Brazil’s road to independence was different from that of its latin american neighbors in that

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In most Latin American countries, there was a revolution in form of a war (with battles and casualties). Independence was desired by the common people but not by the elite. In Brazil it's the legitimate leader - regent Dom Pedro - who declared independence (from his father). In this way the independence came "from above".

Bethell traced back the first time the term "America Latina" was used to the middle of the 19th century. The concept referred to Spanish America alone; it was not meant to include Brazil. Moreover, Brazil was isolated from its Latin American neighbors by geography, history, political structures, racial composition, culture and, above all, language.

With its long Atlantic coastal line, Brazil was part of the Atlantic world and its interests were tied to Europe, especially Great Britain. During the first half of the 20th century, the United States replaced Britain as the "central pillar of Brazil's foreign policy," Bethell noted. Meanwhile, Spanish-speaking countries had little interest in Brazil and grew suspicious of U.S. imperialism, especially after the Spanish-American War.

"From my reading of the intellectual history of this period, surprisingly few Spanish-American intellectuals who thought about América Latina thought that it had anything to do with Brazil," Bethell said. "The great majority continued to exclude Brazil from what they thought of as Nuestra América and América Latina." And Brazilians regarded Spanish America as the ‘other' America. Many felt closer affinities with the United States than with Spanish America.

Brazil as part of Latin America

Except on the Left – and this was an important exception - few Brazilian intellectuals thought about Latin America and, when they did, they still did not think Brazil was part of it. And for the most part, Bethell said, Brazilian governments were not much interested in Latin America - and vice-versa. At the same time, Brazil's relations with the United States became more problematic.

In the past 20 years since the end of the Cold War, there have been two major developments in Brazil's relationship with the region, Bethell stated: "While maintaining its position in the OAS [Organization of American States] and attending all the summits of the Americas, Brazil resisted the U.S. agenda for integration of the Americas… while for the first time in its history Brazil actively pursued a policy of engagement with all its immediate neighbors and began to see itself as a regional leader." However, the region was now South America, more than Latin America, Bethell underlined.

Nevertheless, in Hershberg's view, Brazil and Latin America share similar recent histories and challenges. "When I think about Brazil in a Latin American context, as a political scientist, I look at the period from just before the Second World War to the present and see recurrent themes that are at the forefront of debates in Brazil and practices in Brazil that are quintessentially Latin American," Hershberg said, referring, for example, to populism, military rule, democratization, and neoliberalism.

The text article Leslie Bethell's presented at the seminar was published in Portuguese in Revista de Estudos Históricos (CPDOC, Fundação Getúlio Vargas) and is available at: http://virtualbib.fgv.br/ojs/index.php/reh/article/view/2590/1543 . The original version, in English, will appear in the Journal of Latin American Studies.

By Renata Johnson
Paulo Sotero, Brazil Institute

Latin American Revolutions:Pre-Test

Coup d'etats are most often

The man in the picture, Padre Miguel Hidalgo, is noted for

beginning the Mexican independence movement.

In Spanish Latin America, people who were of mixed European and Indian ancestry were called

The pie chart shows that the population of enslaved people in Saint Dominique was

larger than the number of free whites and non-whites combined.

The passage shows that L'Ouverture believed that freed enslaved persons would

rather die than go back to being enslaved.

Brazil's road to independence was different from that of its Latin American neighbors in that

criollos signed a petition and asked the king's son, Don Pedro, to rule.

What was the economy of Saint Dominique dependent upon? Check all that apply.

sugar plantations enslaved Africansstrenuous Manuel laborruthless plantation owners

Who sparked the independence movement in Mexico?

mestizos and American Indians

Augustine de Iturbides was able to declare independence from Spain while also proclaiming himself emperor in part because

that was the type of government the Spanish colonists were used to.

The passage shows that the author was most likely someone who was

Which best explains why some plantation owners punished enslaved persons?

to keep them as helpless as possible

African enslaved persons outnumbered free people 10 to 1 in Saint-Domingue, which led to

a massive and successful uprising.

General Toussaint L'Ouverture died in a ______ prison in 1804, after leading the revolution in Haiti.

When Napoleon seized the Spanish throne replaced it with a French king, criollos in Latin America

believed the people should take control.

Saint Dominique, a French colony in the Caribbean Sea where 100,000 slaves rebelled, became a country called

Bolívar had hoped for a unified state in Latin America, but

instead Latin America was divided into Columbia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

The pie chart shows that the population of enslaved people in Saint Dominique was

larger than the number of free whites and non-whites combined.

Bolivar had hoped for a unified state in Latin America, but

instead Latin America was divided into Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Saint Dominique, a French colony in the Caribbean Sea where 100,000 slaves rebelled, became a country called

The man in the picture, Padre Miguel Hidalgo, is noted for

beginning the Mexican independence movement.

General Toussaint L'Ouverture died in a ____ prison in 1804, after leading the revolution in Haiti.

African enslaved persons outnumbered free people 10 to 1 in Saint-Domingue, which led to

a massive and successful uprising.

What was the economy of Saint Dominique dependent upon? Check all that apply.

sugar plantationsenslaved Africansstrenuous manual laborruthless plantation owners

Who sparked the independence movement in Mexico?

mestizos and American Indians

Brazil's road to independence was different from that of its Latin American neighbors in that

criollos signed a petition and asked the king's son, Don Pedro, to rule.

When Napoleon seized the Spanish throne and replaced it with a French king, criollos in Latin America

believed the people should take control.

Political instability in the emerging Latin American countries was due in part to

conflicting views on government.

In Spanish Latin America, people who were of mixed European and Indian ancestry were called

Read the passage.I declare to you to re-establish slavery would be to attempt the impossible: we have known how to face dangers to obtain our liberty, we shall know how to brave death to maintain it. Toussaint L'Ouverture, 1797The passage shows that L'Ouverture believed that freed enslaved persons would

rather die than go back to being enslaved.

What is the name of this man, who led the 1791 revolt in Haiti?

Which best explains why some plantation owners punished enslaved persons?

to keep them as helpless as possible.

Look at the chart.The pie chart shows that the population of enslaved people in Saint Dominique was

larger than the number of free whites and non-whites combined.

The Napoleonic Wars in Europe prompted which groups to declare independence in Spanish Latin America?

African enslaved persons outnumbered free people 10 to 1 in Saint-Domingue, which led to

a massive and successful uprising.

In Spanish Latin America, people who were of mixed European and Indian ancestry were called

Read the passage.The Africans transplanted to Saint Domingue remain in general indolent and idle, quarrelsome and talkative, and liars, and are addicted to stealing. Always given to the most absurd superstitions, there is nothing which does not frighten them more or less.— A Civilization That Perished: The Last Years of White Colonial Rule in Haiti, 1797The passage shows that the author was most likely someone who was

Brazil's road to independence was different from that of its Latin American neighbors in that

criollos signed a petition and asked the king's son, Don Pedro, to rule.

Bolívar had hoped for a unified state in Latin America, but

instead Latin America was divided into Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Saint Dominique, a French colony in the Caribbean Sea where 100,000 slaves rebelled, became a country called__ .

Which best explains why some plantation owners punished enslaved persons?

to keep them as helpless as possible

The term criollos refers to the people of Latin America who were

of mixed European and African ancestry.{WRONG}

The coup d'etats in Latin American left the new governments

What was the economy of Saint Dominique dependent upon? Check all that apply.

sugar plantationsenslaved Africansstrenuous manual laborruthless plantation owners

Augustin de Iturbide was able to declare independence from Spain while also proclaiming himself emperor in part because

that was the type of government the Spanish colonists were used to.

When Napoleon seized the Spanish throne and replaced it with a French king, criollos in Latin America

believed the people should take control.

People born in Latin America but educated in Europe

What Latin American country won its independence in a bloodless revolution?

Two priests helped steer what country toward independence?

What are the names of the two priests that helped steer Mexico toward independence?

Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Maria Morelos

What was the first black colony to gain independence from European control?

What are the names of the two former slaves who led the revolt in Haiti?

Toussaint L'Ouverture and Jean Jacques Dessalines

What Latin American country traded a European monarchy for a local monarchy?

Who were the peninsulars?

People born in the Iberian peninsula but live in Latin America

About how many slaves were in Haiti at the time of the revolt?

Toussant L'Ouverture wanted what Enlightened idea for his country?

Haiti was an important colony to France because of what?

Because of its resources to be used for financial gain

What is the French name for the island of Haiti

What is the name of the military officer who helped liberate parts of Spanish speaking South America?

Padre Miguel Hidalgo helped lead the independence movement in what Latin American country?

What country had the only successful slave revolt in history?

Who are the two brilliant creole generals who led several Latin American countries to independence?

Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin

Where were Europeans and indigenous peoples were frequently fighting against each other?

Who helped spread ideas of Enlightenment to Latin America?