How Did The Enlightenment Affect Latin America

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The Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires in Latin American were integrated into the traditional monarchial structure of Europe for many centuries (pg. 577). That original structure was challenged by the ideas of Enlightenment and the sudden change of the Napoleonic Era (pg. 577). Latin America, then encountered the possibility for change, where the response varied in each region (pg. 577). By the end of the 18th century, the new political ideals that came from the successful revolution in North America, and the concepts from the Enlightenment were starting to influence the inhabitants or creole elites (descendants of Europeans that live premaritally in Latin America) in Latin America (pg. 577). The concept of equality for all, free trade, and a free press was very appealing (pg. 577). Unfortunately, representative government and democracy didn’t come quick to the people of Latin America (pg. 577-578). For …show more content…
They people wanted their independence, and even overthrew the government to get it (pg. 577). These wars caused Latin America to lose population, property, and livestock (pg. 581). With Spanish rule being overthrown, Spain and Portugal no longer controlled trade, Britain did (pg. 581). All of these events prevented Latin America to change into a more representative government. The two main empires in Latin America: the Spanish and the Portuguese, were fused into the traditional structure in Europe (pg. 577). The original system was put into questioning when new ideas started coming from the Enlightenment and the successful revolution in America (pg. 577). By the end of the 18th century all of these new ideas were beginning to influence the people of Latin America. Even though the new concepts like equality, free press, and free trade were very tempting to the inhabitants of Latin America, change was not something that was achieved quickly (pg.

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