The Independence Of Spanish America

This book provides a new interpretation of Spanish American independence, emphasising political processes.

"Clearly laid out in this book is an insightful interpretation of a pivotal era in world history. The turbulent history of the independence movements is set forth with attention to key figures and their ideologies, regional differences, and the legacy of the wars of independence."--BOOK JACKET.

This volume of readings examines the revolutions, civil wars, guerrilla struggles, insurgencies, counter-insurgencies, and interventions of this period. Offering a solid perspective on the Independence period, The Wars of Independence is an excellent text for Latin American survey courses and courses focusing on the colonial era.

During the period from 1808 to 1826, the Spanish empire was convulsed by wars throughout its dominions in Iberia and the Americas. The conflicts began in Spain, where Napoleon’s invasion triggered a war of national resistance. The collapse of the Spanish monarchy provoked challenges to the colonial regime in virtually all of Spain's American provinces, and colonial demands for autonomy and independence led to political turbulence and violent confrontation on a transcontinental scale. During the two decades after 1808, Spanish America witnessed warfare on a scale not seen since the conquests three centuries earlier. War and Independence in Spanish America provides a unified account of war in Spanish America during the period after the collapse of the Spanish government in 1808. McFarlane traces the courses and consequences of war, combining a broad narrative of the development and distribution of armed conflict with analysis of its characteristics and patterns. He maps the main arenas of war, traces the major campaigns by and crucial battles between rebels and royalists, and places the military conflicts in the context of international political change. Readers will come away with a fully realized understanding of how war and military mobilization affected Spanish American societies and shaped the emerging independent states.

Latin America's quest for independence is revealed through the national struggles of Mexico, Spanish Central and South America, and Brazil. Excerpted from the Cambridge History of Latin America.

Process of Independence in Spanish America examined from various angles, focusing on the consequences of the wars of independence.

The Independence of Latin America is a selection of chapters from the Cambridge History of Latin America Volume 3. The first chapter deals with the origins of independence from Spain; the next two consider the struggle for independence in Mexico and Central America and in Spanish South America. The independence of Brazil is discussed in a separate chapter, while the final chapters examine the relationship of the newly independent countries with the rest of the world and the role of the Church in the independence of Latin America.