Slavery in Latin America Essay -- Latin American History Slavery Essay

Slavery in Latin America chilly History Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th cent., the Araucanians had considerable been in control of the land in the southern part of the region in the north, the inhabitants were ru take by the Inca empire. Diego de Almagro, who was sent by Francisco Pizarro from Peru to explore the southern region, led a party of men through the Andes into the central lowlands of Chile but was un booming (1536) in establishing a foothold there. In 1540, Pedro de Valdivia marched into Chile and, despite audacious resistance from the Araucanians, founded Santiago (1541) and later established La Serena, Concepcin, and Valdivia. After an initial period of incessant state of warfare with the natives, the Spanish succeeded in subjugating the indigenous population.Although Chile was subfusc to the Spanish because of its isolation from Peru to the north and its lack of precious metals (copper was disc overed much later), the Spanish developed a pastoral soci ety there based on large ranches and haciendas worked by indigenous people the yields were shipped to Peru. During the long colonial era, the mestizos became a tenant farmer class, called inquilinos although technically free, approximately were in practice bound to the soil.During most of the colonial period Chile was a captaincy general dependent upon the viceroyalty of Peru, but in 1778 it became a separate division virtually independent of Peru. territorial reserve limits were ill-defined and were the cause, after independence, of long-drawn-out boundary disputes with Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. The movement toward independence began in 1810 under the leadership of Juan Martnez de Rozas and Bernardo OHiggins. The first phase (1810-14) ended in defeat at Rancagua, largely because of the rivalry of OHiggins with Jos Miguel Carrera and his brothers. In 1817, Jos de San Martn, with incredible hardship, brought an army over the Andes from Argentina to Chile. The following year he w on the decisive battle of Maip over the Spaniards.The New Nation OHiggins, who had been chosen supreme director, formally proclaimed Chiles independence Feb. 12, 1818, at Talca and established a military autocracy that characterized the republics politics until 1833 OHiggins ruled Chile from 1818 until 1823, when strong opposition to his policies forced him to resign. During this time the Britis... ... an underdeveloped country met with little success, although great personal fortunes were amassed from tin mining by tycoons such as Simn I. Patio.Conflicting claims to the Chaco, which was thought to be oil-rich, brought on yet another disastrous territorial war, this time with Paraguay (1932-35). The fighting ended in 1935 with both nations exhausted and Bolivia overcome and stripped of most of its claims in that area. Programs for curing the ills of the nation were hampered by military coups and countercoups. World War II proved a boon to the Bolivian sparing by increasing demand s for tin and wolframite. International pressure over pro-German elements in the government eventually forced Bolivia to break relations with the Axis and declare war (1943).Rising prices aggravated the restiveness of the miners over miserable working conditions strikes were brutally suppressed. The crisis reached a peak in Dec., 1943, when the nationalistic, pro-miner National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) engineered a successful revolt. The regime, however, was not recognized by other American nations (except Argentina) until 1944, when pro-Axis elements in the MNR were officially removed.