Outline Lecture Five—Revolutions in the Western Hemisphere
Key Questions:
1) How did the models of the American and French revolutions impact Latin America and
the Caribbean?
2) How were the socio-economic contexts different in these regions?
I) From Emancipation to Independence
a) Haitian Revolution 1801
i) Unprecedented event with immense reverberations
(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPyyXQN8cG0&NR=1
ii) Island of Hispaniola
(1) Eastern side: Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)
(2) Western side: French colony of Saint-Dominique (Haiti)
iii) Demographic breakdown of population in Saint-Dominique
iv) Catalysts to revolution
(1) Impact of the American Revolution and the French Revolution
v) Slave Revolts 1791
(1) Challenge to the “Code Noir”
(2) Toussaint Louverture in the 1790s
vi) Haitian Declaration of Independence (1804)
(1) Rhetoric of a “natural” connection with the land
II) The Struggle for “American” Independence
a) The “New and Unique ” Identity of Latin America
i) Simón Bolívar of Venezuela (1783-1830)
(1) “Political hybrids”
(2) No natural “bond” with Spain
(3) Colonial relationship based on paterfamilias
ii) Demographic constitution of Iberian colonies in Latin America
(1) Peninsulares, Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattos, and Slaves
(2) 1776 Spanish Crown’s “Real Pragmatica”
(3) Law granting “pardos”
iii) Socio-economic aspirations of the Creoles
(1) Exploitation of their “native” identity
(2) Conservative pragmatism: “Adopt not the best system of government, but the one
that is most likely to succeed” (119)
b) Catalysts for Secession from Spain
i) Tupac Amaru Revolt 1780-83
(1) Andean chief from the Cuzco region
ii) Napoleon’s usurpation of the Spanish Throne
(1) Abduction of Spanish monarch Charles IV and his successor Ferdinand VII
(2) Ignited the political consciousness of the American colonies
iii) The “Cortes” of Cadiz of 1810
(1) Formation of a new “National Assembly”
(2) Re-installment in 1814 of Ferdinand VII
iv) Emergence of juntas in the Americas
c) New Model of Sovereignty in the Americas
i) What kind of “social contract” was possible for this hybrid, multi-racial society?
ii) Monarchy or Republic?
iii) Bolivar’s vision for a Confederation of American states
(1) Brief experiment with the establishment of “Gran Columbia”