Chapter 23: Nation Building and Economic Transformation in the Americas, 1800-1890

Question 1

What drove Latin America towards independence?

Answer 1

Napoleon’s invasion of Spain and Portugal, not revolutionary ideals

Question 2

Spanish patriots fighting the French created what new political body?

Answer 2

Junta Central, to administer controlled areas. It was seen as temporary to govern Spain while the king was a prisoner. They claimed the right to exercise the king’s power over the colonies, which provoked a crisis

Question 3

Who was Simon Bolivar and what did he do?

Answer 3

He was a military leader who became the leader of an independent movement to independence.

Question 4

What was Bolivar’s ultimate success aided by?

Answer 4

The decision to enlist demobilized English veterans of Napoleonic Wars, military revolt in Spain in 1820

Question 5

What happened when news of Ferdinand’s abdication reached Buenos Aires?

Answer 5

A junta was created that overthrew the viceroy, declared independence after he regained the throne.

Question 6

What happened when news of Napoleon’s invasion of Spain reached Mexico?

Answer 6

conservative Spaniards in Mexico City overthrew the viceroy because it was too sympathetic to creoles.

Question 7

Who was Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and what did he do?

Answer 7

He was a parish priest of Dolores who rang church bells and urged a crowd to fight the oppression of Spanish officials. The wealthy turned against him and executed him.

Question 8

Who was Jose Maria Morelos and what did he do?

Answer 8

He was a priest and former student of Hidalgo who continued the revolution and convened a congress that declared independence and drafted a constitution, but was executed by loyalists.

Question 9

What did news of military revolt in Spain do?

Answer 9

It unsettled conservative groups. Colonel Augustin de Iturbide formed an alliance with insurgents, declared independence, and created a monarchy with Iturbide as emperor.

Question 10

Who was Pedro I and what did he do?

Answer 10

He was King John VI’s son, who aligned himself with the rising tide of independence in Brazil and declared its independence as a constitutional monarchy. He was committed to both the monarchy and many liberal principles.

Question 11

How did the Canadian nation begin?

Answer 11

Regional political leaders realized that railroads and internal improvements required a “national” government. Negotiations resulted in the Confederation of 1867, a union of colonial governments of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Question 12

Spain and Portugal had no local governments like North America, which resulted in what?

Answer 12

Drafters of Latin American constitutions were less constrained by practical political experience and experimented with untested political institutions. For example, Simon Bolivar created a 4th branch.

Question 13

What did many Latin American nations find difficult?

Answer 13

Defining the role of the Catholic Church after independence and limiting the power of the military.

Question 14

Who established Gran Colombia?

Answer 14

Simon Bolivar

Question 15

Why did successful patriot leaders have mass followings during wars for independence?

Answer 15

They used patriotic symbols.

Question 16

What was a personalist leader/ caudillo?

Answer 16

A leader that relied on the ability to mobilize and direct masses rather than the authority of constitutions and laws. - Napoleon > James Madison

Question 17

Powerful personal followings allowed Andrew Jackson and Jose Antonio Paez to do what?

Answer 17

Challenge constitutional limits.

Question 18

What did Jose Antonio Paez do?

Answer 18

He declared Venezuela’s independence when Bolivar’s authority was challenged. He ruled as a president/ dictator, and manipulated popular political symbols, presented himself as a common man

Question 19

What did Andrew Jackson do?

Answer 19

He was elected as president and challenged constitutional limits on authority, and increased presidential power at the expense of Congress and the Supreme Court

Question 20

What happened to all post independence efforts to forge large multistate federations in Spanish America?

Answer 20

They failed.

Question 21

What caused the US Civil War?

Answer 21

Slavery. Southern leaders sought to protect slavery by expanding to new territory- Louisiana Purchase. In 1860, Abraham LIncoln became president, and was committed to checking the spread of slavery. Planter elites in southern states seceeded from the Union and formed the Confederacy.

Question 22

What did a Union victory in the civil war cause?

Answer 22

The abolition of slavery. Political power was transferred to northern elite, who were committed to internal improvements.

Question 23

Why did the Confederacy fail?

Answer 23

It was defeated by an experience national government reinforced by an economy and large population.

Question 24

Who was Benito Juarez and what did he do?

Answer 24

He assumed presidency of Mexico and defeated conservatives who turned to Napoleon III for help after a new constitution was established that limited the power of the Catholic Church and military.

Question 25

What happened after the French invaded Mexico and suspended the constitution, placing Maximilian as ruler?

Answer 25

Juarez organized a resistance and drove the French out, executed Maximilian

Question 26

Who was Tecumseh and what did he do?

Answer 26

He was a Shawnee leader who created a larger, better organized alliance among Amerindian peoples on the Ohio River Valley, gained support from Great Britain.

Question 27

What happened to Tecumseh?

Answer 27

The American military destroyed the ritual center of alliance, and he was killed in the War of 1812

Question 28

What did the Indian Removal Act do?

Answer 28

It forced the resettlement of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and others. 1/2 died on the way, known as the Trail of Tears.

Question 29

What was the Caste War?

Answer 29

The Maya rebelled against the Mexican government in 1847 when they were facing the threat of US invasion. It was a well-organized, popular uprising that nearly returned Yucatan to Maya rule.

Question 30

After the abolition of slavery was accomplished with the 13th Amendment, what happened?

Answer 30

Most African Americans continued to live in harsh conditions. In the southern states, “Jim Crow” laws were put in place that allowed segregation and increased racial violence

Question 31

What happened during the war between Brazil and Paraguay?

Answer 31

Slaves joined the Brazilian army in exchange for freedom, undermining the military’s support of slavery

Question 32

What did fear and prejudice lead governments to do?

Answer 32

Limit immigration or distinguish between “desirable” and “undesirable” immigrants. Europeans were often favored over Asians.

Question 33

What is acculturation?

Answer 33

The modification of language, customs, values and behavior of a group as a result of contact with people of another culture

Question 34

What was the Women’s Rights Convention?

Answer 34

A gathering of women angered by exclusion from an international anti-slavery meeting, to discuss women’s rights

Question 35

What did increased interdependence and competition lead to?

Answer 35

Two distinct economic tracks:
Development: industrialization and prosperity
Underdevelopment: dependence on exporting raw materials and low-wage industries.

Question 36

What was the only Latin American country to achieve the prosperity of Canada and the US? Why?

Answer 36

Argentina. Latin American nations gained independence in the 1820s when the global economy was contracting due to the end of the Napoleonic Wars and market saturation due to early stages of European industrialization.