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Chapter 14 Section 5
• Spain and Portugal regarded their Latin American
colonies with a mercantilist view- the idea that
colonies existed chiefly to increase the home
countries’ wealth
• Farming provided another major source of colonial
income
– Monarchs granted huge tracts of fertile land to explorers
& nobles
– Land owners forced Native Americans to work farms.
When they died (labor&disease) African Americans
were enslaved
 Catholicism was brought to the Americas
 Native Americans were converted to Catholicism
 Taught them loyalty to the Crown
 Colonial governments and clergy worked closely
together

Catholic Church controlled almost half the wealth of Latin
America
 Colonists were unhappy with colonial rule; resented
trade restrictions, high taxes, & rigid colonial social
structure
 Social classes were based on privilege
 Peninsulares: born in Spain/Portugal, top of the social
order, leaders, military & political positions
 Creoles: colonial-born, white, aristocrats, controlled
most of the land & businesses, “second-class”
 Mestizos: Latin Americans of mixed Native American &
European ancestry, faced social & racial barriers

worked as servants, unskilled laborers, carpenters, plantation
overseers, & farmhands
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Latin America began to challenge the rigid social order and its
controls with revolts throughout Latin American. Creoles played
largest leadership roles.
Creoles were wealthy & well-educated and were well versed in the
liberal political philosophies of the Enlightenment, but their
colonial birth prevented them from holding the highest
government positions.
Creoles were eager to take control of Latin American affairs.
 First successful uprising in the Latin American
colonies took place in the French colony of Haiti
 France depended on Haitian plantations for sugar &
coffee
 Enslaved Africans led by Francois ToussaintLouverture (formerly enslaved man) revolted
 Set fire to plantation homes & fields of sugarcane
 Napoleon sent forces to take control of the colony
 A wave of yellow fever swept across the colony killing
thousands of French soldiers
 Rebel army defeated the French
 Haiti proclaimed its independence in 1804
 As a result many Haitians also fled to the US
 Haitain woman picture
 Miguel Hidalgo (Catholic priest) led the fight in
Mexico against the Spanish government
 He cared about the poverty stricken Native Americans
and mestizos
 Wanted political freedom
 Wanted to end slavery
 Wanted to improve living conditions for Mexico’s poor
 Hidalgo made an address, “el Grito de Dolores” or “the
cry of Dolores”
 Called Mexicans to fight for “Independence & Liberty”
 He led a freedom march which turned into an armed
movement which was crushed by the Spanish Army
 Hidalgo was captured & executed
• Another priest, Jose Maria Morelos, led a revolution
after Hidalgo. His forces were defeated and he was
executed.
• A liberal revolt in Spain threatened to overthrow the
monarchy and establish a constitution. Wealthy
Mexican creoles feared the change so they declared
independence from Spain in 1821.
• The Mexican ruler, Agustin de Iturbide made himself
emperor, but opposition to his oppressive rule
developed. The Mexican people soon deposed Iturbide
and declared their country a republic in 1823.
 Central American provinces in New Spain declared
their independence. In Guatemala, representatives
established the United Provinces of Central American.
In the 1830s, leaders divided the region into the
countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, and Nicaragua.
• When Napoleon took control of the Spanish government,
the Spanish colonies of South American gained an
opportunity for independence. The Spanish were weak &
vulnerable from Spain’s fight against France. Revolts broke
out led by Simon Bolivar (Creole from Venezuela), Jose de
San Martin, and Bernardo O’Higgins.
• Bolivar devoted his life to freedom for Latin Americans
– He crushed Spain’s power in northern South American at the
Battle of Boyaca
– He & his forces won freedom for Venezuela, Colombia,
Panama, Bolivia, & Ecuador.
• O’Higgins and San Martin gained independence for
Chile. Then, San Martin set off to free Peru. He
captured Lima and declared Peru independent.
• Bolivar and his armies liberated all of South America
• When Napolean’s French army invaded Portugal, the
Portugal royal family fled to Brazil
• King Joao transferred his monarchy to Brazil
• Industry & commerce in Brazil was flourishing
• After providing funds for education, military
academies,& an art school, Joao made Brazil a selfgoverning kingdom within the Portuguese Empire
• Brazil was left to Joao’s son, Dom Pedro, after liberals
tried taking over the Portuguese government
• Brazil won full independence in 1822 after Dom Pedro
defied Portuguese leaders trying to make Brazil a
colonial possession again
• Pedro was crowned Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, which
made Brazil the only independent country in South
American to freely choose a constitutional monarchy
as its form of government
• Portugal didn’t recognize Brazil’s independence until
1825
• Building a stable & properous nation among all the
Latin American countries was a challenge due to
geography
• High mountains & jungles made transportation &
communications difficult, which hindered trade &
economic growth
• Latin Americans weren’t used to being responsible for
their own government and therefore had no
experience in running one
 Social conditions didn’t change much besides creoles
now having a higher rank on the social classes than
peninsulares
 Catholicism was still the official religion
 Church & government were still closely related
 Upper and lower social class ranking system was still
used
 Conservatives and liberals had conflicting views on
political issues such as separation of Church & state,
land taxes, and public social services.
 Today, there still remains in many Latin American
countries a vast gap between the ruling rich and the
underprivileged poor.