Nationalism - Latin American Independence

Early Nationalism developed out of the ideas of the Enlightenment. Not only were people starting to develop ideas of "consent of the governed" but the idea that they could be independent from the European colonial powers.

The issue behind the episodes of Nationalism and Independence the 19th century involved the shedding of imperial control from Europe, as was the case in the American Revolution.

Some notable personalities include Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, and Toussaint L'Ouverture. Bolívar and de San Martín both raised armies to drive the Spanish out of South America to establish autonomous government.  L'Ouverture led the revolt in Haiti to cast out French influence. L'Ouverture's inspiration? the French Revolution.

The Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century was fueled by nationalistic pride but was caused by oppressive Mexican leadership, not imperial rule.

The Cuban Revolution of the mid-20th century was yet another instance where nationalistic feelings sparked conflict. Cuba's revolutionary figure, Fidel Castro, desired to rid his country of American influence with the aid of the Soviet Union. This conflict saw some of the most volatile episodes of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviets. The world powers came close to launching nuclear warheads because of Cuban nationalism. Nationalism is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

The class structures of Latin America are determined by the social relationships of basic economic activities. These relationships include property ownership, labor arrangements, forms and sources of income, and patterns of supervision and subordination, among others. In addition, some groups of people may be confined to certain jobs or discriminated against on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and so on. All of these factors contribute to the formation and characteristics of contemporary social classes. Given the great diversity among Latin American countries, the following discussion should be considered mainly as a portrayal of general regional patterns. The diagram below illustrates the basic social hierarchy of Latin American society during the colonial era.
Members of the intermediate racial groups were called "castes" or, in Spanish, castas. They included the offspring of black and white parents, called mulattoes; of white and Indian parents, called mestizo; and of black and Indian parents, to whom no single term was ever applied. The mestizos, mulattoes, and black Indians also intermingled and produced descendants of even greater racial mixture—part Indian, part Spanish, part black. No distinctive name was ever applied to these offspring; they were usually called simply castas. For the first 150 years of Spanish colonial rule the number of castas was relatively small, and racially mixed offspring were usually absorbed into the Spanish, Indian, or black groups. During this time only a handful were categorized as castas, and these were usually divided into either mestizos or mulattoes. About the middle of the seventeenth century, these groups began to develop an identity of their own. Instead of merely being people who lacked either the tribal affiliation of native peoples or the social prerogatives of Spaniards, they came increasingly to constitute groups in their own right. Women of these intermediate groups were more often employed than their Spanish counterparts, whereas the men were apt to be artisans, but journeymen rather than masters. Racially mixed people were officially banned from positions of influence in colonial society. They could not sit on town councils, serve as notaries, or become members of the more exclusive artisan guilds such as the goldsmiths. They were barred from the priesthood and from the universities. Those designated as mestizos were exempt from the tribute payment owed by their Indian relatives, but no such exemption was granted mulattoes; even when freed, they were subject to the traditional payments of conquered peoples to their rulers. The dramatic growth of the castas in the eighteenth century was an increase in sheer numbers of castas as well as a proliferation in the number of racial categories. From the simple divisions of mestizo and mulatto emerged categories such as the castizo, an intermediate position between Spaniard and mestizo, and morisco, the equivalent between mulatto and Spaniard. And the steady rise of intermarriages among the racially mixed population itself produced an enormous range of physical types, in turn generating a number of novel, often fanciful names for the sheer physical variety apparent for the first time in large numbers during the eighteenth century.