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Latin America

other than Europe, North America, Japan: very modest experiments in modern industry

did not drive major social transformations

After independence

Struggle

longer, more destructive than North America

rough conditions once Latin America became independent

decimated populations

diminished herds of livestock

flooded or closed silver mines

abandoned farms

shrinking international trade and investment capital

empty national treasuries

four major administrative units of Spanish America (viceroyalties) dissolved into 18 separate countries

regional revolts wracked Brazil in early decades of independent life

number of international wars in post-independence century

Peru and Bolivia briefly united, broke apart (1836-1839)

Mexico lost huge territories to United States (1846-1848)

alliance of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay went to war with Paraguay (1864-1870), devastating Paraguay’s population

Political

turbulent, unstable

conservatives

favored centralized authority

sought to maintain social status quo of colonial era

allied with Catholic Church (owned about half of all productive land at independence)

liberals

attacked Church in name of Enlightenment values

sought at least modest social reforms

preferred federalism

caudillos: military strongment

able to achieve power as defenders of order, property

succeeded one another frequently

constitutions replaced one another rapidly

Social

did not change fundamentally

women still did not have voting rights, were fully outside of formal political life

slavery abolished in most areas (except Brazil and Cuba; not until late 1880s)

most legal distinctions between racial groups disappeared; all free people were officially equal citizens

productive economic resources overwhelmingly controlled by creole white men, culturally oriented towards Europe

businesses

ranches

plantations

military allowed for mobility for some skilled mestizo men; some later became caudillos

some mixed-race men, women found place in small middle-class

teachers

shopkeepers

artisans

vast majority: Blacks, natives, mixed-race remained impoverished

worked small subsistence farms

labored in mines or haciendas (plantations)

poor/dispossessed only rarely rebelled

Caste War of Yucatán (1847-1901)

prolonged struggle of Maya people of Mexico

cleanse their land of European and mestizo intruders

Facing world economy

second half of 19th: measure of political consolidation in Latin America

Mexico, Peru, Argentina entered periods of greater stability

Latin America became more closely integrated with world economy

new technology

steamship: nearly halved sailing time between Britain and Argentina

underwater telegraph: news from Europe could be instantly brought to Latin America

Growth of exports

industrializing countries now needed food exports, raw materials, markets of Latin America

landowners, businessmen, governments eager to supply needs

Latin American export boom increased value of goods sold abroad by 10x

exported supplies from Latin America

silver (Mexico): Mexico more than half of world’s supply

copper (Chile): used for growing electrical industry

nitrates (Chile): fertilizer

guano (Peru): bird droppings; fertilizer

wild rubber (Amazon rainforest): bicycle, automobile tires

sisal (Mexico): binder twine for mechanical harvesters

bananas (Central America)

beef (Argentina)

cacao (Ecuador)

coffee (Brazil, Guatamala)

sugar (Cuba)

imported from Europe, United States

textiles

machinery

tools

weapons

luxury goods

European investment

large-scale investment of European capital in Latin America

$10 billion between 1870 and 1919

mostly from Great Britain

invested more in Argentina than its own colony in India

also France, Germany, Italy, United States

1910: U.S. business interests controlled 40% of Mexican property, produced half of its oil

capital mostly used for railroads

funnel Latin American exports to coast to ship overseas

Mexico:

1876: 390 miles of railroad

1910: 15,000 miles of railroad

1915: Argentina had more track per person than United States (22,000 miles of railroad)

Becoming like Europe?

economies growing; more production

population increased from 33 million (1850) to 77 million (1912) as public health measures improved

safe drinking water

inoculation (immunity by exposure)

sewers

campaigns to eliminate mosquitoes that carried yellow fever

Urbanization

“Latin American cities lost their colonial cobblestones, white-plastered walls, and red-tiled roofs. They became modern metropolises, comparable to urban giants anywhere. Streetcars swayed, telephones jangled, and silent movies flickered from Montevideo and Santiago to Mexico City and Havana” - scholar

Buenos Aires: Argentina’s metropolitan center

750,000 people in 1900

billed itself as “Paris of South America”

educated elite acted like Europeans

drank tea in afternoon

discussed European literature, philosophy, fashion

often spoke French

Attracting Europeans

civilization, progress, modernity were apparently derived from Europe

many Latin American countries actively sought to increase “white” populations

deliberately recruited impoverished Europeans

promised new, prosperous life in New World (often unfulfilled)

Argentina had largest wave of European immigrants (2.5 million between 1870 and 1915); mostly from Spain and Italy

Brazil, Uruguay also attracted substantial numbers of European newcomers

Classes

Upper, middle classes benefited

upper-class landowners: exports flourished, property values soared

middle-class urban dwellers grew in numbers and prosperity; skills valuable in modernizing society

merchants

office workers

lawyeres

other professionals

small elites

Mexico in mid-1890s: landowning upper class only 1%; middle classes 8% rest lower class

Lower classes

new segment among urban workers in railroads, ports, mines, few factories

initially organized selves in mutual aid societies

eventually creating unions, engaging in strikes

provocative and threatening to authoritarian governments trying to get stability and progress

acted harshly to crush/repress unions and strikes

vast majority lived in rural areas; suffered most, benefited least

many pushed off land or into remote and poor areas

government attacks on communal landholding

peasant indebtedness

many became dependent laborers or peons on haciendas

women, children required to join men as field laborers in order to make enough money

Mexican Revolution

local protests and violence were frequent but only became nationwide revolution in Mexico

Events

early 20th: middle-class reformers joined workers and peasants to overthrow dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz

decade of bloody conflict (1910-20) that cost Mexico 1 million lives (10% of population)

huge peasant armies under Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata

wanted to seize land and redistribute to peasants

attacked many of Mexico’s haciendas

unable to seize state power

hampered by factionalism

focused on local and regional issues

Impact

new constitution (1917)

universal male suffrage

redistributed land

stripped Catholic Church of role in public education, forbidden to own land

unheard-of rights for workers (e.g. minimum wage, eight-hour workday)

restrictions on foreign ownership of property

needed to decide implications of nationalist, reformist changes

direct influence largely limited to Mexico and few places in Central America and Andes

No Industrial Revolution

reasons

social structure mostly impoverished lower class → small market for manufactured goods

economically powerful groups (e.g. landowners, cattlemen) benefited greatly from exporting agricultural products; little incentive to invest in manufacturing

domestic manufacturing could only have competed with cheaper, higher-quality foreign goods

Latin American political leaders embraced European doctrine of prosperity through free trade; many governments depended on taxing imports

Dependent development

largely financed by capital from abroad

dependent on European and North American prosperity and decisions

Brazil: rubber industry suddenly collapsed (1910-1911) when wild rubber seeds illegally exported to Britain; competing, cheaper plantations made in Malaysia

later seen as new form of colonialism (power by foreign investors)

U.S.-owned United Fruit Company in Central America

allied with large landowners, compliant politicians

pressured governments of “banana republics” to maintain conditions favorable to United States (indirect imperialism)