The Independence of Spanish America

by Jaime E. Rodríguez

Overview

This book provides a new interpretation of the process of Spanish American independence (1808-1826); one that emphasizes political processes and cultural continuities, instead of the break with Spain. It is the first book to examine the representative government and popular elections introduced by the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Rodríguez O. argues that independence did not constitute an anticolonial movement, as many scholars assert, but rather formed part of the broader Spanish political revolution. In America, supporters of the government in Spain struggled with local juntas for control.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521622981
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/13/1998
Series:	Cambridge Latin American Studies , #84
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.13(h) x 0.83(d)

Table of Contents

Preface to the English edition; Introduction; 1. Spanish America; 2. Revolution in the Spanish World; 3. The Birth of Representative Government; 4. Civil War in America; 5. Independence; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"Sweeping in its analysis of the versatile political traditions that apparently spannes the far-flung Spanish monarchy, The Independence of Spanish America remains unusual among books of its class for its tandem focus on the examples of New Spain (Mexico) and Quito (Ecuador), and for successfully resisting ‘the assumption that what occurred had to happen.'" Choice

"Jaime E. Rodriéguez O.'s comprehensively researched account of the independence period in Spanish America is the most important work of synthesis on the subject since John Lynch's The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826(1973). His careful narrative of the events of the independence period...can certainly be recommended to anyone approaching the subject for the first time." Simon Collier, American Historical Review

"...Rodríguez provides an excellent melding of intellectual, legal, constitutional, and political aspects of the dissolution of the Spanish Monarchy and the birth of its first national successors." The International History Review

From the Publisher