History Final
Independence
(1810-1825) Background: Spain imposed the Caste System on Latin America, a social pyramid with six categories based on race and the lightest skin at the top. At the top were the Peninsulares, Spanish born white people that the monarch sent to rule in Latin America. Next were the Creoles, Spanish white people born in Latin America, The the Mestizos who were 1/2 indigenous and 1/2 white and the mulattoes who were 1/2 African and 1/2 white and then the indigenous people and last the African slaves. The Spanish crown imposed the Castas as a way to control the colonies. A person's rank in society depended on their caste, but people could "marry up the caste (lower caste marrying higher caste and having a baby) or people could buy whiteness, "Gracias al Sacar". But Peninsulars had all the power and the rest of the people, including the Creoles had no political power. The Creoles ignited the revolution seeking independence from Spain because they resented the Peninisulars, with who they competed on the social pyramid. The majority, the lower castes (indigenous and African slaves and the mixed race laborers) did not rebel as much against the Peninsulars because they were too far away/ below on the pyramid to even compete, but the lower caste groups resented the Creoles, who ruled over them on a daily basis and fought to keep them "in their places".
Post-Colonial Blues
(1828-1848) Patronage Politics & Caudillo Leadership Short Intro/ summary: Mexican system of government became corrupt. Liberals & Conservatives used patronage to help get them elected. They saw politics as as a path to power and personal benefit. The caudillo was at the top of the system, the person running for president. An example of a caudillo is Santa Anna, a Creole who was president 11 times. Caudillo is the ID for the test but you must work in patronage politics to describe a caudillo and use Santa Ana as an example when writing the Caudillo ID
Peninsulares
At the top were the Peninsulares, Spanish born white people that the monarch sent to rule in Latin America.
Juarez Law and Lerdo Law
Benito Juarez was a liberal and first indigenous governor and president of Mexico. He introduced the Juarez Law(1855) against military and ecclesiastical fueros (broad legal exemptions). Lerdo Law (1856) abolished collective landholding, a direct blow to the church which owned large amounts of land, including the best farmland, but also indirectly hurt the communal lands of the indigenous people. Iglesias Law (1857) regulated church fees. Fees, for specific services, had to be reasonable and poor people did not have to pay. The indigenous had their own vision and believed that communal lands benefitted them, so the Lerdo Law hurt them by breaking up their collective land.
Foreign Capital
During 1850-1875 the United States and Europe were experiencing the Industrial Revolution. The industrialists saw Latin America as a potential market for their manufactured goods and Europe and the US were interested in Latin American goods, like sugar, silver, fibers, coffee. They had capital from industrial profits to invest in Latin America. p150 In the beginning the US was tied up with the Civil War at home but was able to invest more beginning in 1865 after the Civil War ended. The Mexican government and individuals borrowed to build railroads and ports. Foreign capital helped bring the industrial and transportation revolution to Mexico: factories, telegraph, electricity, steam trains and ships.
Railroads
From 1850's -1875, the Mexican railroads were built with foreign capital, mostly from the US. The railroads transformed Mexico's land transportation and allowed Mexico to supply things faster and offer cheaper prices so that it could participate in international trade. The steam trains were bigger, faster, could carry more, and travel further through difficult terrain further than mules and oxcarts Mexican was previously using. Large land owners benefited because their property values increased with railroad access. Urban middle class benefited, too, because the railroads supported the import/ export trade which created more jobs for the middle class (professionals, merchants and office workers, cooks, laundresses, policemen and shoemakers) and ultimately giving the middle class cultural and material enrichment. However, the poor rural, mostly indigenous, majority suffered because the railroads broke up their communal villages and forced them off their land. The large landowners were able to purchase their lands, adding to their already large land ownership and then hire the landless/ homeless poor peasants as peons, attached worker, their haciendas / large lands, further increasing the landowners profits, at the expense of the poor. The peons stayed poor because the wages were very low and they couldn't grow their own crops because they didn't have their own land or extra time outside of work for the landowners. To make enough money the women and children had to work, too.
Creoles
Next were the Creoles, Spanish white people born in Latin America,
Export Boom
Technological advancements allowed Mexico to supply things faster and offer cheaper prices so that it could participate in international trade. Steams ship are bigger, faster, could carry more, and were more reliable than the sailing ships that Mexico had previously used. Similarly, steam trains transformed land transportation. The trains traveled much faster further, and carried larger amounts than mules and oxcarts Mexican was previously using. The telegraph revolutionized communication, making communication with other countries instantaneous compared to Mexicos' previous hazardous, unpredictable and expensive ways of communicating.
Cientificos
The Cientificos were Diaz's technocratic advisors. They were steeped in positivist "scientific politics," ruling for order and progress. They were supposedly the "best and brightest" which usually meant white and rich. They believed in Social Darwinist ideas that the people at the bottom of the social pyramid were there because they were genetically inferior and the people at the top were genetically superior. The Cientificos helped give a justification for foreign capital and infrastructure like the railroads. They helped give an intellectual justification for the policies that the Diaz regime were doing and they helped shape those policies. It was hard to argue with them if you were Mexican because they were the products of the best education and they seemed like they would be the smartest and most highly educated people. Cientificos supported the Díaz regime because of its efforts to modernize the country, yet they also wanted expanded freedom.
Vincente Guerrero
Who: a Mestizo rebel leader What: Formed an alliance with Augustin de Iturbide, a Creole Army Commander, and together defeated the Spanish and declared Mexico's Independence and promulgated a declaration of independence, the Plan de Iguala When: 1820-21 Where: Mexico How: Alliance with with Augustin de Iturbide, a Creole Army Commander, built an army. Promised equality to the people Why: Significance: Without Guerrero, Iturbide would not have had a big enough army to win the war for independence
Growth vs Development
Under Diaz the Mexican economy grew much more than it developed. Export agriculture boomed and this brought in a lot of money and caused the economy to grow. There was also a lot of technological advancement- railroad, telegraphs, steamer ships, electricity but all of Mexico's growth was tied to foreign (mostly US) capital/ investment and trade. Foreigners owned the silver and copper mines and the oil. The mostly white elite and urban middle class benefited, attending university, enjoying material and cultural enrichment. The wealthy elite land owners (only 3% of the people) profited when the railroads caused their property value to increase. The middle class grew the most with professional, office and skilled worker jobs. However, the poor rural majority, mostly indigenous and mixed race, did not benefit. Their lands were taken away, and they had to work as peons, attached workers, on Haciendas. They earned low wages and women and children had to work. They couldn't grown their own crops and stayed poor. Most of these peasants were illiterate and did not have access to primary school. Many poor migrated to the cities where they lived in slums and work for low wages in dangerous conditions at foreign owned factories and mines. Mexico lacked sustainable development. This meant that when the US stopped investing in and importing goods from Mexican, Mexico's economy crumbled. So even though the Mexican economy grew tremendously, it didn't develop to a point where it can stand on its own. It did not have a path forward.
Maximilian
Who: A a white outsider from France who ruled Mexico What: Mexican Conservatives wanting stability and tradition (keep things the way that they were) asked Napoleon III of France to intervene and install an monarchy in Mexico. When: 1862-1865 Where: Mexico Why: Mexico was in a Civil War, the conservatives wanted to rule Mexico but needed help from France to defeat the Liberals. The Conservatives also liked having a monarch. How Significance: Maximilian was white outsider ruling Mexico. This angered many Mexicans who had a nationalist reaction against his leadership and in support of Juarez, an indigenous leader. Liberals also didn't like him because he didn't represent democracy. Conservatives were not satisfied either because he refused to repeals the Liberal Reforms and didn't have a good relationship with the Church. Also, the French invasion violated the Monroe Doctrine and in 1865 the US supported Juarez. The French finally withdrew and Maximilian was captured and executed. Juarez, the Liberal and indigenous leader, became president and "Progress" flourished.
Agustin de Iturbide
Who: Augustin de Iturbide was: Creole Army Commander & after independence King of Mexico What: Previously loyal to Spain and King Ferdinand VII but felt betrayed by Spanish Liberals because he wanted to represent Spanish America at the Central Junta in Spain but Spanish America was excluded. Constitution of Cadiz created by Spanish liberals & Spanish Americans but never fully implemented Formed an alliance with Vicente Guerrero, a Mestizo rebel leader and together they attacked the Spanish, drove them out of Mexico and declared Spanish America Independence Promulgated a declaration of independence, the Plan de Iguala. Appointed himself King of Mexico after Mexico became independent of Spain When: 1820-21 Significance: Iturbide had weak claim to monarchy because he was Creole and could not claim divine right. He was pushed from power after a few years.
Rurales
Who: Diaz Founded the Rurales, a national mounted police, to secure rural areas for foreign investors. Foreigners owned about one-quarter of Mexico's land. Most of these lands were taken from the indigenous people. The foreign companies not only owned the land, but oil and metals (silver, copper in the mines) under ground.
Napoleon 1
Who: Emperor of France What: Captured King Carlos of Spain and imprisoned; Napoleon appointed his brother to be King of Spain. Spanish Americans rejected this, they were loyal only to the Spanish King. With King Carlos in prison, the Spanish Americans were loyal to his son, King Fernando VII. During this time, the Spanish local government representatives formed a Central Junta in Spain, but excluded any representatives from Spanish America and this angered the Spanish American When: 1808, During Napoleonic Wars Where: Spain & Spanish America Significance: French Revolution (1789-99) inspired Latin Am Revolutionaries; No more monarchy rule based on "divine right" but instead: popular sovereignty: the people choose their leader according to a written constitution Liberty, Equality & Authority Enlightenment. Spanish America saw itself as a Spanish kingdom equal and NOT subservient to and not as a colony of the Spanish kingdom in Europe (Spain) Spanish Am formed their own juntas to rule in King Fernando's name, and by doing this rejected that it was a colony, had open meetings in town councils, "Cabildo Abieto" Constitution of Cadiz created by Spanish liberals & Spanish Americans but never fully implemented
Neocolonialism
Who: Latin America and foreign capital, mostly the US What: Neocolonialsm, When: 1880-1930 How: Neocolonialism was different than colonialism. With colonialism, a foreign country used physical force to conquer and control another country, like what Spain did to Spanish America. Neocolonialism is a foreign country, mostly the US but also England and France, economically dominate without formal, physical control. Technically, Mexico was still independent. Mexico had its own President and ran the country on a day-to day basis. So, in this sense Neocolonialism is harder to rebel against because it is your own government that is technically in power and making the decisions. At the same time, Mexico was very dependent on foreign capital. Foreign investors especially US, owned so much of the land and dominated the most important industries like the railroads and mining and oil, that they essentially extracted the power and the wealth out of Mexico. So, on the one hand foreign capital to spur Progress was good, at least for the elite and middle class Mexicans but in the long term it was bad because it gave too much wealth and power to foreign investors. It also tied Mexico too closely to the foreign countries so that whatever was happening in the foreign country, like an economic slow down depression, would have a bigger impact in Mexico. Socially, the Mexican elite and middle classes, "the decent people" tied their status and superiority and material enrichment to the foreign countries.
Benito Juarez
Who: Liberal, First indigenous governor and president of Mexico (1865) What: Introduced the Juarez Law(1855) against military and ecclesiastical fueros and the Lerdo Law (1856) abolishing collective landholding, a direct blow to the church which owned large amounts of land, but indirectly hurt indigenous people who had communal lands He led the Liberal fight against the Conservatives and French invasion (Napoleon III at the request of Conservatives appointing Maximillian as Emperor of Mexico) in the Mexican Civil War When: 1850- (check for more specific dates if have time) Where: Mexico How: Popular because he was indigenous and appealed to the natives and he hard-working and smart so also European-like. Juarez had the influence, power and talent to win. In 1865, with US support, Juarez defeated the conservatives and French invaders and became the first indigenous president. Significance: Liberals governed Mexico, the beginning of Progress. Foreigners would never directly rule Mexico and the Church would not have as much power in Mexico ever again.
Jose Maria Morelos
Who: Mestizo priest What: Declared all born in Mexico were "Americanos" 1813 Declared Independence and the end to slavery, castas & payment of tribute Caught & executed in 1815 When: 1813 Where: Southern Mexico Why: How Significance: kept the revolution going and for the clearly defined purpose of independence and equality (get rid of slavery, castas & tribute). After Morelos, small bands of patriots continued to fight wildy and caused the gradual crumbling of Spanish rule.
Mexican-American War
Who: Mexico and the United States What When: 1846-1848 Where: Initial confrontation in Texas but war fought all over Mexico Why: US expansion and Manifest Destiny How Significance The Mexican-American War (1846-48) was between Mexico and the United States. Texas (Tejano) was Mexican territory but Santa Anna allowed Americans to settle there. In 1836, Santa Anna tried to limit the autonomy of people in Texas and they rebelled declaring Texas an independent republic, which Mexico did not recognize an independent Texas. In 1845 Texas became a US state. The US troops at the Rio Grande and Neuce provoked Mexican military to defend their claim to Texas and the Mexican- war ignited. The US believed that Manifest Destiny justified its expansion West and into Mexico and taking the land from "inferior" people. It used the Monroe Doctrine, protecting the American continents from foreigners and a pretense for US expansion. The US also practiced Gunboat Diplomacy. Placing gunboats along the coat of Mexico to collect debt owed to the US and intimidate Mexico, creating tension. Significance: The US defeated the much weaker Mexico and gained a half million square miles of Mexican territory. In the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the US , in addition to confirming the annexation of Texas, the US gained California, and present day New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Mexico had abolished slavery in 1829. However, when Texas officially became a state of the US, it was a slave state. Consequently, all of the black people, and the indigenous people, lost their rights, and free blacks were not allow in Texas.
Americanos
Who: Morelos coined the term Americanos meaning all of the people born in Latin America (Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattoes, Africans and Indigenous ...) vs everyone else who was born somewhere else What: Nativism, the idea of an American identity based on birthplace The Patriots Winning Strategy for independence from Spain was using the nativist term, Americanos & combining this with the liberal ideology that the Latin American people should rule themselves This was emotionally appealing to the majority of the people and a way to unite the masses against Spain 1813 when Morelos declared independence and the end to slavery, castas & payment of tribute Significance: Nativism Unified the Latin America people, as Americanos, having in common their birthplace, being born in the New World. Most significantly is united the Creoles, Indigenous and peasants against the Peninsulars. (But as it turns out, the Creoles didn't really want equality. After getting independence, the social hierarchy didn't change; instead the Creoles just replace Peninsulars at top of hierarchy. Liberalism (equality for all) fell apart and Conservatism took over)
Miguel Hildago
Who: Non-conformist , intellectual Creole Priest, and is revered as the father of the revolution. What/ How: Started rebellion How: Spoke indigenous languages, used religious persuasion and connected with the masses (mestizos and indigenous people Strategy: Everyone born in Spanish America vs Peninsulars / Spaniards Appealed to the masses by using religious language that they could relate to "Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe and Death to the Spaniards!" He told them it was their duty to protect Spanish America from foreigners Virgin of Guadalupe became a banner of the Mexican revolution for indep from Spain Thousands for Mestizo and indigenous peasants revolted against the Peninsulars killing many Peninsulars but also killing Creoles because the Peninuslars and Creoles looked alike and many of them married each other and had children together Spaniards/ Peninsulars captured and executed Hidalgo and, as a lesson to others not to revolt, they put head in a metal cage on the corner of the Guanajuato granary, where so many Spaniards had died. When: 1810 Where: Mexico, northern mining region Guanajuato/Guadalajara p96 Why: Resented Peninsulars having power Significance: Hidalgo started the revolution in Guanajuato/Guadalajara by uniting Spanish American against the Spanish Europeans. Without Hidalgo, the revolution might not have happened
Plan de Iguala
Who: Promulgated by Augustin de Iturbide, a Creole Army Commander. What: Plan of Iguala, the Mexican declaration of independence includes the 3 Guarantees: 1) Religion: Catholicism would be Mexico's official and only religion, 2) Independence: Mexico was an indep country and 3) Monarchy: Mexico would be a Constitutional Monarchy. When: February 24, 1821; Where: Mexico Why How Significance: Iturbide had weak claim to monarchy because he was Creole and could not claim divine right. He was pushed from power after a few years.
Caudillo
Who: Wealthy landowning politicians who commanded the personal loyalty of many followers and saw politics as a path to power and personal benefit. They were strong liberal and conservative leaders and at the top of the patronage political system, running for president. Santa Ana, creole caudillo was president 11x. He was a former general and brave war hero and had control of the army; he had charisma and was good looking. What: Use patronage to get into office and control Mexico. The Caudillos would take over the government and distribute the "spoils of the office" (loyalty rewards like government jobs, pensions, public works to friends, family and loyal supporters/ clients). These spoils fueled patronage politics and caudillo leadership. Where: Latin America/ Mexico When: Post-colonial Latin America 1828-48 How: Caudillos had charisma and communicated and related well with the common people (mestizo, blacks, indigenous people). Why: Why: To secure their political leadership and once in power, he could can manipulate the law and reward followers for their loyalty. Significance: Mexican government became corrupt because the cadillos. The parties gained power through bribery and loyalty instead of party platforms and votes.
