The United States War of Independence had nothing in common with the Latin American Wars of Independence. Assess the validity of this statement.

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The Independences of the Americas

“The United States War of Independence had nothing in common with the Latin American Wars of Independence”. Assess the validity of this statement.

Jack Tomlinson

25/09/08

IB History of the Americas HL

The American Revolution was one of the most influential independences in the world, as it encompassed the majority of the world at the time, the colonists, the Spanish, the French the British Crown. The colonists were rebelling against the British Crown for mainly the idea that the taxes were unbearable and that the Patriots, or the group that wanted independence, thought that independence was necessary to escape British control.  However they did not have the power necessary to confront the British, as they were the most powerful military force at the time, and thus they asked for assistance from foreign aid, which in this case was the French. The French agreed to the call for aid and thus called upon their ties with the Spanish to help them topple the greatest military power at the time, the British Crown. A similar dilemma was occurring in Latin America as there were groups that sought independence from the Spanish Crown due to the mercantilist policies and conflicts arose between the Patriots and the Royalists, those that were loyal to the Spanish Monarchy and thus great wars were fought for the Independences of Latin America. One can make certain parallels with these two wars. The America War for Independence and the Latin American Wars for Independence retained certain parallels, both sought to throw off the rule of a mother country whose mercantilist system hindered the further development of a rapidly growing colonial economy, both were led by well educated elites who drew their slogans and ideas from the Enlightenment and both were civil wars in which large elements of the population sided with the mother country.

One existing parallel of the American Revolution and the Latin American Revolutions is that both of these revolutions “sought to throw off the rule of a mother country whose mercantilist system hindered the further development of a rapidly growing colonial economy” (Haynes, 166). The mercantile system was a form of economic nationalism that called for strict governmental regulation of trade and commerce and held that the sole function of colonies was to enrich the mother country by furnishing raw materials, gold, and silver, as well as exclusive markets for goods produced by the mother country. After the French and Indian War, the British were in tremendous debt and needed to pay those debts urgently, as such the Grenville Ministry attempted to acquire a fixed income from the colonies. The ministry first reinstated the mercantilist system which was to gain income from the colonies. The ministry then passed the Navigation Acts.
“The Navigation Acts, created between 1660 and 1760 by the British Parliament, exemplify mercantilism’s policies. The Acts forbade English trade on anything but English vessels in English ports and commodities made within the colonies (like sugar and tobacco) had to be shipped within Empire.”(Axelrod, 63).The ministry issued the Sugar Act of 1764 which “purpose was to raise revenue for the British Government” (Axelrod, 68).  Additionally the Grenville Ministry passed the Stamp Act which added additional income for Great Britain by taxing all legal documents and papers but was later repealed due to the revolts that were to follow.  Several other taxes were put into effect so Great Britain could maintain a firm control on the colonies and their growing economy, such as the Quartering Act, which “required the colonies to provide barracks and supplies for British troops” (Axelrod, 64) and the Currency Act which “prohibited colonies from issuing their own currency” (Axelrod, 60). These acts would later lead to the first protests against “taxation without representation” (Axelrod, 69). Ultimately the combination of these taxes would result in the revolution of the colonists and would eventually gain their independence and freedom from the mercantilist system in 1783. The Spanish Monarchy applied a similar system towards its colonies in South America. “The Spanish used three mercantilist devices to protect their commercial monopoly in the New World. They prohibited foreign ships from entering Spanish colonial ports, and no foreigner could send goods to the colonies or take gold bullion out of Spain in payment for goods sold to Spanish merchants without having a special license. Thus, the Spaniards gained the middleman's profit on all European goods going to their colonies, since such goods had to be funneled through Spain.  Theoretically, the colonies were designed to be economically complementary to Spain. Manufacturing was forbidden in certain colonies to keep the market open for imports. The economic health of the colony was always a secondary consideration. All colonial trade was channeled through a single port, first Seville until 1720, and then Cadiz. After 1765 this policy was relaxed to allow trade by other Spanish ports.” (Rempel, lecture) Ultimately both of the Independences of North and South America occurred because of the mercantilist policies that the Mother country had inflicted upon their colonies.

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Another existing parallel of these two independences is that both of them were lead by intellectuals that believed in the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment is defined simply as the philosophical movement of the eighteenth century that celebrated reason - clarity of thought and statement, scientific thinking, and a person's ability to perfect oneself. The American Revolution was lead by intellectuals such as Benjamin Franklin. This man had an important role in the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, “with three other members of the Committee of Correspondence set up by Congress in November 1775 to make contact with our friends abroad , met ...

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