Born in Blood and Fire - Chapter 5 (Progress) Reading Notes (SPAN100) PDF

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Chapter 5 – Progress 

Conservative Ascendance o Promised security and tradition o Ill-distribution of benefits o People outside of patronage system look for change

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Liberal Reaction o Landowners wanted more export possibilities o Urban dwellers wanted public works o Industrialisation in Europe  More interest in Latin American markers  New wave of European investment in Latin America  Steam and steel transportation

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Transportation Revolution o Steamships overtook old wood sailing ships  Faster and carried more cargo o Steam-powered railroad replaced mules/carts for land transport  Mules/carts limited quantity of exportable material brought to ports  Railroads expensive but valuable  Opened access to new areas, created agricultural booms o Telegraph lines  Allowed instant communication, carried electricity  1874 – transatlantic telegraph connects Brazil to Europe

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Progress

o Idea of progress became new hegemonic ideal o Focused on model, products and European culture o Export earnings could bring in European goods (fixated on technology) o Liberal parties rode this wave to power 

Mexico’s Liberal Reforms o Power of the Catholic Church  Church most powerful in Mexico  Church held vast properties  Chief moneylending institution  Clergy has vast legal exemption called a ‘fuero’  By Mexican law, 10% income went to Church  Ultramontane conservatism  Church turned away from progressive priests like Morelos  Coming from Rome o Church and Politics  Independence articulated in religious language  As church became more conservative, Liberals became more anti-Church  Power of Church was affront to progress  Liberals attacked the ‘fuero’  Unproductive wealth of church  Conservatives adopt cry “religion and fueros!” o Liberal Ascendance  Reaction against rule of Santa Anna  Led by Juan Alvarez (mestizo caudillo, from mountains of southern Mexico)

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 Melchor Ocampo  Younger, well-educated liberal reformer  Mestizo, humble beginning, gifted intellectual  Benito Juarez  First full indigenous man to become governor of a Mexican state o Left Zapotec village for Oaxaca o Wore European clothing o Studied/practiced law in Oaxaca (defended villagers against abusive priest, sent to jail) o Elected to state legislature, congress and governor of Oaxaca  Left Zapotec identity o Didn’t represent Zapotec interests or indigenous communities o Called ‘indio’ as insult o Used rice powder for lighter skin o Liberal Reforms  1855 – Juarez Law  Attacked liberal and ecclesiastical fueros  1856 - Lerdo Law  Attacked power of Church o Forced to sell of vast properties o Jeopardised indigenous communal lands  Liberals hoped to encourage individual effort and responsibility  Turned many indigenous against Liberal Party  Joined Conservatives in defence of tradition

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o Civil War  Conservative general overthrew president and dissolved congress  Juarez chose to command Liberal forces  Liberals retake Mexico City  War bankrupted the state  Juarez defaults on Mexican loans  Spanish, French, British occupied Veracruz o French hoped to expand their influence o Invented term ‘Latin America’ to naturalise their influence  Conservatives appeal to Napoleon III in search of monarch  Maximilian o Descended from Habsburg royalty o Conservatives assured him Mexico wanted an emperor  1862 - French invade Mexico  1864 – Maximilian as emperor  Juarez leads nationalist reaction  Maximilian pays tribute Hidalgo solidying his nationalist credentials  Juarez more convincing nationalist leader  US aids Juarez, threatened by French incursion in Americas  French withdraw troops  Maximilian captured and executed o Juarez becomes president  Conservatives permanently discredited in Mexico

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 Church never regains past power 

Other countries join the Liberal trend

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Colombia o Conservative post-independence surge  Restored ‘fuero’ for clergy  Invited Jesuit order to return o Liberal resurgence in 1850s  Expelled Jesuits again, removed ‘fuero’, made tithes voluntary, legalised divorce o Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera  Liberal caudillo, took power in 1861, 2 decades of liberal rule

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Chile o Politics marked by conservative stability o Only 3 presidents in 3 decades  Managed elections, export growth, unusual freedom of though and expression o Chile was very different to Mexico  Little experience with liberalism  Small indigenous population  Mapuches, lived in far south, isolated from national community  Developed strong export economy  Wheat, copper, silver  Liberals attacked traditional Church-State connections  Church not as powerful as elsewhere  Official religion attacked as vestige of colonialism  Montt

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 Former minister of education, president of Chile  Leads modernisation projects  Favoured a Liberal for president in 1861  Liberals remained in control for 3 decades  Limited church power  Modernised capital city of Santiago  Rigged elections 

Central America o Followed similar path to other Latin American States o Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras all joined liberal swell o Only Nicaragua resisted  Nicaraguan Liberals invited foreign intervention  E.g. William Walker  Fundamentalist Christian from Tennessee  Walker attempted, on own initiative, to colonise Nicaragua for US  Made self president with support of Liberals o Freedom of religion, English language, land grants to US immigrants, legalised slavery  Captured and executed by joint central American army

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Limits of Progress for Women o Mid-1800s – Women saw few benefits from liberalism  Women education expanded very slowly  Women still confined to home life  Few women occupied leading role in public life o Few women achieved fame by writing

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 E.g. Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda  Left native Cuba for Spain  Novel ‘Sab’ banned in Cuba o Followed enslaved man in love with female owner, sacrifices his life for her, she realises his superiority Literary argument for abolition  Mid-century Cuba o Plantation slaves grew third of worlds sugar o Cuba offered great opportunities for Spaniards o As Cubans fought for independence, Spain kept war away from sugar-growing sectors o Revolutionaries reprinted ‘Sab’  ‘Sab’ broke social boundaries o Discussed interracial love, criticised slavery  E.g. Juana Manuela Gorriti  Writings were feminine and instructive  Entered a convent school  Family fled Argentina for Bolivia  Married Manuel Isidro Belzu (he would be president of Bolivia)  Moved to Peru after Belzu abandoned her  Held ‘tertulias’ on intellectual subjects  Wrote journalistic articles for women, instructions on modern womanhood  Served as battlefield nurse when Spanish vessels attacked  Moved to Buenos Aires

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 E.g. Clorinda Matto de Turner  Goritti helped launch her career in Lima  Sought extracurricular instruction in biology and physics  Wrote “Bird without a nest” 1889 o One of most important early novels about indigenous life  Other works relied on image of romantic savage  Matto depicted them as Peruvians living in the present  Depicts interracial affair between white man and indigenous woman  Crusader for indigenous, critical of church  Organised ‘tertulias’  Founded a periodical for women 

Models of Progress o Argentine liberal leaders exemplify European obsession and focus on written culture  E.g. Juan Bautista Alberdi  Studied law in Buenos Aires, became salon radical in 1830s  Fled Rosas regime to Montevideo

 Organized tertulias  Founded a periodical for women 

Models of Progress o Argentine liberal leaders exemplify European obsession and focus on written culture

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 Juan Bautista Alberdi  Studied law in Buenos Aires  Became a salon radical in 1830s  Fled Rosas regime to Montevideo  Published “Bases and Points of Departure for the Political Organization of the Argentine Republic” after Rosas was overthrown  Eventually became Argentine diplomat in Chile  Encouraged European immigration to Argentina o Europeans possessed superior qualities o “To govern is to populate”  7. Encouraged modern education  Believed Argentines should learn English  Bartolomé Mitré  Prolific writer, speaker, military leader  Disputed with Alberdi over place of Buenos Aires  Buenos Aires was most important city in Argentina  Lacked a good port  Steam power allowed vessels to bypass Buenos Aires  Tensions kept Buenos Aires out of Argentine Federation  Mitré led Buenos Aires forces against Federation  Buenos Aires established as capital of a united Argentina  Domingo Faustino Sarmiento  Most influential Latin American liberal  Wrote the anti-Rosas “Civilization and Barbarism”  Interest in international cultures  Became involved in organization of Chilean public schools  Studied education in the United States and Europe  Elected president of Argentina while a diplomat in United States  Brought U.S. teachers to improve education o School enrollment doubled o Nearly 100 public libraries built

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 8. Successfully encouraged wave of European immigration  Liberals accepted European scientific racism as well  Viewed racial mixing as a national tragedy  Sarmiento derided Argentina’s gauchos as subhuman o Brazilian liberalism  Society was not well-suited to liberal thinking  Monarchy  Slavery  Mixed-race population  Triple Alliance War becomes catalyst for change  1865–70  Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay defeated Paraguay o Under Francisco Solano López, Paraguay acquired powerful army o Believed Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay threatened Paraguay’s outlet to the sea o Paraguay attacks o Paraguay’s adult male population was decimated o Brazil and Argentina gained land  3. War created disillusionment in Brazil o Called up hundreds of thousands of volunteers to fight Paraguayan “tyranny” o War was in the service of liberalism and civilization o Caused many to question Brazilian civilization  (i) Brazil was one of two remaining slave societies in the Americas  (ii) Presence of free blacks and slaves in the army illuminated the contradiction  4. Liberalism re-emerged o Elite Brazilians believed Brazil was unready for democracy

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o Emperor Pedro II argued that Brazil was backward  (i) Seemed to regret this  (ii) Took his role seriously  (iii) Philosophical Liberal, believed in Progress 5. In 1860s, many Conservatives broke away to join the Liberals Pedro II sided with a commander against liberal prime minister during Triple Alliance War, infuriating liberals Liberal manifesto of 1869 o Calls for democratic reform o Gradual emancipation of slaves o “Reform or revolution” 8. A more radical group issues second manifesto o Demands limitations on emperor’s power o Immediate abolition of slavery 9. Third manifesto — 1870 o Calls for ouster of the emperor o End of slavery o Creation of Brazilian republic 10. 1871, “free birth” law o Children would be born free o Signals an eventual end to slavery 11. Conservative governments ruled, but progress caught on o Coffee growers begin to attract Italian immigrant workers o Export economy fueled growth of cities o Urban Brazilians were more likely to embrace progress 12. Joaquim Nabuco becomes leading abolitionist o Popular celebrity featured on beer and cigar labels o Condemned slavery as obstacle to progress o After 1886, Brazil was only slave society

 13. Pedro’s daughter Isabel signs “Golden Law” of freedom — 1888  14. Brazilian monarchy collapsed in 1889 

Countercurrents: International Wars o Wars have been rare but catalyzing events in Latin America  Mexican-American War  Triple Alliance War o Chaco War (1932–35)  Paraguay fought Bolivia over the Chaco  The Chaco is a desolate region  War emerged after oil discovered  Paraguayan victory doubled national territory  Only major war fought between countries in 1900s o Bolivia  Defeat was third defeat in wars on the Pacific coast  War of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation (1836–39)  Resulted from unification of Peru and Bolivia  Chilean government attacked  Chilean victory ended confederation  War of the Pacific (1879–84)  Conflict over the Atacama Desert  Chile, Peru, and Bolivia all claimed a portion of the desolate coast  All three were selling claims to nitrate deposits  Conflict over mining led to Chilean attack  Peru and Bolivia lost territory  Chile’s economy relied on the nitrates for decades

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