
Domingo, had been colonized by the Spanish and the French
Each ruled half of the island, whose economy was based mainly on sugar production
The French half was populated by a mix of French colonists, Creoles (those of French descent, but born in the colonies), free blacks (known as gens de coleur), and over half a million black slaves
When the French Revolution began in 1789, it threw French Haiti into chaos, mainly because the white colonists and freed blacks, all of whom competed over Haiti’s sugar economy, quarreled
In 1791, the slaves of Haiti seized the opportunity to rebel
TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE By 1793, the leader of the Haitian
Rebellion was François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture, often referred to as the “Black Washington”
Although a slave, L’Ouverture was literate and well-read
He was also a talented military commander who won victory after victory
By 1798, he had not only freed all the slaves in French Haiti, but he had crossed into Spanish-controlled Santo Domingo and liberated the blacks there as well
At this point, L’Ouverture hoped to make Haiti a country for free blacks
It would be friendly to France, but also independent
Unfortunately for L’Ouverture, the French government had no intention of allowing Haiti to go free
Over the next four years, the French debated the Haitian question
Then, in 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte, who had, in 1799, become leader of France, decided to send troops to Haiti to retake it
Ironically, while a young officer in France’s revolutionary army, Napoleon had been admirer of L’Ouverture, but now the two men were political enemies
The French managed to capture L’Ouverture, who was put in chains and sent back to France, where he died in prison
However, the French failed to conquer Haiti
Unused to fighting in tropical conditions, the French could not quell the Haitian rebels
Moreover, yellow fever killed over 40,000 French troops
Finally, in 1804, Napoleon decided to give up the effort to reconquer Haiti
The French went home in disgrace, and the independent nation of Haiti was born
EFFECTS OF THE REBELLION The Haitian Rebellion had the effect of
helping to inspire rebellion elsewhere in Latin America
It also had one other far-reaching geopolitical impact
Because of his frustration with fighting in Haiti, Napoleon chose to abandon the effort to maintain major French colonies in the New World
Until the failed French effort in Haiti, France had been the master of a vast part of central North America: the large territory known as Louisiana, stretching from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi Delta
In 1803, Napoleon, seeking to rid himself of this territory, sold it at a bargain price to the United States
President Thomas Jefferson accepted the offer eagerly
Unlike Napoleon, he recognized that the Louisiana Purchase would give the United States control of the North American continent, and with it the opportunity to become a truly powerful nation
By helping convince Napoleon to sell Louisiana, the Haitian Rebellion played a part in bringing about a major shift in global power
Also, by eliminating France as a major slaveholding power, Haitian independence cut the ground from under a prime argument in parliament against abolition - that if Britain abolished the slave trade, its rival, France, would take it over
In 1793, at war with France, Britain tried to capture the island
The attempt ended in a costly and humiliating failure
By forcing British troops to withdraw in 1798, L'Ouverture showed British officers what determined military opponents enslaved people fighting for their freedom could be
Of the more than 20,000 British soldiers sent to the island during five years of fighting, over 60 percent died during the conflict
Some of the surviving officers returned home as abolitionists
Haitian independence, in 1804, also showed enslaved people throughout the Caribbean that they could fight for freedom and win
But the idea of independence seemed less attractive when the first revolution in Latin American turned slaves against their masters
This warned the creoles in the rest of Latin America that a political revolution might produce dire unforeseen consequences, making it a struggle of the poor versus the rich
THE CAUSES OF NATIONALIST UPRISINGS IN LATIN AMERICA Not long after the Haitian Rebellion,
revolution spread to virtually all of Latin America
From 1810 to 1825, Mexico, Central America, and South America gained their independence from Spain and Portugal
As with the American Revolution, reasons for the Latin American uprisings included a growing sense of national identity and local resentment of Spanish and Portuguese economic policies
Also important was frustration that the European-descended, or criollo (“creole”), upper and middle classes felt toward the rigid social hierarchy of Latin American societies, which prevented them from realizing their goal of upward social and economic mobility
Even before the revolutions began, tensions were brewing
THEN CAME NAPOLEON The spark that set off the Latin
American revolutions was lit back in Europe, by Napoleon
As part of his campaign of European conquest, Napoleon invaded Portugal and Spain in 1807 and 1809
He toppled the royal governments there and put his own representatives, including his brother, in charge
The Spanish king was place under house arrest, while the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil
These sudden blows to the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies had a swift and profound impact on Latin American politics
Brazil’s transition to independence was relatively smooth
Spain’s Latin American possessions, however, rose up in rebellion
SIMÓN BOLÍVAR The most influential revolutionary was
Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), known throughout Latin America as the “Liberator”
A member of the Creole upper class in Venezuela, Bolívar was inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, frustrated by the inefficiency and injustice of Spanish rule, and personally ambitious
In 1810, Bolívar took control of the independence movement that was sweeping across the northern provinces of South America: his own Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador
Unlike many members of the creole elite, who rebelled against Spain for the sake of their narrow class interests, Bolívar realized that no revolt could succeed unless it attracted all classes
In a bold stroke, he promised to fight for the rights of mixed-race Latin Americans, as well as for the emancipation of slaves
This pledge turned a small and largely unsuccessful upper- and middle-class rebellion into a mass war of independence
The military turning point of Bolívar’s wars came from 1819 to 1821, when he managed to gain control over Venezuela and Colombia
At this juncture, Bolívar joined forces with another nationalist, José de San Martín, a general turned revolutionary
San Martín had begun his uprising in 1816
By 1820, he had freed Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay
He then turned to the north, to Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, at the same time that Bolívar was turning south, into the same areas
Despite certain political differences – San Martín was more conservative than Bolívar – the two men decided to cooperate
Bolívar was made the overall leader of the movement
By 1824 to 1825, Bolívar had cleared all Spanish and loyalist forces out of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru
Spanish South America was free In the meantime, Brazil had also become
independent In this case, the decision to free Brazil came
from above, rather than below In 1820, the King of Portugal went back to
Europe to reclaim his throne He left his son, Prince Pedro, as regent
However, the king also gave his son the following advice: “My son, if Brazil starts to demand independence, make sure you are the one to proclaim it. Then make sure to put the crown on your own head”
Indeed, in 1822, when Brazilians began to agitate for their freedom, Pedro declared independence, created a constitutional monarchy, and proclaimed himself Pedro I
THE MEXICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE Mexico and Central America waged
wars of independence from 1810 to 1823
Mexico’s revolution was complicated by the inability of various social classes to cooperate
The Mexican War of Independence was begun in September 1810 by the priest, Miguel Hidalgo, who, unfurling the flag of the Virgin of Guadalupe, called for revolution against Spain
Hidalgo was killed in 1811, but his fight was carried on by another priest, José María Morelos
But Hidalgo and Morelos fought not just for independence from Spain, but also social justice
They wanted equal rights for Indians, mestizos, and slaves (whom they planned to set free)
They wanted constitutional rule Hidalgo’s and Morelos’s platform gained
mass support from the lower classes Unfortunately, Hidalgo’s and Morelos’s
goals were opposed not just by the Spanish, but also many upper-class, even those who wanted independence
Like Hidalgo, Morelos was killed, by 1815, by conservative Mexicans, not the Spanish
This meant that Mexico’s revolt had to be carried out by the elite, not the lower classes
A conservative colonel, Agustín de Iturbide, overthrew Spanish rule in 1820 to 1821
He then tried to establish a dictatorship, with himself as emperor
Iturbide was quickly overthrown, and a Mexican republic was proclaimed in 1823
That same year, the nations of Central America, south of Mexico, established the United Provinces of Central America
Only in the Caribbean did Spain retain any of its American colonies
Until its defeat by the United States in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain kept islands such as Cuba and Puerto Rico
AFTER INDEPENDENCE Shortly before his death in 1830,
Simón Bolívar commented pessimistically about the revolutions he had helped to make: “We have achieved our independence…at the expense of everything else”
In and of itself, freedom did not bring about good government, social justice, or healthy economies
Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Latin America suffered from a number of long-standing and fundamental problems
First and most immediate was political breakdown
Bolívar had hoped that Latin America would be divided into a small number of sizable states, governed by constitutional rule
Almost right away, Bolívar’s large confederations – such as Gran Colombia and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata – split apart into many smaller states
Second was the failure of constitutional rule in many of the new states
Thus, the third problem was the prevalence of dictatorial rule throughout Latin America
In addition, the United States often interfered in the affairs of Latin America
THE MONROE DOCTRINE The Monroe Doctrine was
declared in a few paragraphs of President James Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823
Monroe warned European countries not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere, stating "that the American continents. . .are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers"
The Monroe Doctrine became a cornerstone of future U.S. foreign policy
THE FOUR POINTS OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE The United States would not interfere in
the internal affairs of or the wars between European powers
The United States recognized and would not interfere with existing colonies and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere was closed to future colonization
Any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States
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