The struggle for independence in Latin America had lasted far longer and proved far more destructive than in North America. Decimated populations, diminished herds of livestock, flooded or closed silver mines, abandoned farms, shrinking international trade and investment capital, and empty national treasuries—
Within these new countries, political life was turbulent and unstable. Conservatives favored centralized authority and sought to maintain the social status quo of the colonial era in alliance with the Catholic Church, which at independence owned perhaps half of all productive land. Their often-
During the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution generated an enormous and unprecedented economic division in the world, as measured by the share of manufacturing output. What patterns can you see in this table?30
SHARE OF TOTAL WORLD MANUFACTURING OUTPUT (percentage)
1750 | 1800 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | |
EUROPE AS A WHOLE | 23.2 | 28.1 | 53.2 | 61.3 | 62.0 |
United Kingdom | 1.9 | 4.3 | 19.9 | 22.9 | 18.5 |
France | 4.0 | 4.2 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 6.8 |
Germany | 2.9 | 3.5 | 4.9 | 8.5 | 13.2 |
Russia | 5.0 | 5.6 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 8.8 |
UNITED STATES | 0.1 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 14.7 | 23.6 |
JAPAN | 3.8 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
THE REST OF THE WORLD | 73.0 | 67.7 | 36.6 | 20.9 | 11.0 |
China | 32.8 | 33.3 | 19.7 | 12.5 | 6.2 |
South Asia (India/Pakistan) | 24.5 | 19.7 | 8.6 | 2.8 | 1.7 |
Social life did not change fundamentally in the aftermath of independence. As in Europe and North America, women remained disenfranchised and wholly outside of formal political life. Slavery, it is true, was abolished in most of Latin America by midcentury, although it persisted in both Brazil and Cuba until the late 1880s. Most of the legal distinctions among various racial categories also disappeared, and all free people were considered, at least officially, equal citizens. Nevertheless, productive economic resources such as businesses, ranches, and plantations remained overwhelmingly in the hands of creole white men, who were culturally oriented toward Europe. The military provided an avenue of mobility for a few skilled and ambitious mestizo men, some of whom subsequently became caudillos. Other mixed-