Independence in Spanish America: Civil Wars, Revolutions, and Underdevelopment (Dialogos)

Sixteen nations emerged from the violent and cataclysmic wars in Spanish America in the early nineteenth century. In overturning Spain's control of the Americas, such great military leaders as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin unleashed both civil wars and revolutions between 1810 and 1824. the liberators set themselves up to govern the new states they created but quickly failed as rulers. They succumbed, in part, to change resulting from independence itself -- a new political order.

Military campaigns directed against Spain split the colonists into royalists and patriots, resulting in a decade of civil wars. The newly formed nations simultaneously embraced capitalism and liberalism, but divisions persisted over the purpose of government, economics, and society. Clearly laid out in this account 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.

Jay Kinsbruner is professor of history at Queens College of the City University of New York.