Index

Summary

The structural crisis of the implanted societies lasted from the end of the eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. It should be borne in mind that the timings are not precise, nor do they apply to all the societies described in this General History of Latin America. They reflect general trends, the validity of which is not incompatible with sectoral particularities that are far from negligible. .

To appreciate the significance of the subject of this volume, we must remember certain basic issues: the thrust of the work is an attempt to formulate a history of societies, rather than nations or States, on the basis that nations and States are part of the historical development of societies.

Although chronological divisions of the subject are a necessary means of partitioning the historical continuum, they are not arbitrary. It is possible, and may even be necessary, to trace back the signs of the structural crisis of implanted Latin American societies to well before the end of the eighteenth century. This should be understood as an open process that includes various states of development, according to the society under consideration.

The above applies to implanted Latin American societies, also known as Creole societies. Yet these are not and never were the only societies in Latin America. The prior existence of societies with varying levels of social organization and territorial control has maintained an active presence that has proved crucial at certain times and in some ways. This has generated a network of relations which, although they are also part of the history of implanted societies, are treated separately herein, despite the major methodological and heuristic difficulties involved.

Especially in this period, it is impossible to consider the General History of Latin America without paying particular attention to the Caribbean islands. It has therefore been so considered, but without forgetting that this is a specific part of the General History of the Caribbean, which is also promoted and sponsored by UNESCO. As to the importance of this period in the overall picture of Latin American history, it is the touchstone for any critical evaluation of the long period that preceded it, usually referred to as the Spanish colonial era. However, it is no less important to an understanding of republican history, as factors that have been and continue to be crucial to the formation of the modern republic in Latin America culminated, emerged or were strengthened with independence.

It can be no exaggeration to say that the period known as “Independence” is the most controversial in the history of Latin America. It could even be claimed that, following a never-ending controversy, there is still no reasonable degree of historiographic consensus about any important aspect of this period. The same or similar could be said of other complex historical processes of the modern period. Examples of this could include the Napoleonic campaigns and their long-term political and social repercussions, as well as the independence of the British colonies in North America.

What is particular to Latin American independence is the confluence of socio-historical factors and political and ideological movements, which resulted in a clash and outcome that tightened the knot of complexity.

Across the entire continent, the crisis of Christian monarchy and its colonies was played out using ideas and weapons for almost three decades. The largest and oldest empire of the modern world was dismantled, to make way for the most ambitious undertaking to create nation States. The results of the longest and most diverse and extensive enterprise to implant a society were put to the test; cultures and civilizations that had been confronted and combined for three centuries were joined together; social theories and concepts of humanity and the individual that were in vogue at the time were put into practice; and contributions in keeping with the specificities of Latin America were made to such theories, all as part of a collective creative impulse symbolized by the Creole Simón Bolívar. In short, this represents a complex set of meanings that can only be interpreted using certain keys, without which it is impossible to capture the deeper meanings of historical events, and efforts at interpretation are in vain.