Americanos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Americanos - Essay Example The forces that inculcated a desire in the Americans to gain independence, the causes of conflicts among troops, and the consent of leaders have all been well captured in the book. â€Å"Chasteen's book joins a long list of highly regarded and influential English-language surveys of the independence period† (Blanchard). Summary: The book explains how the Portugese and Spanish colonies struggled to gain independence in America. In the start of 19th century, Napoleon conquered Portugal and Spain. This event in Europe brought about many consequences throughout the world. The event sparked a whole range of revolutions everywhere in the Portugese and Spanish empires in the New World. The world history underwent an altogether turn. The independence wars ultimately led to the development of 19 independent republics in America. Some of the most well known leaders of the times like Father Hidalgo, Father Morelos, and Bernardo O'Higgins have been identified along with some not so well k nown women like Manuela Saenz, Juana Azurduy, and Leona Vicario that had played important roles in the overall independence movement. It has been discussed in the book that by the time the wars neared end, the Latin American independence leaders acknowledged the classical liberal principles. In particular, the popular principles of self-determination and sovereignty were embraced. The global reach of values of the Western politics expanded permanently as a result of it. In the years that preceded the independence, the whole colonial society was categorized on the basis of caste. There were europeos, mestizos, americanos, pardos, Indians and blacks. Among them, the europeos were considered as the â€Å"most pure† group. The term, â€Å"Americano† got redefined after huge struggle so as to include non-europeo people. To define America's rainbow of castes as the Americano people recognized the truth on the ground, but it also created a new truth, an airy but potent abstra ction. That abstraction was the Sovereign People, who deserved nothing less than a government of, by, and for the people. (Chasteen 2). The redefinition of americanos went against Spansih colonialists. Many new nations also got influenced in Latin America because of that, and adopted a republican form that was equipped with all trappings of the liberal rule. That is why today, a vast majority of the oldest functioning republics of the world are from Latin America, and are still caught in disturbed political legacy since their birth. Critical analysis: Chasteen has adequately synthesized all major events and identified all key individuals that had played an important role in the wars of independence between 1805-1830. The chief battles and events have been described quite straightforwardly. Figures have been accompanied with biographical information that make it a colorful and balanced portrayal of history. Chasteen has fundamentally made use of secondary sources. Therefore, the book basically offers a makeup of existing scholarship and can not be regarded as an â€Å"addition† to the existing body of literature. However, Americanos is undoubtedly, a valuable addition to the existing scholarship of the history of Latin America. The book mostly presents the state of the art awareness in a clear manner. There are no groundbreaking advances or realization of