Nineteenth-Century Eyes on Latin America

REVOLUTIONS IN LATIN AMERICA HIST 1301 | History Nineteenth-Century Eyes on Latin America The goal of Latin American independence movements was to overthrow the mercantilist parent nations' control as well as an economic system that impeded the expansion of quickly expanding colonial governments. The well-educated elites behind the successful campaigns frequently encountered opposition from a predominantly racialized populace that supported the native land. The exploitative White creole minority, who dreaded the repressed mixedrace majority, was obliged to negotiate their victories at every turn due to the absence of public support. Liberators like as Bolívar, San Martín, Pedro I, and Iturbide frequently lacked a cohesive plan or strategy and got little support from outside sources. Large geographic distances, unforgiving natural barriers, and the economic and cultural isolation of the several areas they were attempting to connect were challenges for them. Despite becoming free of Portuguese domination after 1822, Brazil's road to independence has greater continuity with its colonial heritage than that of any other Latin American nation since it evolved into an autonomous empire rather than a republic. Pedro I, the first emperor, was still the heir apparent to the Portuguese royal dynasty, having been raised as a prince. In addition, males of Portuguese descent kept their positions of authority in the army, the church, and the bureaucracy, as well as controlling trade. In imperial Brazil, the divide between conservatives and liberals shaped political life and highlighted the divergent goals and interests of different economic sectors. The colonial socioeconomic systems in the area did not significantly alter as a result of independence. All that the new constitutional monarchy in Brazil did was legitimise the status quo. Significant outside interest in the region was generated by the Latin American independence struggle, and this attention encouraged both overseas travel and literature. People in Europe and the United States were frequently introduced to South America by such reports. Travelling for pleasure was not common among European women in the nineteenth century; it was only invented in the twentieth century. In the 1820s, Maria Dundas Graham Calcott travelled to South America with her husband, a naval officer, to serve as Pedro I's daughter's governess. Princess Maria da Glória would go on to become the future queen of Portugal. Thus, Graham's journals from 1821 to 1823 provide a unique perspective on the Brazilian court throughout the country's struggle for independence. Her reports also demonstrate her broad interest in the lives of individuals in Santiago, Chile, and Salvador, Brazil. Graham studied physics and botany in Chile under the guidance of Thomas Cochrane, a former British navy commander and friend of her family. Despite being written for the amusement and education of her peers, Graham's reports provide valuable insights on gender dynamics in the recently independent South American countries and her own aristocratic circles during the early 1800s. Her interests were in "appropriate" topics that had to do with Brazilian women's life, including parenthood and fashion. Her diaries reveal that she and other female foreign observers remained outsiders in public spaces where men predominated. Graham was a Protestant urban elite lady whose speech focused on the virtues of civilised English customs and behaviour as an example for the rest of the world. However, in spite of this prejudice, or maybe even because of it, her writings disclose a great deal about public events in South American culture as well as her own ideals of femininity through her interpretation of intimate parts of Brazilian women's life. Her travelogue provides insight into how she saw Brazilian women of the nineteenth century influencing their surroundings and way of life.