Chapter 30: The Americas in the Age of

Independence
The Building of American States
1) Intro
 After winning independence from Britain, the U.S. created a gov’t
 Began to expand to the west quickly
 By mid-century the new republic had absorbed all the temperate lands of North America
 Was an unstable society composed a various regions with diverse economic and social structures
 Differences over slavery and the rights of individual states towards the federal gov’t sparked a civil war in the
1860s
 Resulted in the abolition of slavery and the strengthening of the federal state
 Canada’s experience was vastly different
 Gained independence from Britain without fighting a war
 Avoided a civil war
 Established a weak federal government, with provinces that had considerable power of local affairs
 Latin America was even more diverse
 Never a real possibility they could join into a confederation
 A politically fragmented region throughout the 19th century
 Individual states faced serious divisions within their own societies
2) The Mexican-American War
 Westward expansion generated tension between the U.S. and Mexico
 Mex had territories in TX, CA, and NM
 TX declared independence from Mexico in 1836
 Many U.S. migrants had settled there and wanted to run their own affairs
 In 1845, the United States accepted Texas as a new state against vigorous Mexican protest
 Moved into the area to consolidate its hold
 Those moves led to conflicts that escalated into the Mexican-American War
 U.S. instigated the war and then inflicted a defeat on the Mexican army
 By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), the U.S. took possession of ½ of Mexico’s territory
 Paid $15 million dollars for Texas north of the Rio Grande, California, and New Mexico
 Thousands of soldiers died, and thousands of Mexican families were now stranded in U.S. territory
 Some returned, but most attained U.S. citizenship
 Fueled Mexican nationalism and a disdain for the U.S.

The Canadian Dominion: Independence without War

3) Autonomy and Division
 Canada did not fight a war for independence
 In spite of deep regional divisions, did not experience bloody internal conflict
 Rather, Canadian independence came gradually as Canadians and the British gov’t agreed on general
principles of autonomy
 The distinctiveness of the two dominant ethnic groups (British and French Canadians) ensured that the
process of building a free society would not be smooth
 Intermittent fears of U.S. expansion and concerns about the possibility of an invasion helped submerge
ethnic differences
 By the late 19th century, Canada was a land in control of its own destiny
  Despite continuing ties to Britain and the looming presence of the United States
 Originally colonized by trappers and settlers from Britain and France, the colony of New France was given to the
British after the Seven Years’ War (1756-63)
 Until the late 18th century, French outnumbered British in Canada, so imperial officials made large
concessions to their French subjects
 Recognized the Roman Catholic church
 Permitted observance of French civil law in Quebec, where they governed through appointed councils
staffed by local elites
 British Canadians were Protestants who mostly lived in Ontario
 Followed British law and governed themselves through elected representatives
 After 1781 large numbers of British loyalists fled the U.S. and sought refuge in Canada
 Enlarged the size of the English-speaking community
4) The War of 1812
 Ethnic divisions and political differences could have splintered Canada, but the War of 1812 stimulated unity
against an external threat
 The U.S. declared war on Britain for encroaching on U.S. rights during the Napoleonic Wars
 British Canada formed one of the front lines of the conflict
 Despite U.S. leaders considering Canada and easy target, the Canadians held off U.S incursions
 Promoted a sense of Canadian pride
 Anti-U.S. sentiment became a means for covering differences within Canada
 After the War of 1812, Canada experienced rapid growth
 More business opportunities drew English-speaking migrants
 Threatened the idea of Quebec
 Discontent reached a critical point in the 1830s
 British governors did not want a repeat of the American rev
 Expanded home rule in Canada
 Permitted provinces to govern their own internal affairs
 Inspiring this imperial move toward Canadian autonomy was the Durham Report
 Issued in 1839 by George Lambton, the first earl of Durham and recent governor-general and lord high
commissioner of Canada
 Advocated for self-government for a united Canada
 His report became a model for British imperial policy and colonial self-rule in other British states
(Australia and New Zealand)
5) Dominion
 Westward expansion of the U.S. and the U.S. Civil War pushed Canada toward political autonomy
 Fear of U.S. expansion helped stifle internal conflicts among Canadians
 Prompted Britain to gain independence to Canada
 The British North America Act of 1867 joined Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick
 Recognized them as the Dominion of Canada
 Other provinces would later join
 Each province would have its own seat of gov’t, provincial leg, and lieutenant governor
 Created a federal gov’t headed by a governor-general who acted as the British rep
 Elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate
 Provincial legislatures reserved certain political matters for themselves
 Without waging war, the Dominion of Canada had won control over all Canadian internal affairs
 Britain retained jurisdiction over foreign affairs until 1911
 John A. Macdonald (1815-1891) was the first PM of Canada
 Moved to incorporate all of British North Am. Into the Dominion
 Negotiated the purchase of the Northwest Territories from the Hudson Bay Company in 1869
  Persuaded Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island to join the Dominion
 Macdonald believed that Canada’s dominion would continue to be a “geographic expression” and no more
until the gov’t took concrete action to make Canadian unity and independence a reality
 Oversaw construction of a transcontinental railroad, completed in 1885
 Attempt to strengthen the union
 Helped bring Alberta and Saskatchewan into the Dominion in 1905 and Newfoundland in 1949
 Internal conflicts never disappeared but the Dominion provided a foundation for Canadian independence and
unity
 While maintaining ties to Britain and struggling to forge a unique identity, Canada developed a culturally
diverse yet politically unified society

Latin America: Fragmentation and Political Experimentation

6) Intro
 Political unity was short-lived in Latin America
 Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), hailed as South America’s liberator, worked for the establishment of a large
confederation
 Would provide Latin Am with the political, military, and economic strength to resist encroachment by
foreign powers
 Wars he led created a sense of solidarity in Latin America
 Bolivar admitted that once the defeat of Spain was complete, solitary status was impossible to sustain
 Bolivar’s Gran Colombia broke into three parts- Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador
 The rest of Latin America fragmented into numerous independent states
7) Creole Elites and Political Instability
 Following the example of the United State, creole elites usually created republics with written constitutions
 Constitutions were harder to frame in Lat Am than in the U.S.
 Lat Am leaders had less experience with self-government
 Spanish and Portuguese colonial regimes were far more autocratic than the British
 Creole elites responded to Enlightenment values and republican ideals
 Little experience putting those principles into practice
 As a result, several Latin Am nations lurched from one constitution to another
 Had a hard time finding social and political stability
 Creole elites dominated the new states
 Prevented mass participation in public affairs
 Less than 5% of the male pop was active in LatAm politics in the 19th century
 Millions of indigenous lived outside the political system
 Without means of expressing discontent, those unhappy with the system were left to rebellion
 Making matters worse was differences between the elites
 Whether they were urban or rural, LatAm elites differed as conservatives or liberals, centralists or
federalists, secularists of Roman Catholics
8) Conflicts with Indigenous Peoples
 One thing elites agreed on was the policy of claiming American land for farming and ranching
 Meant pushing aside indigenous peoples and establishing Euro-Am hegemony in LatAm
 Conflict was most intense in Chile and Argentina
 Cultivators and ranchers had longed to take over the SouthAm plains
 By the 1870s, had pacified the most productive lands
 Forced the indigenous to either assimilate or retreat to marginal lands
9) Caudillos
 While agreeing on pushing the indigenous out, creole division helped caudillos (regional military leaders) come
to power in LatAm
  Wars of independence had lasted over a decade
 Had provided Lat Am with military heroes
 After independence, caudillos came to the political stage
 One of the most notable was Juan Manuel de Rosas
 From 1829 to 1859 ruled Argentina that was badly divided between cattle-herding gaucho society and the
urban elite of Buenos Aires
 Rosas emerged from the cattle ranches
 Used his skills to subdue other caudillos and establish control in Buenos Aires
 Called for regional autonomy to reconcile the competing interests
 Worked to centralize the gov’t he usurped
 Quelled rebellions in bloody fashion
 Critics accused him of launching a reign of terror
 Rosas did what caudillos did best: restoring order
 In doing so, he made terror a tool of the government
 Ruled as a despot through his own personal army
 Embodied the winning personality traits of caudillos
 Attained popularity through his identification with the people and the gauchos
 Demonstrated his physical strength and machismo
 Although caudillo rule limited freedom and undermined republican ideals, it sometimes gave rise to an
apposition that worked for liberal reforms that would promote democratic forms of government
10) Mexico: War and Reform
 Independent Mexico experienced a succession of governments from monarchy to republic to caudillos rule
 Also generated a liberal reform movement
 The Mexican-American War caused political turmoil in Mexico
 Helped the caudillo General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1797-1876) perpetuate his rule
 After the defeat of the war, a liberal reform movement attempted to reshape Mexican society
 Led by President Benito Juarez (1806-1872), a Mexican of indigenous ancestry
 La Reforma of the 1850s attempted to limit the power of the military and the Roman Catholic church
 Juarez and his followers called for liberal reform, designed to create a rural middle class
 The Constitution of 1857 set forth the ideals of La Reforma
 Curtailed the prerogatives of priests and military elites
 Guaranteed universal male suffrage and other civil liberties, such as freedom of speech
 Land reform efforts centered on dismantling corporate properties
 Had the effect of parceling out communal Indian lands and villages as private property
 Ended up in the hands of large landowners, not indigenous peoples
11) Mexico: Revolution
 La Reforma challenged some of the fundamental conservatism of Mexican elites
 Le spirited opposition to political, social, and economic reform
 Liberals and conserves in Mex stayed divided
 Conservatives forced out the Juarez government until 1861
 To less Mex’s financial woes, Juarez suspended loan payments to foreign powers
 Led to Brit, Fr, and Sp intervention to recover their money and protect the interests in Mex
 France’s Napoleon III was particularly intrusive
 Attempted to end Mexican disorder by re-creating a monarchy
 Ended when Mexican army beat the French on 5 May 1862 (Cinco de Mayo)
 Napoleon III sent tens of thousands of troops and proclaimed a Mexican empire
 Had to withdraw in 1867
 Mexican firing squad killed his appointed emperor, Maximilian
 Juarez was able to restore some liberal government, but Mex remained beset by problems
  By the early 20th century, Mexico was divided and moving toward civil war
 The Mexican revolution (1910-20) broke out when middle-class Mexicans joined with peasants and workers
to overthrow the powerful dictator Porfirio Diaz
 The revolt in Mexico was the first major and violent effort in Latin America to attempt to topple the
grossly unequal system of landed estates
 95% of all peasants remained landless
 Turned increasingly radical as those denied land and representation armed themselves and engaged in
guerilla warfare against government forces
 Lower classes took up weapons and followed revolutionary leaders Emiliano Zapata and Francisco
(Pancho) Villa
 Charismatic agrarian rebels who organized massive armies fighting for tierra y libertad
 Embodied the aspirations of the indigenous Mexican masses and enjoyed tremendous popular support
 Discredited timid gov’t attempts at reform
 Challenged gov’t political control
 Zapata confiscated hacienda lands and began to distribute the lands to the peasants
 Villa attacked and killed U.S. citizens in retaliation for support of Mexican gov’t
 Never captured
 Despite their power and popularity, neither of these two were able to capture Mexico’s major cities
 Did not command the resources and wealth to which gov’t forces had access
 The Mexican Revolution came to an end soon after gov’t forces ambushed and killed Zapata in 1919
 Villa was killed a few years later, assassinated in 1923
 Gov’t forces regained control over Mexico
 Battered and devastated by long years of war and by
 Death of almost 2 million Mexicans
 Mexican Constitution of 1917 already addressed some of the concerns of the revolutionaries
 Provided for land redistribution, universal suffrage, state-supported education, minimum wages and
maximum hours for workers, restrictions on foreign ownership of Mexican property and mineral
resources
 Although these constitutional provisions were not soon implemented, they provided important guarantees for
the future
 In the form of division, rebellion, caudillo rule, and civil war, instability and conflict plagued Latin American
throughout the 19th century
 Many Lat Am peoples lacked education, profitable employment, and political representation

Canadian Prosperity
12) Intro
 British investment deeply influenced the development of the Canadian and US. Economy
in the 19th and early 20th centuries
 Canadian leaders to advantage of British capitl to industrialize without allowing the
economy to fall under British rule
 During the early 19th century, Britain paid high prices for Canadian agricultural
products and minerals, partly to keep the colony stable and discourage separatist
movements
 As a result, white Canadians enjoyed a high standard of living even before
industrialization
13) The National Policy
 After the establishment of the Dominion, politicians started a program of economic
development known as the National Policy
  Wanted to attract migrants, protect nascent industries through tariffs, and build
national transportation systems
 The centerpiece was the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railroad, built largely
with British investment capital and completed in 1885
 Opened the western prairie lands to commerce, stimulated the development of
other industries, and promoted the emergence of Canadian national economy
 Created some violent altercations with indigenous peoples who resisted encroachment
on their lands and with trappers who disrupted life
 Also promoted economic growth and independence
 In Canada, the ability to control and direct economic affairs was crucial to limiting the
state’s dependence of British capital
 As a result of National Policy, Canada experienced booming farming, mineral, and
industrial production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
 Population surged as a result of both migration and natural increase
 Migrants flocked to Canada from Asia and especially Europe
 Between 1903 and 1914, some 2.7 million eastern European migrants settled in
Canada
 Canadian expansion took place on the foundation of rapidly increasing wheat
production and the extraction of rich mineral resources (gold, silver, copper, nickel,
asbestos)
 Industrialists tapped Canadian rivers to produce the hydroelectric power necessary
for manufacturing
14) U.S. Investment
 Canada remained weary of its powerful neighbor to the south but did not keep U.S.
economic influence entirely at bay
 British investment dwarfed American investment
 US presence in Canadian economy would grow
 By 1918, owned 30% of all Canadian industry
 The two economies became increasingly interdependent
 Canada began to undergo rapid industrialization after the early 20 th century

Latin American Investments

15) Intro
 Latin Americans states did not undergo industrialization or economic expansion like that
of the US and Canada
 Explained by colonial legacies
 Even when Spain and Portugal controlled the trade and investment policies, their
home economies were unable to supply sufficient quantities of manufactured goods
that colonial markets demanded
 As a result, they opened the colonies to Euro trade, which snuffed out local
industries
 Lat Am elites- urban merchants and large landholders- retained control over local
economies
 Elites profited handsomely from European trade and investment
 Had little incentive to seek different economic policies or work toward
economic diversification
 Foreign investment and trade had more damaging effects in Latin America than in
the US or Canada
16) British Investment
  Relatively small size of Lat Am markets limited foreign influence
 Generally took the form of investment or what could be termed informal imperialism
 British merchants had little desire to turn Lat Am into dependent trading partners
 Offered no market for British goods
 They took advantage of opportunities that brought them profits and considerable
control over Lat Am economic affairs
 Brits encouraged development of sheep and cattle ranching in Argentina
 After the 1860s and refrigerated cargo ships, meat became Argentina’s largest
export
 Between 1880 and 1914, European migrants labored in the new export industries and
contributed to the explosive growth of urban areas such as Buenos Aires
 3.5 million by 1914
 Although migrant laborers rarely shared in the profits controlled by elites, the
domination of urban labor by Euro migrants represented another form of foreign
influence in Lat Am affairs
17) Attempted Industrialization
 In a few lands, ruling elites made attempts to industrialize with little success
 Most notable was under the dictator Porfirio Diaz in Mexico (1876-1911)
 Represented the interests of large landowners, wealthy merchants, and foreign
investors
 Railroad tracks and telegraph lines connected all of Mexico
 Production of mineral resources surged
 Small steel industry for railroad track and construction materials
 Entrepreneurs established glass, chemical, and textile industries
 Mexico City underwent a transformation
 Paved streets, streetcar lines, electric streetlights
 Profits from Mexican enterprises did not support industrial development
 Went into the pockets of the Mexican oligarchy and foreign investors
 Growing and discontented urban working class seethed with resentment at low
wages, long hours, and foreign management
 Standards of living was declining while farming, railroads, and mining were
booming
 Explained the sudden outbreak of violent revolution in 1910
 Despite a large proportion of foreign and British control, Lat Am economies expanded
rapidly in the late 19th century
 Exports drove that growth
 Copper and silver from Mexico
 Bananans and coffee from Central America
 Beef and wheat from Argentina
 Copper from Chile
 Tobacco and sugar from Cuba
 Other areas in the world developed many of those products for export, and
competition for markets often led to lower prices for those commodities
 Foreign investment in Lat Am provided capital for development
 Unlike the US and Can, control over industries and exports were in foreign hands
 Lat Am economies were subject to decisions made in the interests of foreign
investments
 Unstable gov’ts could do little in the face of strong foreign intervention
  Controlled by the very elites who profited from foreign intervention at the expense of
their citizens, Lat Am gov’t helped account for the region’s slower econ development
despite growth in industrial and export economies

American Cultural and Social Diversity

18) Intro
 While diversity distinguished the Americas, it also provided fuel for conflict
 Ethnic groups, social classes, race and gender
 The social and cultural diversity of American societies challenged their ability to
achieve cultural cohesion
 As well as political unity and democratically inclusive states
 Legacies of Euro conquest, slavery, migration, and patriarchy showed the
contradictions between Enlightenment ideals and the realities of life for natives and
African-Americans and migrants and women
 Ample strife in the age of independence in America
 The dominant political forces often repressed demands for recognition by
dispossessed groups

Canadian Cultural Contrasts

19) Ethnic Diversity
 British and French settlers viewed themselves as Canada’s founding people
 Profoundly influenced Canadian development did this division
 Masked greater cultural and ethnic diversity
 Displaced indigenous peoples who are a small minority in Canada today
 Slavery was legal until 1833 and left an imprint on Canada
 Many escaped slaves reached Canada via the Underground Railroad
 Blacks were free but not equal, segregated and isolated
 Chinese migrants came lured by gold rushes (Fraser River in 1858)
 Also to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s
 Lived mostly in segregated Chinatowns in British Columbia
 Had little voice in public affairs
 In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, waves of migrants brought more diversity
 3 million between 1896 and 1914
 Despite the heterogeneity of Canada, communities descended from British and French
settlers dominated Canada
 Conflict between the two was the largest source of ethnic tension
 After 1867, British Candiens led the effort to settle the NW Territories to incorporate
them into the Dominion
 Led to increased tensions
 Brought British Canadians into conflict with French fur traders and lumberjacks
 Fur traders esp lived on margins- married natives, giving rise to the Metis
20) The Metis and Louis Riel
 A major outbreak of conflict took place in the 1870s and 80s
 Native peoples and metis had moved west in the 19th to preserve their land and
trading rights
 The drive of the British west threatened them
 Louis Riel became leaders of the metis and indigenous of western Canada
 Assumed the presidency of a provisional gov’t in 1870
  Led his troops to capture Fort Garry (Winnipeg)
 Negotiated the incorporation of the province of Manitoba into the Dominion
 The Canadian gov’t outlawed his gov’t and forced Riel into exile
 Work on the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the 1880s renewed the threat of white
settlement to indigenous and metis society
 Metis asked Riel to lead the resistance to the railroad and British Canadian settlement
 In 1885 he organized a military force and led an insurrection known as the
Northwest Rebellion
 Canadian forces quickly subdued the makeshift army and gov’t executed Riel
 The execution of Riel reverberated in Canadian history
 French Canadians took it as indication of the state’s willingness to subdue individuals
who different
 Foreshadowed a long term cultural conflict between Canadians of French, British, and
indigenous society

Ethnicity, Identity, and Gender in Latin America

21) Intro
 The heritage of Spanish and Portuguese colonialism and the legacy of slavery inclined Lat
Am toward hierarchical distinctions based on color and ethnicity
 At the top were the creoles
 Indigenous peoples, freed slaves, and their black descendants occupied the lowest
rungs of the social ladder
 In between there were various groups of mixed ancestry (mestizos, mulattoes,
zambos, castizos)
 While most states ended the legal recognition of these groups, the distinctions
persisted and limited opportunities available to these minority groups
22) Migration and Cultural Diversity
 Large-scale migration brought added cultural diversity to Lat Am in the 19 th century
 Indentured laborers from Asian lands carried their cultural practices
 Mostly intermarried and assimilated w/out much influence (Chinese)
 When they were more numerous (Indians to T&T), they formed distinctive
communities where they kept their cultural traditions
 Migration of workers to Argentina brought diversity to the capital of Buenos Aires
 “Paris of the Americas”
 Latin Am intellectuals seeking identity saw themselves as heir of Europe or products of
the American environment
 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento saw himself as European
 Despised the rule of the caudillos that had emerged
 Worked for a society based on European values
 Wanted to bring discipline to the Argentine countryside
 Only when cities dominated the countryside would social stability be possible
23) Gauchos
 Sarmiento admired the bravery and independence of Argentina’s gauchos, but he
considered it imperative that urban residents rather than ranchers make society’s
cultural decisions
 Gauchos as a symbol of Lat Am identity
 Most were mestizos and castizos, but also white and black
 Gaucho society acquired ethnic egalitarianism
  Most prominent in the Argentine pampas, but were linked to cowboys and vaqueros
throughout the Americas
 As pastoralists herding cattle and horses on the pampas, they stood apart from both
the indigenous peoples and the growing urban and farming elites who displaced them
with large landholdings and cattle ranches that spread
 Led independent and self-sufficient lives that appealed in hierarchical Lat Am society
 Lived off their own skill with only their horses needed
 Dressed distinctively
 Songs lauded their courage, skills, and lovemaking
 Independence and caudillo rule disrupted gaucho life as they increasingly entered
armies and as settled farming and ranching surrounded by wire enclosed the pampas
 Did not leave without resistance
 By the late 19th century, had largely disappeared
24) Male Domination
 Even more than in the U.S. and Canada, male domination was a central trait of Lat Am
society
 Women couldn’t hold office or vote, nor work or manage estates without permission of
male guardians
 In rural areas, women were liable to rough treatment and assault due to machismo
 Social ethic that honored male strength, courage, aggressiveness, assertiveness,
and cunning
 A few women voiced their discontent (poet Adela Zamudio)
 Lamented that intelligent women couldn’t vote but ignorant men could
 Did began to expand educational opportunities after the mid-19th century
 In large cities most girls received some formal schooling, and women usually filled
teaching jobs in public schools
25) Female Activism
 Women did carve spaces outside or along the male world of machismo
 Especially true in the home and marketplace, where Lat Am women exerted great
control and influence
 In the early 20th, women served in conjunction with men in the Mex rev, most
famously as Zapatistas, followers of Zapata
 Many women who supported Zapata labored in the domestic realm to feed the
soldiers, others became soldiers and officers
 Those women who became soldaderas demonstrated the most exreme forms of
activism
 Mexican women on the whole made major contributions to the revolution
 Shared in the radical spirit of change that characterized much of early 20 th-century
Lat Am