Perhaps one of the largest and most brutal atrocities in human history was the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Spanish and other European countries conquered the Native Americans and exploited them and their land to increase their own wealth. Additionally, Europeans brought African slaves over to the Americas and forced them to perform hard labor on plantations in abysmal conditions. Spain, which colonized nearly all of Central and South America, created a social hierarchy that left nearly all in the Americas oppressed. At the top were the peninsulares, wealthy Spanish aristocrats who controlled the colonial governments. Beneath them were the creoles, wealthy, educated whites, the mestizos and mulattoes, mixed race Latin Americans,
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There were exceptions though, such as a the slave-led Haitian Revolution and the mestizo, mulatto, and native-led Mexican Revolution. A common theme among all the revolutions, however, was heavy inspiration from European Enlightenment writings, as well as works from American and French revolutionaries. Enlightenment ideas from the time period’s writers and thinkers influenced the Latin American revolutions, specifically writings promoting universal equality, self-rule, and human rights.
The concepts of equality and liberty drove revolutionaries to expel their colonial overlords, abolish slavery, and create an equal and just society. The idea of equality appealed to primarily lower class Latin Americans such as mestizos, mulattoes and natives, but especially inspired black slaves. These groups believed a revolution would move them up in society to the level of creoles while slaves saw revolutions as a way to gain freedom. Haiti’s declaration of independence in 1904, written by former slaves, stated that they would rather die than let the French force them back into slavery and that they must create a government that protects the Haitians’ freedom. As former slaves, a possible French attempt to retake …show more content…
Although these rights included equality and self-rule, there were many other abuses committed by the Spanish that angered those in Latin America. Among these included Spanish violations of freedom of speech, freedom of publications, and freedom of protest and petition. Years of oppression, discrimination, and ignorance by the Spanish government pushed Latin Americans to revolt. In Simón Bolívar’s letter to a British governor, he held that the Spanish government had both literally and metaphorically enslaved Latin America by infringing on its people’s rights (Doc. 9). Furthermore, Mexican revolutionary leader Father Miguel Hidalgo inspired Mexicans to defend their rights by rebelling against the Spanish in a 1810 speech. Hidalgo, although himself a creole, believed in the rights of the non-creoles in Mexico. Because of this, he used the defense of natural rights, freedom, and equality to inspire his disadvantaged countrymen instead of economic arguments that interested creoles like himself (Doc. 8). Clearly, Latin American revolutionary leaders successfully used the need to reclaim their rights as a rallying call for their people. They received these ideas from Enlightenment publications, such as John Locke’s writings on natural and inalienable rights, and Enlightenment-influenced documents like those from the French and American Revolutions. The Declaration of
There were exceptions though, such as a the slave-led Haitian Revolution and the mestizo, mulatto, and native-led Mexican Revolution. A common theme among all the revolutions, however, was heavy inspiration from European Enlightenment writings, as well as works from American and French revolutionaries. Enlightenment ideas from the time period’s writers and thinkers influenced the Latin American revolutions, specifically writings promoting universal equality, self-rule, and human rights.
The concepts of equality and liberty drove revolutionaries to expel their colonial overlords, abolish slavery, and create an equal and just society. The idea of equality appealed to primarily lower class Latin Americans such as mestizos, mulattoes and natives, but especially inspired black slaves. These groups believed a revolution would move them up in society to the level of creoles while slaves saw revolutions as a way to gain freedom. Haiti’s declaration of independence in 1904, written by former slaves, stated that they would rather die than let the French force them back into slavery and that they must create a government that protects the Haitians’ freedom. As former slaves, a possible French attempt to retake …show more content…
Although these rights included equality and self-rule, there were many other abuses committed by the Spanish that angered those in Latin America. Among these included Spanish violations of freedom of speech, freedom of publications, and freedom of protest and petition. Years of oppression, discrimination, and ignorance by the Spanish government pushed Latin Americans to revolt. In Simón Bolívar’s letter to a British governor, he held that the Spanish government had both literally and metaphorically enslaved Latin America by infringing on its people’s rights (Doc. 9). Furthermore, Mexican revolutionary leader Father Miguel Hidalgo inspired Mexicans to defend their rights by rebelling against the Spanish in a 1810 speech. Hidalgo, although himself a creole, believed in the rights of the non-creoles in Mexico. Because of this, he used the defense of natural rights, freedom, and equality to inspire his disadvantaged countrymen instead of economic arguments that interested creoles like himself (Doc. 8). Clearly, Latin American revolutionary leaders successfully used the need to reclaim their rights as a rallying call for their people. They received these ideas from Enlightenment publications, such as John Locke’s writings on natural and inalienable rights, and Enlightenment-influenced documents like those from the French and American Revolutions. The Declaration of