The Intellectual Background Of The Revolution In South America 1810-1824

THE INTELLECTUAL BACKGROUND OF THE REVOLUTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 1810-1824 BY BERNARD MOSES, PH. D., LL. D. Professor Emeritus in the University of California, Honorary Professor in the University of Chile, Member of The Hispanic Society of America PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES NEW YORK 1926 COPYRIGHT, 1926, BY THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA VI BACKGROUND conflict with the Portuguese in Brazil. By reason of this character of colonial life, the history, in order to be inter esting, or conformable to reality, or anything more than a spiritless chron icle, must present the events grouped about certain conspicuous centres of action. It is not a consecutive story like the history of France or the history of any civilized country with a centralized government. The history of the dependencies dur ing the struggle for political emancipa tion shows a degree of unity superior to that of the previous period. The pa triots in all parts of the colonial ter ritory were in pursuit of a common end, and in this undertaking they were in conflict with the royalists. This conflict is the prominent and characteristic fact of the fourteen years of the revolu tion, but the patriots first successes were followed by the temporary tri umph of the royalists. Nevertheless the military events of the period may be PREFACE vn set forth in systematic order. Begin ning in the extremes of the colonial territory, Venezuela and Argentina, the victorious patriots advanced in the north from Venezuela into New Granada in the south, from Argentina into Chile then, from these two points the two forces, under Bolivar and San Martin, moved upon Peru, the territory of the most ancient viceroyalty of South America and the laststronghold of Spanish power. Here the patriots vic tory was complete, the Spanish forces were scattered, and the ancient depend encies were delivered over to men who had then most of the practical lessons in governing still to learn. Behind the practical enterprises of the revolution there was a body of thought and opinion, forming the intel lectual background of the revolution. It is the purpose of the following brief chapters to sketch this background another hand may fill it in with the proper colours. CONTENTS IX CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE . v CHAPTER I THE MENTAL ATTITUDE OF THE COLONISTS IN SPANISH SOUTH AMERICA . CHAPTER II INFLUX OF FOREIGN IDEAS . .28 CHAPTER III THE SPIRIT OF THE CREOLES ... 50 CHAPTER IV THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH . . 66 CHAPTER V MONTEACUDO AND THE PERIODICALS OF BUENOS AIRES . .86 CHAPTER VI CAMILO HENRIQUEZ AND LA AURORA DE CHILE ... .... 96 BACKGROUND The following pages do not deal es pecially with the external events of the revolution, but present the colonial mind in the process of acquiring ideas of liberty in a word, the intellectual back ground of the struggle for emanci pation. The difference between the colonial mind and the mind of the ancestral nation is largely the result of the colo nists environment, of their great ex pectations, and of their freedom from the social conventions of their mother country. Under these influences the colonial mind acquires its peculiar char acter. In the presence of nature at the frontier of civilization, where no ar tificial institutions or ancient social forms contribute to maintain personal or class distinctions, where property is enerally the result of the personal ef forts of the owners, where the amounts held bythe several inhabitants do not vary greatly, there exists a natural tendency towards the development of