Latin America since Independence: Two Centuries of Continuity and Change

by Thomas C. Wright University of Nevada, Las, Robert L. Smale

Overview

This book offers an innovative, thematic approach to the history of Latin America since independence. It traces continuity and change in colonial legacies that became central political issues following independence: authoritarian governance; a rigid social hierarchy based on race, color, and gender; the powerful Roman Catholic Church; economic dependency; and the large landed estate. Generally, liberals have sought to modify or abolish these legacies in the interest of what they consider progress, while conservatives have attempted to preserve them as much as possible as bastions of their power and privilege. Examining the evolution of these colonial legacies across two centuries reveals the processes that formed the political systems, economies, societies, and religious institutions that characterize Latin America today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538166215
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/15/2022
Series:	Latin American Silhouettes
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.26(h) x 1.03(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas C. Wright is distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Robert L. Smale is associate professor of history at the University of Missouri.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Acronyms

Map of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

Map of South America

Introduction

Part I: Colonial Roots

1Origins of the Colonial Legacies

Part II: Independence and Its Challenges, 1790s–1870s

2The Independence of Latin America

3The Age of Caudillos

Reflections on the Colonial Legacies, 1790s–1870s

Part III: Exports, Oligarchies, and Yankees, 1870s–1930

4The Export Economies

5Political Consolidation and Social Change

6Rise of the Yankee

Reflections on the Colonial Legacies, 1870s–1930

Part IV: Revolution, Depression, and Cold War, 1930–1959

7The Mexican Revolution

8Depression, Political Change, and Cold War

Reflections on the Colonial Legacies, 1930–1959

Part V: Revolution and Reaction, 1959–2000

9The Cuban Revolution

10 The Cuban Revolution, Latin America, and the United States

11 Repression, State Terrorism, and Neoliberalism

Reflections on the Colonial Legacies, 1959–2000

Part VI: Contemporary Latin America, 2000–Present

12 The Colonial Legacies in the Twenty-First Century

Reflections on the Colonial Legacies, 2000–Present

Conclusion: Colonial Legacies and Today’s Latin America

Select Bibliography: Books in English

Index

Editorial Reviews

Exploring continuity and change in key institutions and practices of Latin America’s colonial past, Wright and Smale skillfully blend the influence of international and regional politics with the idiosyncrasies of national development after 1810. The text provides a highly readable introduction to Latin American political, social, and economic history from the Spanish and Portuguese conquests and settlement in the Western Hemisphere into the first decades of the twenty-first century.

Brian Loveman

Thomas C. Wright and Robert L. Smale have written an engaging, intelligent, and valuable history of modern Latin America that will benefit students and specialists alike. Latin American since Independence places the region in a global context but also captures its great diversity and dynamism.

Charles Walker

This book offers a balanced blend of perspectives sustained by thoughtful recognition of the diversity of the experiences of the peoples of Latin America addressed within the context of a shared history. The proposition of continuity and change is expertly deployed as an imaginative framework for a commanding history of Latin America.

Louis A. Pérez Jr.

This book offers a balanced blend of perspectives sustained by thoughtful recognition of the diversity of the experiences of the peoples of Latin America addressed within the context of a shared history. The proposition of continuity and change is expertly deployed as an imaginative framework for a commanding history of Latin America.

Louis A. Pérez

Thomas Wright has provided a sweeping survey of two hundred years of Latin American history spanning postcolonial times to the post–Cold War years. His book renders comprehensible the complexities of diverse histories without diminishing the importance of a common experience—and excels as an introductory text.

Louis A. Pérez Jr.

In this panoramic study of Latin America since independence, Thomas Wright critically examines processes of continuity and change in crucial colonial legacies through two hundred years of postcolonial history. The book is invaluable for understanding the historical weight of many cultural traits, attitudes, values, practices, and institutions that crystalized in colonial times and have continued to influence two centuries of independent life. In clear and incisive language, it threads together complex political, socioeconomic, religious, and cultural developments, clarifying macroregional processes while providing detailed analyses of all the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Americas. Textboxes, maps, images, and suggestions for further reading make it a persuasive learning tool. Highly recommended for any comprehensive course on Latin America.

Luis Roniger

This fresh introduction to Latin American history offers an enlightening and distinctly twenty-first-century perspective for students and general readers in our globalized world. Over two centuries, Wright shows, the international order has at every stage shaped five long-persisting features of the region’s colonial legacy and made its societies what they are today.

Alexander Wilde