Throughout Spanish Latin America, the transition from a colony to a nation-state (1820s-1850s) was very extensive, complex, and at various times a brutal process. The former Spanish America split into more than a dozen separate countries, following the administrative divisions of the colonial system. The difficulty for the inhabitants of these administrative units was not, however, as simple as the division of geographic boundaries. Rather, the recently emancipated countries of Latin America faced the much more daunting challenge of creating and consolidating new nations. With the structures of the old system removed, the inhabitants of each country set out on programs to create a postcolonial political, economic, and social order. This paper
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Lawmakers banned the slave trade, or even ended slavery itself. According to Marixa Lasso, the wars of independence were critical in the construction of racial identity and that the importance of anticolonial hardship in the shaping of race relations in Latin America (Lasso 337). Lasso discussed the root of the differences seen between two recently independent colonial rule counties and their contrasting histories of peaceful relations. The United States “had shown that a modern republic could coexist with slavery and racial inequality” (Lasso 339). Whereas, the area of modern Columbia strove, upon its independence, to establish itself as a nation based on equality. “Spanish American tradition…linked patriot nationalism with racial equality” (Lasso …show more content…
She attempted to re-examine caudillismo from the perspective of the ‘people’ known as gauchos. Gauchos were South American cattlemen, much like the cowboys of North America. They live in the hills and mountains of South America. They have become romantic figures just as our cowboys. The classic gauchos were mostly mestizos which are people of mixed European and Indian culture (Vergara Lecture, 11/16). Fuentes argued “that the historical process in nineteenth-century Argentina should be understood along these lines [peasant studies and the participation of peasants in historical processes], and that the gaucho’s political engagement fundamentally shaped political conflict and identities during the state – and nation-formation processes. That is, I regard gauchos as subjects aware of politics, and bring their experiences, culture, and behavior back into the study of political history” (Vergara Lecture 11/16). The gauchos were able to give insight on how caudillos ruled in various Latin American societies. The gauchos had a very close relationship with the caudillos. Relationships between caudillos and their followers were largely constructed and reproduced in everyday life. The caudillo attempted to relate to the gauchos at a personal level. For example, during festivals and special
Lawmakers banned the slave trade, or even ended slavery itself. According to Marixa Lasso, the wars of independence were critical in the construction of racial identity and that the importance of anticolonial hardship in the shaping of race relations in Latin America (Lasso 337). Lasso discussed the root of the differences seen between two recently independent colonial rule counties and their contrasting histories of peaceful relations. The United States “had shown that a modern republic could coexist with slavery and racial inequality” (Lasso 339). Whereas, the area of modern Columbia strove, upon its independence, to establish itself as a nation based on equality. “Spanish American tradition…linked patriot nationalism with racial equality” (Lasso …show more content…
She attempted to re-examine caudillismo from the perspective of the ‘people’ known as gauchos. Gauchos were South American cattlemen, much like the cowboys of North America. They live in the hills and mountains of South America. They have become romantic figures just as our cowboys. The classic gauchos were mostly mestizos which are people of mixed European and Indian culture (Vergara Lecture, 11/16). Fuentes argued “that the historical process in nineteenth-century Argentina should be understood along these lines [peasant studies and the participation of peasants in historical processes], and that the gaucho’s political engagement fundamentally shaped political conflict and identities during the state – and nation-formation processes. That is, I regard gauchos as subjects aware of politics, and bring their experiences, culture, and behavior back into the study of political history” (Vergara Lecture 11/16). The gauchos were able to give insight on how caudillos ruled in various Latin American societies. The gauchos had a very close relationship with the caudillos. Relationships between caudillos and their followers were largely constructed and reproduced in everyday life. The caudillo attempted to relate to the gauchos at a personal level. For example, during festivals and special