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- 1830-1920
- Part IV - Conclusion
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- Latin America, because of its early winning of independence and entry
into the world economy, provides a useful example for study of the
problems faced by underdeveloped nations.
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- Their experience grew from the influences of their Hispanic cultural
heritage.
- When independence came, the European models of economy, law, and
government failed to bring either prosperity or social harmony.
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- Latin Americans often compared their experiences with those of the
United States.
- Answers for the questions increasingly were sought in analyses of a
world economic and political system.
- They turned to modernization theory, a following of the path taken in
western Europe.
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- Modernization theory: the belief that the more industrialized, urban,
and modern a society became, the more social change and improvement were
possible as traditional patterns and attitudes were abandoned or
transformed.
- Dependency theory: the belief that development and underdevelopment were
not stages but were part of the same process; that development and
growth of areas like western Europe were achieved at the expense of
underdevelopment of dependent regions like Latin America.
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- Refinements of the theories led to an acceptance of the dependency
theory that foresaw development and underdevelopment as part of the same
process.
- The process of theorizing continues to this day.
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- The increasing demand in industrializing Europe stimulated Latin
American economic growth.
- Liberal ideology, individual freedom, open markets, and limited
government intervention in the economy prepared the way for expansion.
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- This liberal ideology was adopted by the small urban middle class,
landholders, miners, and export merchants.
- These groups forged political alliances to direct governments in their
favor at the expense of the peasants and working class.
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- Export products fueled the expansion and provided resources for imports
of foreign manufactures and local development projects.
- It was always a risky business since market prices were dependent on
outside conditions.
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- The capital brought in was useful, but it placed key industries under
foreign control, and it influenced the internal and external policies of
governments.
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- In Mexico in 1876 Porfirio Díaz was elected president
- Diaz dominated politics for the next 35 years.
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- Díaz imposed a strong central government and utilized foreign capital
for internal infrastructure development and industrialization.
- His administration subverted liberal democratic principles to preserve
power and continue modernization.
- Opposition was suppressed and growth occurred at the expense of the
peasantry and working class.
- When strikes and unrest increased a national police force and the army
kept order.
- Regional political bosses rigged elections in support of the regime.
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- By 1910 a middle class reform movement emerged and sought electoral
reform.
- Other opposition groups joined it and a bloody ten-year civil war
followed.
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- In Argentina another path of economic expansion was followed.
- Buenos Aires and the rest of the nation worked together after 1880 to
bring expansion and stability.
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- Technological change - especially refrigerated ships for exporting meat
–helped the process; labor came from a flood of immigrants.
- By 1914 one-third of the population was foreign-born.
- They fused their various European identities into a distinct culture.
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- Workers wanted political expression and in the 1890s a socialist party
formed.
- Strikes and government repression marked the decade after 1910.
- The Argentinean oligarchy attempted some reforms, but in the end most
failed.
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- A party representing the emerging middle class, the Radical Party, took
shape.
- Aided by the reforms of an electoral law of 1912 it came to power in
1916.
- When it met labor unrest the party was as repressive as its
predecessors.
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- Similar patterns occurred in the economic and political life of the rest
of Latin America.
- Ruling oligarchies of the traditional aristocracies allied with the
middle classes faced rising labor and rural unrest and rebellion.
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- American political and economic interest in Latin America grew after the
Civil War.
- The Spanish-American War of 1898 brought the United States directly into
Latin American affairs.
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- Fought between Spain and the United States, the war resulted in the
annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippines and permitted American
intervention in the Caribbean.
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- American investment in Cuba predated the war, and following it, the door
was open for direct involvement in the Caribbean.
- Cuba became an American economic dependent and Puerto Rico was annexed.
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- When Colombia was reluctant to meet American proposals for building the
Panama Canal, the United States backed a revolution in Panama in return
for the exclusive rights for a canal across the Panamanian isthmus.
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- As a consequence of starting the Spanish-American War and provoking a
war in Columbia over the Panama Canal, Latin Americans became very
suspicious of the expansionist United States.
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- Despite all of the economic, social, and political changes occurring in
Latin America after independence its countries remained remarkably
unchanged.
- Revolutions and reforms changed little.
- The elite held on to control of economic resources and the urban sector
was weak and often accommodated the elite.
- Most of the population worked the land without hope of improvement.
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