Taylor Karr

April 28, 2016

Paper 3, Question 2
Dr. Cromwell

A Borrowed Revolution

The age of revolution in Latin America was an important in the

history and development of Central and South America. During this

time, Spain and Portugal were ejected out, leaving the people

remaining to govern for themselves. The leaders of the revolution

were highly influenced by the Enlightenment period taking place on

the European continent. Many of the elites/leaders were educated

under the Enlightenment, causing them to use the ideas from

European countries to help fuel their own ideas for revolutions in

colonial Latin America. The concepts and ideas used to achieve the

revolutions in Latin America were borrowed from Europe, but few were

also unique to Latin Americans.

To understand the ideas and concepts used to revolutionize

South America, the reader must first understand the system the people

were attempting to overthrow. The Latin American colonies outside of

Brazil were controlled by Spain. Spain and its monarchal system ruled

from afar, only sending viceroys to control large swaths of territory

throughout the region. The population in Latin America was not

allowed certain rights that people born in the peninsula of Spain had.

The creoles were discriminated against just because of their birth

being in Latin America.

 Smon Bolvar was an elite leader at the forefront of the

revolutions taking place in Latin America. Bolivar traveled to Europe to

become educated before returning to Venezuela by way of the United

States (Chambers and Chasteen 136). During his time in Europe, he

would read revolutionary documents written by European philosophers.

Throughout his Angostura Address, Smon Bolvar makes many calls to

a republic government in his message. Venezuela has been, is and

should continue to be a republic, a government based on the

sovereignty of the people, one that abolishes slavery, preserves civil

liberties, maintains the separation of powers, and forever banishes

monarchy and special privileges (Chambers and Chasteen, 142). This

is a direct idea from the revolutions occurring in Europe. Bolvars

journey to Europe lead him to bring this idea of a republic back home,

and he wanted this in his home country. Without European influence,

the republic Bolvar achieved might have never happened. Before the

infusion of this European idea, the governmental structure was either

the ruling of Spain through the absolute monarchy or the pre-colonial

civilizations of Latin America. Bolvar also took more than the republic

governmental structure from European society, as his travels led him

back to North America before returning home to Venezuela.

Smon Bolvar throughout his address discusses in detail the

three branches of government the republic would entail. He explicitly

calls for an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial

branch of government. Derived from the United States founding

fathers, the three branch government system was in place before the

Latin American revolutions began. It is noted in the text that Bolvar

made his way back from Europe by way of the United States. He not

only studied the revolutions occurring in Europe, but also the events

happening in North America. He wanted the three branches of

government in his republican system, but in a different way than North

America had it. Bolvar states that the people of Latin America have

been blinded by despotism, and would not necessarily be ready for a

free republican government (Chambers and Chasteen 143). Bolvar

states, nothing is more dangerous in a republic than a weak

executive (Chambers and Chasteen, 143). He knows that the

Venezuelan people are not fully educated and prepared to govern

themselves on their own, so the idea of a strong executive branch will

still keep power in the elites/educated hands.

Finally, in Bolvars address, he states that he wants the senators

selected for the Legislative Branch of Venezuela to come from the

same family lines (Chambers and Chasteen 142). Bolvar did not think

of this idea on his own, however, as hereditary senators came directly

from the French Directory which was in power from 1795-1799. This

idea influenced Bolvar directly, and he states, A hereditary senate

would be the cornerstone of the Legislative Branch of our government,

which means, the cornerstone of the Republic itself (Chambers and

Chasteen 143). Whether it was for personal control or because he

actually believed it would work, the idea of senate positions staying in

the same family was crucial to the success of the Republic, according

to Bolvar.

A concept that was unique to the Latin American revolutions was

the relationship between the royalists, republicans, and the indigenous

people. In the European revolutions (Outside of the Haitian

Revolution), the race demographic was not what it was in South

America. Compared to France, where it was all white people fighting

against one another, Latin America had many different races choosing

sides on who to fight for. Not only did you have the Royalists and

Republicans, they also have the indigenous who are thrown into the

revolution quickly. It is noted in the Drummer Boys journal that the

Andean people did not automatically side with the patriots, and in

some cases siding with the royalists was more beneficial (Chambers

and Chasteen 150). More than that, however, most indigenous people

did not want to be in the bloody conflict at all (Chambers and

Chasteen, 150). This shows that the group of indigenous who were still

left just wanted to live their own lives away from what either side had

to offer. This relationship was non-existent in Europe, because there

were no Indians to conquer there. After the conclusion of the

revolutions, Indians were included in society instead of being excluded

(Chambers and Chasteen 182). Independence hero Vicente Guerrero

was African, Spanish, and indigenous decent (Chambers and Chasteen

183). This diversity was not found in European revolutions, frankly

because they could not exist. This caused leaders in Latin America to

hold mixed raced people to a different standard than those of white

descent. For example, an indigenous leader is requesting

compensation for his community because they fought for the

revolutionists; instead they are getting taxed more than normal

(Chambers and Chasteen 194). Even after the revolution, slaves are

still had to requests for confirmation of their liberty, when one of the

revolutions goals was to abolish it (Chambers and Chasteen 195). The

leaders were fighting for independence and freedom in Latin America,

but still believed not everyone (including indigenous) were ready for

full independence.

Another unique concept only found in Latin America was the

relationship between the local governments and the pre-colonial

governments that were in place before the conquest by Spain. In the

late 1790s, Miranda wrote a constitution that had pre-colonial concepts

in place. For example, there would be an Inca ruler in place that was

hereditary (Chambers and Chasteen 57). Also, it included the pre-

colonial local structures called the Caciques (Chambers and Chasteen

57). This 1790 document written by Miranda was not a full indigenous

idea, as it clearly states that the government would be hybrid form,

which British influence. It was unique in that it incorporated the

indigenous beliefs from before the conquest of Spain. The Latin

American revolution had many European influences, but the

implementation of old governing structures was unique to the

continent.

The motivations and experiences of non-elite Latin Americans

who had not been exposed to European ideas involved local

government and being a soldier in the revolution. As described in the

previous paragraph, the non-elite indigenous people were allowed to

keep their local governments because it was evident the Caciques still

existed. Most non-elites were not focused on European enlightenment

and the three branches of government like Bolvar was. The non-elite,

such as Vargas, was fighting for his life instead. His decision-making

revolved around setting grass on fire to stop Royalists troops instead of

making constitutions (Chambers and Chasteen 149). The Pardo who

wanted racial equality was fighting for the simple use of a caf instead

of drawing up new ways to make the republic stronger (Chambers and

Chasteen 196). Many of these non-elites were either motivated by

equality issues or normal every day issues such as surviving for

Vargas.

The Latin American Revolution was an important time in history,

and it changed the landscape of the continent. While there were ideas

and concepts that were unique to the revolutions, the European

influence impacted the Latin American revolution the most. If it was

not for the education of European ideals into Smon Bolvar, who knows

how the revolution would have went? The revolution was borrowed

from Europe, and executed in South America.