Life in Latin Americans after the independence movements in the 1820’s
Latin America spans throughout North to South. The revolutions witnessed in America and France in the late 18th century sparked independence movements through out the entire Latin America. Freedom fighters and leaders of Latin America wanted reforms for their people. Majority of the Latin America states gained independence in the years 1810-1825. The locals were against the colonial practices which were abusive and were searching for self terminating. (Kagan, 816)
After independence, Simon Bolivar, one of the revolutionary leaders attempted to form a confederation that was similar to that on of the USA. However these failed and Republican governments were set up in most countries. After the failure of this plan, the newly formed state governments failed. The new governments experienced troubles in running them since the leaders lacked experience. The failure led to political instability, hence the rise of several military rulers in Latin America.
Independence in Latin America came with change in power, both political and economic, from the colonialist to the ne class of domestic elites. There was no change in social relations. Though the revolutions witnessed in this states was partly because of the need to abolish slave trade, it was not abolished. It continued in earnest. The women of Latin America too failed to get their rights. The positions of the peasants and Indians went from bad to worse. The situation was only bettered when the former colonial masters intervened.
The power structure established by the colonial masters persisted. During the colonial times, there was the continued use of black slaves to exploit natural resources. This happened despite the fact that most of the revolutions arose to oppose them.
Majority of these leaders later formed majority of the military leaderships. The military leaderships were very oppressive and prevented over 95% of the male population from getting involved. The elite took advantage of the illiterate asses and were pushing the indigenous populations out of the lands to create more lands for agriculture. Even with the majority of Latin American nation gaining independence, many of their inhabitants still lived in abject poverty.
Economy of dependence and its impact on Latin America economic development
Economy of dependence is a term used to refer to a situation where poor developing and developed countries interact economically. It holds that the developing continually feed the more developed countries. The developing countries feed the more advanced economies with very minimal compensation.
The economy of dependence has impacted on the economic development of Latin America. For instance it has resulted into the widening differences in incomes within and across national boundaries. The redistribution of income in favour of the more developed countries has caused this. (Cardoso, 34)
It has also resulted into the relative decline in Gross Domestic Product of Latin American between 1820-70 compared to the United States and other Western European countries. The integration of Latin American countries into the world economy brought not gains over the long run but they experienced higher internal inequality.
The impact of economy of dependence on the economic development of Latin American countries is not only negative. There are some positive consequences which have been witnessed. The transfer of technology and expertise from the core to these countries is some of the positive impacts experienced by these nations.
It can also be said that economy of dependence has opened up room for direct foreign investment in this countries. This has provided employment for the locals who could otherwise be unemployed.
Works cited
Kagan, et al. Heritage of World Civilizations. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2009 print
Cardoso, H. and Faletto, E. Dependency and development in Latin America. California: University of California Press. 1979 print
