The Americas in the Age of Independence

Chapter 30

Intro: The Building of American States• U.S.: expansion, lots of diversity, issues -> Civil War• Canada: independence without war, diversity,

powerful provinces• Latin America: very diverse, politically fragmented,

problems

The U.S.: Westward Expansion and Civil War

• Gained land from Britain and France• Manifest Destiny: expansion to Pacific– Conflicts with Native Americans: Indian Removal Act

of 1830, Plains Indians• Tension with Mexico: Mexican-American War

over Texas -> gained lots of territory• Regional tension: slavery, north/south, new territories

The U.S. Civil War• Abraham Lincoln is anti-slavery, but there are other

issues (states’ rights, consequences, dual economies)

• 1860-61: southern states secede and isolate -> war• 1863: Emancipation Proclamation • 1865: 13th amendment abolished slavery• Results: ended slavery, ensured unification, enhanced federal gov’t’s authority

The Canadian Dominion• Brief history: colonized by British and French

trappers -> New France -> British (after 7 Years War), but more French until loyalists fled the U.S. and lots of tension

• War of 1812: US vs. Britain, with Canada as front line (invasion failed)

• Rapid growth: English migrants = more tension with French

The Canadian Dominion (cont.)• 1840-67: Britain expanded home rule and

increased provincial gov’t power (=model for British imperialism and self-rule)

• 1867: unified eastern areas as Dominion of Canada (with strong provincial gov’ts and federal gov’t)

Latin America• Bolivar had tried to unify but failed• Post-indep. gov’ts: republics with constitutions

run by creole elites (less experience in self-gov’t than U.S.)

• In some, stability was elusive• Non-creoles had no role in gov’t; showed

discontent through rebellion• Also tension between liberals/conservatives,

centralists/federalists, secularists/Catholics

Latin America (cont.)• Conflicts with indigenous: elites took land; either

assimilated or moved to marginal areas• Caudillos: regional military leaders gained power

as they maintained order through violence, plus charisma

Mexico• Various gov’ts: monarchy, republic, caudillo• Political turmoil allowed General Santa Anna to

take power• -> opposition “La reforma” to limit Catholic

Church, increase middle class -> new constitution with universal male suffrage, land reform

• 1861: President Juarez stopped paying loans -> France invaded, but was defeated 5/5/1862

Mexico (cont.)• 1910-20: Mexican Revolution – middle class, peasants,

and workers tried to overthrow dictator (Porfirio Diaz) over land issues

• -> guerrilla warfare led by Zapata and Pancho Villa (‘tierra y libertad’) -> failed to take cities, and lack of resources = failure

• But, new constitution addressed some concerns (land, universal suffrage, education, minimum

wage/maximum hours, foreign ownership restrictions) -> not implemented right away, though

Intro: American Economic Development

• 2 major influences shaped economic development: mass migration and British investment

• U.S. and Canada: industrialized• Latin America: struggled, plantations/cash crops,

slaves -> debt peonage/sharecropping

Migration to the Americas• Included Europeans, Asians, and Latin Americans (to

the U.S.)• Pull factors: gold rushes, factory, railroad, plantation

jobs, support services • All brought their cultures with them• U.S. factories: wanted low-wage, unskilled workers– Mid 1800s: Europeans - some stayed in eastern industrial

cities, some moved west for land; Chinese – in west for gold and railroads

– Late 1800s: settled in eastern cities to work in textile factories

Migration to the Americas (cont.)• Latin American plantations needed workers after

abolition• Europeans to Argentina and Brazil, Chinese to

Cuba, Indians to Caribbean, Chinese and Japanese to Peru and Hawai’i

Economic Expansion in the U.S.• British capital supported development of textile

industry, mining operations, factories, railroads• They needed new investment opportunities• Railroads:– Space: linked vast country and its resources with huge

environmental impact– Time: scheduling problems -> time zones

Economic Growth in the U.S.• 1870-1900: huge economic development• New products -> consumer demand -> more

expansion• Also, emergence of labor unions and strikes: good

for workers, not good for industrialists

Canadian Prosperity• also industrialized with aid of British investments• After Dominion formed, gov’t started National

Policy to economically develop: attract migrants, protect industry, build transport system– Railroad -> conflict with indigenous peoples and

trappers• By late 19th/early 20th centuries: economic boom in

agriculture, minerals, and industrial production• Also, increasing U.S. investment -> more

interdependence

Latin American Investments• Little industrial or economic development due to

colonial legacies: relied on European items controlled by local creole elites -> no incentive to change

• British investment: wanted profit and control, not industrialization (e.g., beef); -> urbanization

Latin American Investments (cont.)• Attempts at industrialization: limited success• Mexico: Dictator P. Diaz – railroad, telegraph,

mining, textiles, steel, etc.; modernized Mexico City

• But, profits were not reinvested; went to foreigners and elites ->

1910 revolution

Latin American Investments (cont.)• By late 1800s: economic expansion based on key

exports per country (e.g., Mexico – copper and silver, Argentine – beef and wheat, Brazil – rubber and coffee, etc.), but profits were limited

• Why didn’t they develop like U.S.? Foreign control of econ. and political instability -> slow growth

Intro: American Cultural and Social Diversity

• Lots of diversity in the Americas• Conflict (ethnic, social class, race, gender)• Lack of cultural cohesion• Conflict between Enlightenment ideals and reality

for Native Americans, African-Americans, recent migrants, and women -> repression

Societies in the U.S.• By late 19th century, very multicultural, but political

and economic power belonged to Euro-Am white elite males -> tension and conflict

• Native peoples: reservations, then further marginalization; sought to assimilate them by destroying their culture; resistance and identity

• Freed slaves: during reconstruction – civil and political rights; after -> sharecroppers, few rights, Jim Crow, segregation

Societies in the U.S. (cont.)• Women: more education and employment

opportunities, but little econ or pol progress• Migrants: -> cultural diversity, hostility from

native-born whites, concentration in districts -> de facto segregation, restrictive immigration policies

Canadian Cultural Contrasts• Ethnic diversity: British and French tension, plus

indigenous, freed slaves, Chinese migrants, and later more migrants (Euro, U.S., E. Euro.)

• 1870s-80s: westward expansion threatened natives and metis -> rebellion

Ethnicity, Identity, and Gender in Latin America

• Hierarchical distinctions based on ethnicity and skin color: top - creoles, middle - mestizos, mulattoes, zambas, castizos, and bottom – indigenous, freed slaves and descendants

• Migration led to more diversity, especially in large numbers

• Gauchos: symbol of Latin American identity• Male domination: machismo• Female role in home and marketplace, and

revolutions