The Independence of Spanish America - Term Paper Example

Name of writer appears here] [Course name appears here] [Professor’s name appears here] [Date appears here] The Independence of Spanish America The Independence of Spanish America 1820 There are two important events associated to year 1820 in regards to Spanish American Independence .Firstly the dreadful deathblow to Spain's ability to keep her American colonies happened in 1820, when the troops, commanded by General Riego, prepared to go overseas, revolted in Cadiz (Spain) in favor of the Constitution of 1812, so King Ferdinand VII was forced to agree to the demands of the revolutionaries and the constitution of 1812 was restored. Secondly, the Guayaquil, populous city in Ecuador, declared independence from Spain on 9th October in 1820. (Archer, p. 44) American question The major question that may be asked of an American by a Spaniard in particular would be if the American regrets that the war had taken place. The apparent answer is "yes," Americans do realize that Spanish American War resulted in the deaths of thousands from both sides. The objective of United States was to get coaling bases for its nation to emerge as a world power. This was no doubt mark the beginning of America becoming the world power. In short, the war was a terrible action, as were all wars. Losses of soldiers and civilians were a terrible tragedy. The United States was victorious, and that victory played a very important part in making the nation what it is today. Clearly speaking this could not be the justification for attacking Spain, though few in the country realized this at the time. Provincial Deputations According to Rodriguez “The provincial deputation was an administrative body consisting of locally elected members and an executive appointed by national government….With the creation of provincial deputations the Cortes abolished the viceroyalties, transformed the audiences from judicial and quasi administrative bodies into high courts, and divided the Spanish world into provinces that dealt directly with the central government in Spain. Formal regulations for the Spanish provisions were finally promulgated on March 4, 1811. (Rodriguez, pp. 87-88) There was a lot of debate over the provincial deputations among the groups that wanted strong unitary government against those who championed provincial interests. Finally provincial deputations resided and many Americans wanted to have more members in the provincial deputations. The Cortes entrusted the provincial deputation with overall responsibility for its province and around nineteen provincial deputations were established for overseas areas. (Rodriguez, p. 88) José de San Martín José de San Martín, an Argentine general was a prominent leader and liberator of South American Countries: Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spanish rule. He was among the principal revolutionary fighters against royalist forces in South America. San Martin’s remarkable role in the independence of Argentine, Chile and Peru supersede all man in history. He was not only an experienced soldier but his in-depth analysis that independence of each individual state could only be secured by the mutual co-operation of all ,and further his determination to carry out his plan made him a farseeing and sincere statesman whose statesmanship capabilities were unquestionable. José de San Martín is recognized as a national hero in many South American countries; most popularly known as Argentina's liberator and Knight of the Andes. (Schoellkopf, p. 10) Agustín de Iturbide Agustín de Iturbide was an Emperor of Mexico for the period from 1822 to 1823.He started off his military career by fighting along with Spanish troops to crush the Mexican War of Independence but after some time his attitude towards Mexican cause change to sympathy and finally it resulted in the exile of Spanish royalists from the country. He was advised to rename himself as the Emperor but he accepted it with some reluctance as he was a staunch believer in Divine Rights of Kings so he considered himself unworthy without royal blood. On July 21, 1822 he became the Emperor of Mexico. He was a remarkable commander. He was a master of military strategy, a skill which results in his success against Spanish royalists but unfortunately he tried to run the state with same military style that whosoever showed disagreement on his any move had ended in prison. This led to rigorous opposition to his administration and consequently that resulted in the end of his rule. Inspite of his incapability to run the country he was an able military commander and history would surely remember him for this. Regencies In 1804 Manuel Godey suggested the idea of creation of American regencies that should be ruled by the Spanish princes. As 1806 Carlos IV thought of establishing New World Kingdom in New Spain, Rio de la Plata, New Garanda and Peru. (Rodriguez, p. 175) But the Regency Council was unable to function as the government of Spain, for the popular revolt of May-June 1808 resulted in the formation of town and regional juntas in almost every major district but at the end of January 1810, the Junta Central resigned its executive authority to the Regency Council but at the same time called for the selection of representatives to a new Cortes--a potentially revolutionary act of political representation. In 1812 Chilean government signed a treaty known as Treaty of Lircay in which it recognized the Council of Regency and Spanish Constitution of 1812. (Rodriguez, p. 143) Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata is the estuary formed by the combination of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River. Río de la Plata is the final of the four viceroyalties that Spain created during its colonization of Central and South America. Including the territory now comprising Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia, the new viceroyalty controlled an area previously under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru. As published in Encyclopedia Britannica, “The decision to create a fourth viceroyalty was a result both of King Charles III’s desire to decentralize the rule of his Spanish-American empire and of a recognition that the area south of Brazil required greater military defenses in view of Portuguese encroachments along the northern shore of the Río de la Plata.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006) According to Rodriguez “The creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata damaged the economies of Peru and Quito.” (Rodriguez, p. 123) Confederalism A confederalsim is an association of sovereign states, usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution. Confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues, such as defense, foreign affairs, foreign trade, and a common currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all members. According to Broué et al, “Confederal movements percolated through Spanish history for generations. They took real-life form in the extraordinary power of local society over centralized state institutions, exploding in movements like the Federalists of Pi y Margall of the early 1870s and the anarchists schooled in the writings of Bakunin. But Spanish localism and confederalism were not strictly an anarchist phenomenon: they were Spanish to the core and infused the most traditional socialists, even the Basque nationalists, who advanced municipalist notions of political control against the centralized state's authority well into the 1930s.” (Broué and Témime, p. 100) Military South American independence war against Spain was mainly turned out to be a success because of excellent all-out militarization of the war. During the period of 1810 and 1815, the initial attempts at full independence were a total failure this is because of the inexperience and idealism of patriots but all attempts were devoid of any trained army operations. Then come the second military phase, in between 1815 and 1825, and which ends with the victory of the patriots, is characterized by an all-out militarization of the war; Simón Bolívar, for an instance was able to incorporate popular elements into his armies, such as the (plainsmen), who previously were the severe enemies of the patriot’s struggle for independence. Thus, better military strategies resulted in the South American Liberation from Spanish rule. (Archer, p. 142) Provinces In around 1820 an administrative reform reorganized Spain in 52 provinces. Not all of these reforms were popular; the regions which traditionally had enjoyed political autonomy for example the Basque lands, Navarra, Aragon and Catalonia resented the loss of that regional autonomy which had enabled them to keep their identity. Miguel Hidalgo Don Miguel Hidalgo or Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo was a mastermind behind the Mexico's war of independence against Spain. Hidalgo belong to a Mexican of pure Spanish lineage and he the priest of Dolores, now known as Dolores Hidalgo, a small town in the modern-day central Mexican state of Guanajuato. He was deeply interested in reading the French Literature that was banned at that time and had a very rebellious attitude towards the established traditions. He had a considerable command on many local languages and openly revealed his dislike or opposition too many aspects of Catholic rule including that of sexual abstinence for the clergy. In the mining region of central Mexico Miguel; Hidalgo and others started rebel against the Spanish rule. He used to make his conspiracy plan clear in religious language by giving speeches to masses. According to Rodriguez “The popular slogans given by him were “Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe (a Roman Catholic icon and Mexico’s most popular image), and Death to the Spaniards!” .He soon afterwards executed for the rebel against Fernando VII, king of Spain .History remembers him as the liberator of Mexico and he is recognized as the Father of the Nation.” (Rodriguez, pp. 69-71) Royalist Royalists were the supporter of Ferdinand VII of Spain during the South American Wars of Independence. They staunchly believe that monarchy should continue to establish and liberalism should be flourished. Many of the Royalists served the Ferdinand VII faithfully and even lost their lives in fighting against the revolutionaries. King’s main motive was to keep the absolute authority to himself but he alarmed to discover the fact that after the restoration of absolutism a strong ultraroyalist faction of rural upper class and church leaders had emerged who insisted on stringent reorganization of government to suppress liberalism totally and eventually the force of Royalist Volunteers that had supplanted the army in 1823 was eventually expanded to 120,000 men. The king started to feel like prisoner of the Negros and, in so doing, losing French military backing to sustain his government against the liberals. His reluctance to give complete control of affairs to the Negros led to several ultrareactionary military revolts in 1824-1825. Disease There were a lot of problems that occurred simultaneously including the broke of severe diseases, famine, economic problems. As population pressure continued to increase, demand produced acceleration in the rise of food prices. The general level of nutrition declined, and buying power shifted away from manufactures to foodstuffs. The initial prosperity of an expanding economy became increasingly uneven as demand for nonessential products stagnated. The population, both rural and urban, experienced in creasing underemployment and became progressively more susceptible to famine and disease. (Barbara and Stein, pp. 15-26) Guayaquil Santiago de Guayaquil, or simply Guayaquil is known among the most popular cities of Ecuador and it also serves as the main seaport of a nation. Guayaquil is located on the west margin of the Guayas River. The majority of the inhabitants of Guayaquil are Catholic –Christians The city witness some really important events related to the independence of Spanish South America. In 1820, a group of civilians who had the full support of soldiers from the Granaderos de Reserva, a Peruvian battalion quartered in Guayaquil, without any bloodshed overcome the Royalists and also made heavy arrests of Spanish officials. This led to Guayaquil declaration of independence from Spanish rule. After the liberation of Ecuador the city was honored with as the famous conference in Guayaquil was held to plan for the independence of Spanish South America. San Martin wanted to gain strong hold over Peru while Bolivar was struggling over Republic of Columbia and in the middle of both of these liberators laid the city of Guayaquil. Both these liberators met at Guayaquil and the main motive of both these men was the liberation of Spain from America but unfortunately even after the four hour discussion on July 27, 1822 at Guayaquil the meeting ended in vain and resulted in the fled of San Martin and resignation from his post. (Rodriguez, p. 171) Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco de Paula Santander was an able military and political leader in Colombia’s (formerly called New Granada) independence struggle. He won remarkable victories for Simon Bolivar against Spain as an acknowledgement to his services he was finally made the vice president of Gran Colombia after the independence. Unlike his contemporaries he was a successful politician too as during his rule many new changes that were entirely new were made like a move towards free trade, reduced taxes and created incentives for immigrants etc. Soon afterwards, certain ideological differences were started to spring up among Santander and Bolivar as Santander was a firm believer of the age of enlightenment and these differences became quite distinct when Bolivar declared himself dictator .So eventually the rift gotten wider and wider and ended up with the exile of Santander from Gran Colombia. Santander returned back in 1832 after the death of Bolivar and became the President of New Granada from 1832 to 1836. He remained an important political figure because of his reforms and the Colombian Liberal Party, which would be founded some eight years later regard him as its original historical representative. Bolivia Simon Bolivar, who Archer notes was the most important figure in the independence of South America, like him or not, responded to casta aspirations and ended royalist control in the region with their help. (Archer, p. 189) What really happened in this scenario was that a constituent assembly that was organized by Sucre assembled on July 10, 1825 to discuss on the issue of formation of Upper Peru and on August 6, 1825 by a vote of forty-five to two formation of Upper Peru was finalized to be independent of all nations Old World and the New. Bolivar’s name was used by the company to name the state Bolivia and Bolivar was requested to write its constitution. (Rodriguez, pp. 233-234) Chile In 16th century Spain conquered Chile but on 1818 Chile won its independence from Spain. Before it got its independence in around 1811 Chile’s moderate government got split in the family, political and regional differences and finally the government junta ceased its operations. Later on in order to maintain the regional effort new junta government was formed of three men each from Chile’s region. In 1812 Chilean government signed a treaty known as Treaty of Lircay in which it recognized the Council of Regency and Spanish Constitution of 1812. (Rodriguez, p. 143) Llaneros The word Llaneros refers to Venezuelan and “Colombia cowboy” meaning plainsmen. The word Llaneros has been derived from the Llanos grasslands that comprise of western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia. Llaneros origin can be traced back to Indians and Spanish. The Llaneros have rich cultural heritage. Llaneros initially were the supporters of King Ferdinand VII until 1814 but with his return to his throne in Spain, in 1819, an army of Llaneros under the leadership of Llaneros Generals: Simón Bolívar and José Antonio Páez revolted against the throne. This revolt finally resulted in the decisive defeat of Spain. (Archer, p. 96) José Antonio Páez José Antonio Páez was a General in chief of army in the battle against Spain to liberate Venezuela. He started his career only as a common soldier but within very short time he moved up the ladder and started leading the troops in the plains and with true military man spirit he fought with Spanish and captured the city of San Fernando in Apure. The most important thing to mention about him is that all six battles fought under his leadership were successful so his capabilities as an able General are undeniable. In 1830 Páez declared Venezuela independent from Grand Colombia and became the country's first president. He became the president two more times and like his contemporaries proved to be a supreme dictator of his times. (Rodriguez, p. 186) Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre was the great Marshal of Ayacucho of South America. History will continue to know him as one of the successful military leader in the struggle for American Independence from Spain. In 1811, he became the part of struggle against Spain and due to his ability as a military man he was soon made- Bolivar’s Chief of staff. He won an imperative victory at the Battle of Pichincha and under his command Peru was liberated from Spanish rule and thus ending the long struggle for independence in Spanish America. In order to acknowledge his efforts, General Sucre was honored with the honorary title of "The Grand Marshall of Ayacucho". He became the president of the newly formed nation of Bolivia in 1826.His role as a rescuer for Americans would always be honored so the department of Sucre in Colombia, and the city of Sucre in Bolivia were named after him, including the former currency of Ecuador, the Sucre and the province of Venezuela his birth place, Cumaná, now known as the state of Sucre. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1996) Juan O'Donoju Juan O’Donoju was a last viceroy of Mexico. He joined the military, and, during the invasion of Spain by Napoleon in 1808, he was appointed as the minister of war by the provisional government of Cadiz. His services as a minister of war were quite remarkable but with the restoration of Ferdinand VII and the abrogation of the constitution in 1814, O'Donoju was blamed for his loyalty to the Constitutional party, and was imprisoned for conspiring against the king, but, as nothing was further proved against him so he was released and appointed as the advisor to king in 1820. In 1821, he was appointed as the viceroy of Mexico. His inclination towards liberalism was evident. He supported the independence proclamation and signed the Treaty of Córdoba, granting most of the revolutionary demands, and became a member of the board of regents in Mexico but after his death the treaty was renounced by Spain. La Güera Rodríguez Mariana Rodríguez de Toro, also known as La Güera Rodríguez, appears in the Mexican criminal archives. (Rosa, p. 368) Described as a seductress, celebrated for her beauty and wit, she had three husbands. (Arrom, p.233) One of them, José Villamil, was a chronic wife beater. She accused him of attempted murder after he shot at her on 4 July 1802. She subsequently held tertulias at her home at which politics were frequently discussed. In 1811 she and a group of military and ecclesiastic men planned to capture Viceroy Francisco Javier de Venegas in order to obtain the release of the imprisoned revolutionary leader, Miguel Hidalgo. She was apparently more eager than the men to enact this plot, asking “are there no longer any men in America?” She led the plan until they were betrayed by Padre Camargo de la Merced. The leaders were captured and their wealth confiscated. Rodríguez refused to name her accomplices during her interrogation and imprisonment. (Arrom, p. 234) Miguel Ramos Arizpe Miguel Ramos Arizpe was a Mexican statesman. He is Recognized as the "Father of the Mexican Federalism", outstanding priest and politician. History remembers him so vividly because he is the man who laid the foundation of the Mexican federal system and who also occupied important positions in politics in Mexican. Morillo, Pablo Morillo, Pablo, was a Spanish general. He was sent in 1815 to crush the revolution in New Granada; he successfully captured Cartagena, suppresses the uprising in Bogotá, and then marched into present-day Venezuela. His military actions were cruel and he believed in bloodshed as a strategy to win over others. Under the order from Spain he negotiated a peace agreement with Simón Bolívar. He continued to serve the crown in the wars in Spain against the freedom of Latin America. He continued to serve the crown in the wars in Spain against the freedom of Latin America. In American earth he was able to defeat Bolivar and Mariño and obtained the titles of count of Cartagena and Marquess of the Door; initiating a stage of violent repression. (Archer, pp. 180-181) Bibliography Archer, Christon “Wars of Independence in Spanish America” Jaguar Books on Latin America, Number 20, ISBN 0-8420-2469-7. chapter 1, p. 43, chapter 4, p. 96, chapter 5, p. 141, chapter 7, pp. 180-181, chapter 9, p. 189. “March 28, 2000 Arrom, “The Women of Mexico City”, pp.233-234. Barbara and Stanley Stein, “The Colonial Heritage of Latin America” pp. 15-26, 1970. Broué, Pierre and Témime, Emile “The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain” Cambridge University Press, pg. 100, 1972. "COLOMBIA." Britannica Book of the Year, Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 20 Mar. 2006 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9112714 “Iturbide, Agustín” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001–05. www.bartleby.com/65/ "Río de la Plata, Viceroyalty of the.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 20 Mar. 2006 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9063741 Rodriguez, Jaime “The Independence of Spanish America” Cambridge University Press, pp. 87-88, 233-234, p. 123p. 171, 175, 186, May 13 1998. Rodriguez, Jaime “The Bite of the Hidra: The Rebellion on Cura Miguel Hidalgo 1810-1810,” In “Patterns of Content in Mexican History” Jaime, Wilmington Scholarly Resources, pp. 69-71, 1992. Rosa Ana “Las voces olvidadas: Antología de narradores mexicanas nacidas en el siglo” XIX, El Colegio de México, p.368, 1997. Schoellkopf, Anna “Don Jose de San Martin 1778 to 1850: A Study of His Career” Kessinger Publishing, ISBN: 1417966319, p. 10, 1 Jan 2005. Read More