THE
EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA
“Serás lo que debes ser,
Y sinó, no serás nada.”
SAN MARTIN.
THE EMANCIPATION OF
SOUTH AMERICA
_BEING A CONDENSED TRANSLATION_
BY
WILLIAM PILLING
OF
THE HISTORY OF SAN MARTIN
BY
GENERAL DON BARTOLOMÉ MITRE
FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
With Maps
LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD.
1893
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.
The title of this translation is the second title of the original
“History of San Martin.” This transposition of title is an index to the
relation which the translation bears to the original. This latter is
truly a biography of San Martin, whose life could not be understood
unless very full account were given of the events in which he took so
prominent a part, therefore the biography is also a history.
No man who plays a prominent part in the history of a revolution can
escape becoming involved in disputes with his contemporaries, and in
many intricate questions which are of interest only to a very small
number of their successors. These disputes and these questions greatly
affect the career of a man, but have small influence upon the history of
a Nation. Of such troubles San Martin had his full share, his biographer
has entered fully into them, and with much detail has given proofs of
the correctness of the view he takes of them. These details are, for the
most part, suppressed in the translation, and all matters concerning San
Martin himself are greatly curtailed, while prominence is given to the
events of the times in which the scene passes. The translation is thus
a history in which enter the biographies of the two principal
personages, San Martin and Bolívar.
This translation is intended only for the general mass of
English-speaking readers, to whom minute details are wearisome, and is
thus in every part a condensation of the copious accounts which are
given in the original of the stirring events described. The student of
history will not find in it that ample information which he requires, in
order fully to understand the subject in all its bearings; for him the
original provides a mine of historic wealth, enriched as it is with
notes and with a voluminous appendix.
WILLIAM PILLING.
LONDON, _March, 1893_.
CONTENTS.
.....PAGE
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.....vii
PROLOGUE.....xxvii
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
The Argument of the Book--Synopsis of the South American
Revolution--The Action of America upon Europe--The Colonization
of Spanish America--The Colonization of North America--Colonial
Policy in both Americas--The Emancipation of North America--The
Affiliation of the Revolution of South America--The Moral Revolution
of South America--The Precursor of the Emancipation of South
America--The Races of South America; the Creole--The First Throes of
Revolution--The Growth of the Revolution--Attempts at Monarchy in
South America--Retrospection.....1
CHAPTER II.
SAN MARTIN IN EUROPE AND IN AMERICA.
1778--1812.
His Birth and Parentage--Leaves for Spain--His Career in the
Spanish Army--Africa--France--St. Vincent--Portugal--Cadiz--Society
of Lautaro--Argonilla--Baylen--Tudela--Albuera--Lord
Macduff--London--Buenos Ayres--Outbreak of the Revolution--Experiments
in Government--The Influence of San Martin--Personal Appearance and
Character of San Martin.....31
CHAPTER III.
THE LAUTARO LODGE.
1812--1813. PAGE
The First Triumvirate--Political Parties--The Mounted
Grenadiers--Military School--The Lautaro Lodge--Battle of
Tucuman--Revolution of 8th October--The Second Triumvirate--Military
Plans.....43
CHAPTER IV.
SAN LORENZO.
1813--1814.
Battle of the Cerrito--Meeting of the Constituent
Assembly--Reforms--Spanish Depredations on the Fluvial Coasts--The
Action of San Lorenzo--Battle of Salta--Influence of the
Lodge--Disasters of Vilcapugio and Ayohuma--Argentine Generals--San
Martin takes Command of the Army of the North--Appointment of the
Supreme Director.....53
CHAPTER V.
UPPER PERU.
1814.
The Problem of the Argentine Revolution--The Geography and Ethnology
of Upper Peru--Outbreak and Progress of the Revolution in Upper
Peru--Cruelties of the Spaniards--Composition of the Royalist
Army--Arenales--His campaign from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz--Battle of
La Florida--Results of these Operations.....64
CHAPTER VI.
THE WAR IN THE NORTH.
1814.
The Army of Tucuman--Preparations of Pezuela--Plans of San Martin--The
New Military School--Popular Movement in Salta--Martin Güemes--The
Gauchos of Salta--Operations of the Royalists--The Fall of Monte
Video--Retreat of Pezuela--San Martin’s Secret Plan--His Illness--Is
appointed Governor of Cuyo.....72
CHAPTER VII.
THE CHILENO-ARGENTINE REVOLUTION.
1810--1811.
Chilian and Argentine Society compared--Martinez Rozas--Popular
Excitement--Loss of Power by Governor Carrasco--The South of
Chile--O’Higgins--Deposition of Carrasco--Establishment of a
Junta--Resemblances of the Two Revolutions--Argentine-Chilian
Alliance--Freedom of Commerce--Mutiny in Santiago--Installation
of the First General Congress--Defeat of the Radicals--Rozas at
Conception.....80
CHAPTER VIII.
PROGRESS AND FALL OF THE CHILIAN REVOLUTION.
1811--1814.
The Three Carreras--A New Junta--Dissolution of Congress--Armed
Protest by Rozas--Valdivia--The First Newspaper--Death of Rozas--The
Chilian Flag--Carrera again Dictator--Abascal--Pareja lands at
Valdivia--Battle of San Carlos--Siege of Chillán--O’Higgins
made General-in-Chief--Argentine Auxiliaries--Arrival of
Gainza--Lastra named Supreme Director--Capture of Talca--Mackenna
at Membrillar--Defence of Quecheraguas--Mediation of the British
Commodore--Treaty of Lircay--The Carreras again in Power--Invasion of
Osorio--Siege of Rancagua--Flight of O’Higgins and Carrera.....91
CHAPTER IX.
CUYO.
1814--1815.
The District of Cuyo--Policy of San Martin--Reception of Chilian
Refugees--Trouble with Carrera--Fall of Alvear--Cuyo becomes an
Independent State--Self-sacrifice of the People of Cuyo--Revenues of
Cuyo--Characteristics of San Martin--Anecdotes of San Martin--Royalist
Successes--The Banquet at Mendoza.....108
CHAPTER X.
THE SPY SYSTEM OF THE PATRIOTS.
1815--1816.
The Restoration of Spanish Domination in Chile--Cruelties of the
Royalists--Nationalist Reaction--The Plans of Abascal--San Martin
establishes Secret Agencies in Chile--His Spy System--Preparations
of the Chilian Patriots--Marcó del Pont--Manuel Rodriguez--Brown
and the Argentine Privateers--Loss of the _Uribe_--Capture of the
_Consequencia_--Blockade of Callao--Attack on Guayaquil--Loss of the
_Trinidad_--Return of the Squadron.....117
CHAPTER XI.
THE IDEA OF THE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1815--1816.
Opposition to the Plans of San Martin--He receives Permission to
assume the Offensive--Also Supplies of Guns and War Material--Collects
the Grenadiers--Balcarce Provisional Director--The Lodge in
Mendoza--Tomas Guido.....124
CHAPTER XII.
THE ARMY OF THE ANDES.
1816--1817.
Composition of the Army--Freeing the Slaves--Fray Beltran--The
Arsenal--Powder Factory--Cloth Factory--Pueyrredón elected
President--Declaration of Independence--Interview at
Córdoba--Condarco--Maps of the Passes of the Andes--Concentration of
the Army--The Function of the 17th January, 1817--The Flag of the Army
of the Andes.....126
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1817.
The Southern Andes--Passes of the Andes--Stratagems of San
Martin--The Pehuenche Indians--Preparations of Marcó--Preparations at
Mendoza--Pueyrredón--Detachments flanking the Main Army--Instructions
from Government--The Sierra of Chacabuco--Occupation of Coquimbo
by Cabot--Capture of Copiapó--Capture of Talca--March of the
Main Army--The Affair at Pichueta--Capture of Achupallas--Juan
Lavalle--Capture of the Guardia Vieja--Putaendo--Defeat of
Atero--Concentration of the Army at the Foot of Chacabuco--The
Judgment of Posterity.....132
CHAPTER XIV.
CHACABUCO.
1817.
The Sierra of Chacabuco--Atero occupies Chacabuco--Maroto appointed
to command the Royalist Army--Moonlight March of the Patriots--The
Royalist Vanguard driven in--Advance of the Main Body--Repulse of
O’Higgins--Soler takes the Position in Flank--Total Rout of the
Royalists--Barañao--Occupation of Santiago--O’Higgins elected Supreme
Director--Marcó taken Prisoner--San Bruno shot--Reception of the News
in Buenos Ayres--San Martin returns to Buenos Ayres.....144
CHAPTER XV.
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN IN THE SOUTH OF CHILE.
1817.
The Mistakes committed by San Martin--Ordoñez--Las Heras marches to
the South--Occupation of Concepcion--The Action of Gavilán--O’Higgins
takes Command--Freyre captures the Forts of Arauco--Treaty with the
Indians of Arauco--Operations against Talcahuano--French Officers--The
Assault of the Morro--Las Heras is withdrawn from the captured
Outwork.....151
CHAPTER XVI.
ARGENTINE-CHILENO ALLIANCE.
1817.
Origin and Results of this Alliance--San Martin in Buenos
Ayres--Carrera’s Trip to North America--His Return and Arrest by
Pueyrredón--The Mission of Condarco to London--Quintana Deputy
Director--Coinage of Chilian Money--“The Legion of Merit”--Guido
as Argentine Representative--Irizarri appointed Chilian Agent
in Europe--Monarchical Ideas--Chilian Jealousy of Argentine
Influence--The Conspiracy of the Carreras--Two of the Brothers
imprisoned at Mendoza--Life of San Martin at Santiago--The
“Tertulias”--Commodore Bowles takes a Secret Agent to Lima.....157
CHAPTER XVII.
CANCHA-RAYADA.
1817--1818. PAGE
The Political State of Chile--Pezuela appointed Viceroy of Peru--His
Policy--Osorio lands at Talcahuano with Reinforcements--The
Patriot Forces--Retreat of O’Higgins--March of Osorio on
Santiago--Proclamation of Independence--Concentration of the
Patriot Army--Affair on the Lontué--Retreat of Osorio--The Halt at
Talca--The Night Attack at Cancha-rayada--Dispersion of the Patriot
Army--O’Higgins wounded--Masterly Retreat of Las Heras--Panic in the
Capital--Return of O’Higgins and San Martin--Reorganization of the
Army--The Camp on the Plain of Maipó.....165
CHAPTER XVIII.
MAIPÓ.
1818.
Confusion of the Royalists after Cancha-rayada--They march on
Santiago--The Plain of Maipó--Position of the Patriots--Desertion
of General Brayer--Battle of Maipó--Results of the Battle--Osorio
collects a Small Force at Talcahuano--Zapiola takes Command in the
South--Osorio evacuates Talcahuano.....174
CHAPTER XIX.
AFTER MAIPÓ.
1818.
Execution at Mendoza of Don Luis and Don Juan José
Carrera--Constitutional Reform in Chile--Tragic Fate of Dr.
Rodriguez--The Secret Correspondence of Osorio--San Martin leaves
for Buenos Ayres--His Arrangements with Pueyrredón--Monarchical
Illusions--Bolívar--Spain.....181
CHAPTER XX.
THE FIRST NAVAL CAMPAIGN ON THE PACIFIC.
1818.
The Naval Resources of Chile--Ships purchased by Government--Affair
of the _Esmeralda_--Blanco Encalada--Another Convoy from Spain--The
Mutiny of the _Trinidad_--The Chilian Squadron leaves Valparaiso--The
Capture of the _Maria Isabel_--Capture of Five Transports--The Return
of the Squadron--Cochrane--The Two Wives.....186
CHAPTER XXI.
THE REPASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1818--1819.
The Last Campaign in Chile--Another Conspiracy of
Carrera’s--Proclamation to the Peruvian People--Correspondence with
Bolívar--San Martin withdraws a Division to Mendoza--The Tragedy at
San Luis--Definite Arrangements for the Expedition to Peru--Retirement
of Pueyrredón.....194
CHAPTER XXII.
COCHRANE--CALLAO--VALDIVIA.
1819--1820.
The Character of Cochrane--He sails for Callao--The Spanish
Squadron--The First Attack on Callao--Loss of a Fireship--Capture
of the _Montezuma_--Return to Valparaiso--Manufacture of
War Rockets--Second Attack on Callao--Inefficiency of the
Rockets--Guise captures Pisco--Death of Colonel Charles--Capture
of Transports at Guayaquil--Escape of the _Prueba_--Cochrane’s
New Scheme--Valdivia--Capture of the _Potrillo_--Reinforcements
at Talcahuano--Return to Valdivia--Capture of the Southern
Forts--Evacuation of the Northern Forts--Wreck of the
_Intrepido_--Surrender of the City--Repulse at Chiloe--Return.....200
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAN MARTIN.
1819--1820.
The Perplexities of San Martin--Popular Sentiment in Spain--The
Expedition assembling at Cadiz--Discontent among the Troops--O’Donnell
crushes the Conspiracy--San Martin summoned to Buenos Ayres--His
Proposal to O’Higgins and Cochrane--The Gaucho Chieftains--San
Martin again ordered to Buenos Ayres--The Plans of Government--The
Duc de Luca--Uprising of the Argentine People--San Martin still
hesitates--Mutiny of the Army of the North--San Martin sends in his
Resignation--Critique on his Behaviour.....210
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CONVENTION OF RANCAGUA.
1820.
The Spanish Revolution of 1820--Return of San Martin to Chile--Mutiny
of the Detachment at San Juan--The Remnant of the Division crosses the
Andes to Chile--Rout of Cepeda--The Reign of Anarchy in the United
Provinces--The Convention of Officers at Rancagua--The Disobedience
of San Martin endorsed by the Army--Cochrane aspires to the
Command-in-Chief--San Martin appointed Generalissimo--The Presence of
the Army of the Andes a Danger to Chile.....216
CHAPTER XXV.
PERU.
1820.
The Colonial Era in Peru--Lima--The Peruvian People--Viceroy
Abascal--The Native Army--Pezuela--La Serna--Revolutionary
Outbreaks--The Insurrection of Cuzco--Secret
Societies--Correspondence with San Martin--Dissolution of the Native
Army--Olañeta--Camba--Valdés--The Royalist Forces.....223
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE EXPEDITION TO PERU.
1820.
San Martin’s Address to the Argentine People--Composition of
the Expedition--Sailing of the Expedition--Disembarkation at
Pisco--Occupation of Pisco by Las Heras--Proclamation by San
Martin--Pezuela proposes Peace--The Commissioners meet at
Miraflores--Arrange an Armistice--The Terms proposed--Negotiations
broken off--Expedition of Arenales to the Highlands--Re-embarkation of
the Army.....230
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN.
1820--1821.
The Coming Campaigns--The Pageant at Callao--Expedition from
Ancon--Guayaquil--Revolution of Guayaquil--The _Esmeralda_
Frigate cut out by Cochrane--The Expedition lands at
Huacho--Huara--Cavalry Skirmish at Chancay--The Numancia Battalion
joins the Patriots--Discontent in Peru--The Independence of
Trujillo--Torre-Tagle--Junction with Arenales--The Guerillas--The
Provisional Regulation.....235
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN IN THE HIGHLANDS.
1820--1821.
The Natural Division of Peru--The Highlands of Peru--The Flying Column
under Arenales--Defeat of Quimper--The Invasion of the Highlands--The
Battle of Pasco--Retreat of Aldao from Ica--Massacres of Indians by
Ricafort--The Sack of Cangallo and Huancayo--Aldao establishes himself
at Huancayo--Arenales rejoins San Martin.....245
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE ARMISTICE OF PUNCHAUCA.
1821.
Prospects of the Royalists--Spanish Councils of War--Deposition
of Pezuela--Proposals of Peace--The Conference at Retes--State of
the Two Armies--The Royal Commissioner--The Patriot Army moves to
Ancon--Proclamation from King Ferdinand--Effect in Columbia--Effect
in Mexico--Course of the Revolution in Mexico--Iturbide--The “Plan
de Iguala”--Success of the Plan--Fate of Iturbide--The Conference
of Punchauca--Armistice of Punchauca--Interview between San Martin
and La Serna--Mistaken Policy of San Martin--The Conference
renewed at Miraflores--Prolongation of the Armistice--Captain
Basil Hall--Canterac moves to the Highlands--Return of the Patriot
Army to Huacho--La Serna evacuates Lima--Occupation of Lima by the
Patriots--Proclamation and Inactivity of San Martin.....249
CHAPTER XXX.
THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN THE HIGHLANDS.
1821.
Aldao and his Indian Levies--Gamarra takes Command--Is driven out by
Ricafort--Ricafort returns to Lima--Arenales marches from Huara--The
Successes of Arenales cut short by the Armistice--Character of
Arenales--His Expostulations against the Mistaken Policy of San Martin
being unheeded he rejoins him at Lima--Repulse of La Serna by the
Mountaineers of Jauja.....261
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH.
1821.
Conspiracy to capture Callao--Miller sent South with a small
Force--Lands at Pisco--Insurrection at Cuzco--Cochrane applies
to Chile for Aid--Ravages of Fever at Chincha--Cochrane sails
for Arica--Capture of Arica--Evacuation of Tacna--Miller marches
Inland--Capture of Mirave--Occupation of Moquegua--Miller retreats to
Tacna and to Arica--Miller establishes himself at Ica--Loss of the
_San Martin_.....265
CHAPTER XXXII.
PERU INDEPENDENT.
1821.
The Continental Campaign--Lack of National Spirit in Peru--Convention
of Notables at Lima--Declaration of Independence--Capture of Ships
by Cochrane at Callao--Attempted Surprise by Las Heras--Overtures
of Cochrane to La Mar--San Martin appoints himself “Protector
of Peru”--Decree against the Spaniards--Banishment of the
Archbishop--Tragic Fate of José Miguel Carrera.....270
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE PROTECTORATE OF PERU.
1821--1822.
The Captain of the Army of the Andes--Royalist Expedition for the
Relief of Callao--The Defile of Espiritu Santo--Outburst of Enthusiasm
in Lima--Manœuvres in Front of Lima--Retreat of Canterac--Feeble
Pursuit of the Royalists--Capitulation of Callao--Reforms of
San Martin--The Order of the Sun--Deterioration in the Spirit
of the Army--Subsidy from the City of Lima--Conspiracy in the
Army--Monarchical Ideas of San Martin--Monteagudo and the “Patriotic
Society of Lima”--Mission of Garcia del Rio to Europe.....277
CHAPTER XXXIV.
SAN MARTIN AND COCHRANE.
1821--1822.
Mutual Invectives of Two Heroes--San Martin fails to fulfil
his Promises to the Fleet--A Stormy Interview--Cochrane seizes
Treasure--Cochrane pays his Men with Government Funds--And sails
for Guayaquil--Surrender of Two Spanish Frigates to Peruvian
Agents--Cochrane attempts to seize the _Venganza_--Returns to Callao
and Captures the _Montezuma_--Returns to Chile and abandons the
Pacific--The New Peruvian Navy.....287
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE DISASTER AT ICA.
1821--1822.
Royalist Headquarters established at Cuzco--Expedition under Loriga
against Pasco--Defeat of Otero--Burning of Cangallo--San Martin
sends a Contingent to the Assistance of Bolívar--And Summons the
First Peruvian Congress--Torre-Tagle Deputy-Protector--Expedition
to Ica--Rout of the Patriots by Canterac--Barbarous Treatment of
Spaniards by Monteagudo.....292
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE REVOLUTIONS IN QUITO AND VENEZUELA.
1809--1812.
The Northern Zone of South America--The First Outbreak
at Quito--The Revolution at Caracas--Commencement of the
Reaction--SIMON BOLÍVAR--His Appearance and Character--His
Education--His First Visit to Europe--His Second Visit to
Europe--His Life at Caracas--Reception of the Envoys by the British
Government--Bolívar meets Miranda in London--Brings him back with
him to Venezuela--Action of the Regency of Cadiz--The Patriot
Junta sends an Army against Coro--Reception of Miranda--His Plan
for a Constitution--First Congress of Venezuela--Declaration of
Independence--Revolt of the Canarians--Revolt at Valencia--Capture
of Valencia by Miranda--Adoption of a Federal Constitution--General
Discontent--Carora sacked by Monteverde--The Royalists of
Guayana--Destruction of the Patriot Flotilla--The Great
Earthquake--San Carlos burned by Monteverde--Miranda is appointed
Dictator--Successes of the Royalists--Monteverde is repulsed in
an Attack on the Entrenched Camp at Victoria--Insurrection of the
Slaves--Loss of Puerto-Cabello--Miranda treats for Peace--The
Capitulation--Miranda is imprisoned by his Officers--Cruelties of
Monteverde--Death of Miranda.....296
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE REVOLUTIONS IN NEW GRANADA AND QUITO.
1809--1813.
Excitement in New Granada--Expedition against Quito--Reinstallation
of the late Captain-General of Quito--Massacres by the
Royalist Soldiery--Revolution at Cartagena--Outbreak on the
Plains of Casanare--A Junta established at Pamplona--And at
Socorro--Pacific Revolution at Bogotá--Establishment of a
Junta--Social Anarchy--Proposals to summon a Congress--The State
of Cundinamarca--Nariño appointed Dictator--Congress adopts the
Federal System of Government and retires to Ibague--The Province
of Cartagena declares itself an Independent State--Preparations
of the Royalists--Torices named Dictator of Cartagena--Operations
against Santa Marta--Arrival of a New Viceroy--The First Victory
of the Patriots--Another Insurrection in Quito--Successes of
Montufar and Macaulay--Treachery of the Pastusos--La Vendée of
the Revolution--Installation of a Junta at Quito--Operations in
the South--Quito declares itself an Independent State--Murder
of Ruiz de Castillo--Victory of the Royalists at Mocha--Capture
of Quito--Massacres at Popayán--The Policy of Nariño--The
Congress at Leiva--Dr. Camilo Torres named President--Civil
War--Arrival of another Viceroy--Cundinamarca and Antioquia
declare themselves Independent States--Congress places Nariño
in Command of the Army--Successes of Nariño--His Passage of the
River Juanambú--Dispersion of his Army--He is sent in Irons to
Spain--Operations of Bolívar against Santa Marta--Defeat of an
Expedition from Cartagena--Bolívar conceives the Idea of Reconquering
Venezuela--He crosses the Cordillera--His Memorial to the People of
New Granada--President Torres adopts his Idea.....312
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE RECONQUEST OF VENEZUELA.
1813.
“Pacification” by Monteverde--The Signal for Revolt--Triste--The
Expedition to the Mainland--Cruelties of Zuazola--Defeat of the
Royalists at Maturin--The Island of Margarita--Arismendi--Siege
of Cumaná--Cajigal retreats to Guayana--Mariño named Dictator
of the Eastern Provinces--The Expedition of Briceño--Defeat of
Correa by Castillo--Bolívar’s Commission from the Congress of
Granada--Capture of Mérida and Trujillo--Bolívar fulminates a Decree
of Extermination against all Royalists--Marti Defeated by Rivas--Rout
of Izquierdo--Valencia and Caracas evacuated by Royalists--The Genius
of Bolívar--His Triumphant Entry into Caracas--He proclaims Himself
Dictator--Lays Siege to Puerto Cabello--The Reaction--Second Decree
of Bolívar--Arrival of Reinforcements at Puerto Cabello--Death
of Girardot--Victory of Las Trincheras--Honours to Bolívar at
Caracas--The Order of the “Liberators”--Boves, Morales, and
Yañez--They rouse the Llaneros--Campo-Elias--Defeat of Boves
at Mosquitero--Massacre of Royalists at Calabozo--Repulse of
Patriots at Barquisimeto--Battle of Araure--Effects of the Dual
Dictatorship--Reappearance of Boves on the Scene--The Patriots are
driven from the Plains--General Revulsion of Feeling.....324
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE SECOND FALL OF VENEZUELA.
1814.
Bolívar discloses a New Phase of his Character--The Assembly of
Caracas--His Treaty with Mariño--Defeat and Death of Yañez--Action
at La Puerta--Repulse of Morales at Victoria--Successes of
Rivas--The Massacres of Caracas and La Guayra--Preparations of
Bolívar--His Defence of the Entrenchments of San Mateo--Heroism of
Recaurte--Defence of Caracas by Rivas--Of Valencia by Urdaneta--Action
at Boca Chica--Mariño defeated at San Carlos--First Battle at
Carabobo--Rout of the Patriots at La Puerta--Capitulation of
Valencia--D’Eluyar raises the Siege of Puerto-Cabello--Bolívar
evacuates Caracas--Entrenches Himself at Aragua--Retreats to
Barcelona--Capture of Aragua by Morales--Bolívar is accused of
Treachery--Retires to Curaçoa--Repulse of Morales at Maturin--Massacre
at Cumaná--Rout of the Patriots at Urica--Death of Boves--Capture
of Maturin by Morales--Death of Rivas--The Last Patriot Army under
Urdaneta seeks Refuge in New Granada.....343
CHAPTER XL.
THE DISSOLUTION OF NEW GRANADA.
1815--1817.
The Fall of Constitutional Government in Spain--Jealousy of Native
Troops--Bolívar takes Command of the Army of New Granada--Capture of
Bogotá--Fresh Honours to Bolívar--Bolívar makes War on Cartagena--And
retires to Jamaica--His Memorials--Morillo arrives from Spain with a
Powerful Squadron, and takes Command of the Royalists--Miyares secures
the Isthmus of Panamá--Morillo’s Instructions--Reduction of the Island
of Margarita--Loss of the _San Pedro_--Morillo occupies Caracas--And
sails thence for Cartagena--Cartagena--The Siege of Cartagena--The
Fortress and City are evacuated by the Patriots--Repulse of Calzada
from the Plains of Casanare--Defeat of the Patriots at Balaga--Further
Successes of Calzada--Madrid is defeated by Sámano in the South--Fresh
Disturbances in Venezuela--Offers of Amnesty--Establishment
of Military Rule at Bogotá--Executions--Morillo returns to
Venezuela--Cruelties of Sámano--Death of La Pola--Sámano is appointed
Viceroy by Morillo.....353
CHAPTER XLI.
THE THIRD WAR IN VENEZUELA.
1815--1817.
Position of Affairs in Venezuela--The Fresh Outbreak on the Island
of Margarita--Paez--His First Action--Revulsion of Opinion among
the Llaneros--The Army of the Apure--Successes of Cedeño--Attempt
to assassinate Bolívar--Bolívar goes to Haití--The Expedition from
Cayos--The Landing at Margarita--Bolívar is named Supreme Chief--The
Expedition proceeds to Carúpano--Bolívar proceeds to Ocumare--Defeat
of Bolívar by Morales--Bolívar’s Flight from Ocumare--Successes of
MacGregor--The Army of the Centre--Bolívar returns to Haiti--Defeat of
Lopez by MacGregor--Piar defeats Morales at Juncal--Paez lays Siege to
San Fernando--The Spaniards evacuate the Island of Margarita--Bolívar
leaves Haití with a Second Expedition--Piar marches on Guayana--Forces
the Passage of the Cauca--Occupies the Missions of Coroní--Bolívar
again defeated--And leaves for Guayana--Capture of Barcelona by
the Royalists--The True Base of Operations--Advance of La Torre
from New Granada--Is totally defeated by Paez--And descends the
River to Angostura--Is again defeated by Piar at San Felix--Mariño
summons a Congress--Morillo puts an End to the Farce--Brion forces
his Way up the Orinoco--Flight of La Torre--Conspiracy of Piar and
Mariño--Execution of Piar--Banishment of Mariño.....365
CHAPTER XLII.
THE REORGANIZATION OF VENEZUELA.
1817--1819.
The Expedition of Morillo and Canterac against the Island
of Margarita--The Action at Matasiete--The Massacre at Juan
Griego--Morillo returns to Caracas--Position of Patriots and of
Royalists--The Civil Administration of Bolívar--Rout of Saraza
at Hogaza--The Horse Marines--Bolívar surprises Morillo at
Calabozo--Retreat of the Royalists to Sombrero--Defeat of Bolívar
at La Puerta--Capture of San Fernando by Paez--Defeat of Paez at
Cojedes--Defeat of Cedeño by Morales--And of Morales by Paez--Mariño
takes Cumaná, and refuses Allegiance to the Liberator--Bolívar
raises a New Army, and is reconciled to Mariño--Santander sent
to Casanare--Bolívar’s Idea of a Constitution--The Congress
of Angostura--Bolívar is named President of Venezuela--The
Foreign Auxiliaries--Luis Mendez--Colonel Hippisley--Colonel
Wilson--Campbell--Gilmour--General English--Colonel Elsom--General
MacGregor--General Devereux--Colonel Montilla--Morillo opens the
Campaign--Tactics of Paez--Morillo reoccupies San Fernando--The Affair
of “Las Queseras del Medio”--Bolívar’s New Idea.....380
CHAPTER XLIII.
BOYACA--COLUMBIA--CARABOBO.
1819--1822.
Bolívar joins Santander--The Passage of the Cordillera--The
Expedition halts in the Valley of Sagamoso--Skilful Manœuvres of
Bolívar--He captures the City of Tunja--Battle of Boyacá--Bolívar
occupies Bogotá--His Activity and the Honours paid Him--Founds the
Republic of Columbia--Cruelty of Santander--Bolívar returns to
Angostura--Changes during his Absence--Decrees of Congress--Bolívar
named Provisional President of Columbia--Military Operations on
the North Coast--Arrival of the Irish Legion at Margarita--Paez
retakes San Fernando--The Armistice of Trujillo--Morillo returns to
Spain--Revolution in Maracaibo--Operations of Montilla--Bolívar again
takes the Field--Battle of Carabobo--Bolívar for the Second Time
enters Caracas in Triumph--The Constituent Congress--Bolívar is named
President--Capitulation of Cartagena--The Provinces of the Isthmus
declare their Independence--Fall of Chagres and Portobello--Bolívar
leaves for the South--Activity of Morales--He capitulates--Puerto
Cabello is taken by Paez.....394
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE WAR IN QUITO.
1821--1822.
Operations in the South of Columbia--Sucre--He leads an Expedition to
Guayaquil--His Victory at Yahuachí--His Defeat at Ambato--Arrival of
Murgeón from Spain--Bolívar marches on Quito with a Fresh Army--Battle
of Bomboná--He retreats to Patia--San Martin sends a Contingent to
aid Sucre--Manœuvres of the Opposing Armies--The Cavalry Affair at
Rio Bamba--Battle of Pichincha--Surrender of Quito--Capitulation of
Garcia and of the Pastusos--Prætorianism--Bolívar enters Quito in
Triumph.....406
CHAPTER XLV.
GUAYAQUIL.
1822.
The Meeting and Merging of Two Revolutions--The Protectorate of
Guayaquil--Defeat of the Provincial Army at Ambato--Arrival of
Sucre--The Revolt of Puerto-Viejo--Arrival of Salazar--La Mar takes
Command of the Provincial Forces--The Question of Guayaquil.....414
CHAPTER XLVI.
THE INTERVIEW AT GUAYAQUIL.
1822.
The Influence of Individuals--The Illusions of San Martin--Bolívar
becomes jealous of Argentine Influence--The Entry of Bolívar into
Guayaquil--He annexes the Province to Columbia--The Arrival of San
Martin--The Conference--The Banquet--The Ball--Departure of San
Martin--Result of the Conference--Remarkable Letter from San Martin to
Bolívar.....418
CHAPTER XLVII.
THE ABDICATION OF SAN MARTIN.
1822.
Disturbances in Lima--Banishment of Monteagudo--Return of San
Martin--The First Congress of Peru--The Resignation of San
Martin--Honours decreed to him by Congress--He leaves Peru--His
Illness in Chile--He retires to Mendoza.....426
CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE FIRST NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF PERU.
1822--1823.
The State of Peru--Appointment of a Junta--Bolívar offers
Assistance, which is declined--The Plan of Campaign--The Army of
the South--Dilatory Movements of Alvarado--The Advance of the
Royalists--Battle of Torata--The Rout of Moquegua--Activity of
Miller--Withdrawal of the Columbian Contingent--Arenales leaves
Peru--Riva-Agüero named President--Preparations for a Fresh
Campaign--English Loan--Despatch of a Peruvian Army to the South
under Santa Cruz--Capture of Lima by Canterac--Sucre brings another
Columbian Contingent to Peru--Bolívar is named Generalissimo--Canterac
returns to the Highlands--Plans of Sucre--Manœuvres of Santa
Cruz--He captures La Paz--Gamarra occupies Oruro--Retreat of
Santa Cruz--Indecisive Action at Zepita--Dispersion of the
Patriot Army--Orderly Retreat of Sucre--Appeals to San Martin
for Help--Reconstruction of Congress--Arrival of Bolívar--His
Reception--His Appearance--He is Master of Peru.....431
CHAPTER XLIX.
JUNIN--AYACUCHO.
1823--1824.
The Day-Dreams of Bolívar--Rivadavia--Treaty between Columbia and
Buenos Ayres--Overtures from Spain to Buenos Ayres--The Mission of
Alzaga to the West and North--Treatment of the Argentine Contingent
by Peru--Mutiny of the Garrison of Callao--Hoisting the Flag of
Spain--Falucho--Dissolution of the Army of the Andes--Monet occupies
Lima and Callao--Treachery of Torre-Tagle--Ships burned by Guise in
Harbour--Bolívar named Dictator--Execution of Argentine Officers by
Monet--Illness of Bolívar--His Preparations--Olañeta rebels against
the Viceroy--Bolívar marches on Jauja--Advance of Canterac--Cavalry
Action at Junin--Rapid Retreat of Canterac--Bolívar returns to
Lima--Movement against him in the Congress of Columbia--The
Spanish Naval Squadron--Manœuvres of Sucre--Advance of Royalists
from Cuzco--Sucre concentrates his Forces--The Royalists gain his
Rear--Victory or Death--Victory of Ayacucho.....443
CHAPTER L.
APOGEE, DECLINE, AND FALL OF BOLIVAR.
1824--1830.
Results of the Victory of Ayacucho--The Twofold Nature of the
Revolution--Assassination of Monteagudo--Bolívar summons a Congress
at Panama--His Theatrical Proceedings--Upper Peru becomes an
Independent State--Tendency of the Policy of Bolívar--He leaves
Lima for Potosí--The Banquet at Arequipa--Bolívar meets Argentine
Envoys at Potosí--His Proposals to them--Opinions of the Press
of Buenos Ayres--He draws up a Constitution for Bolivia--Attempt
to assassinate Bolívar at Lima--Adoption of a New Constitution
by Peru--The Grand Confederation of the Andes--The Nature of the
Proposed Monocracy--Revolution in Venezuela--Bolívar Returns to
Columbia--Revolutions in Peru and Bolívia--The Convention of
Ocaña--Bolívar is again named Dictator of New Granada--Conspiracy
against him at Bogotá--He declares War against Peru--His Monarchical
Proposals--Rebellion at Antioquia--Venezuela becomes an Independent
State--The Constituent Congress at Bogotá--Bolívar resigns--Mosquera
is elected President of New Granada--Pension assigned to
Bolívar.....458
EPILOGUE.
The Verdict of Posterity--The Tragedy of Emancipation--San Martin goes
to Europe--His Return to Buenos Ayres--Bolívar in Retirement--Anarchy
in New Granada--Establishment of the Republic of Ecuador--Death of
Bolívar--His Last Words--Life of San Martin in Exile--His Death--His
Remains are brought back to Buenos Ayres--The Work of the Two
Liberators compared--The Nature of True Greatness.....470
TRANSLATOR’S APPENDIX.
I.--The Spanish Colonial System.....477 II.--Personal Appearance
of San Martin.....478 III.--The Rocket-Tubes at Callao.....478
IV.--Description of a Suspension Bridge.....478 V.--The Ideas of San
Martin.....479 VI.--A Venezuelan Picture presented to the City of New
York.....480 VII.--The Battle of Carabobo.....481
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Alvarado--Arenales--Brown--Cochrane--Güemes--Las
Heras--Lavalle--Miller--Necochea--O’Higgins--Paez.....484
PROLOGUE.
The object of this book is to give a biography of GENERAL JOSÉ DE SAN
MARTIN, combining therewith the history of the emancipation of South
America. It is a necessary complement to the HISTORY OF BELGRANO,
written thirty years ago. These two histories display the Argentine
Revolution in its two principal aspects; one relates the development of
a nation, the other the effect of this development upon the emancipation
of a continent.
This history is based, for the most part, upon documents hitherto
unpublished, some of which are truly posthumous revelations which throw
new light upon mysterious or little known events, or correct errors
resulting from defective information.
I believe I have consulted all the books, pamphlets, newspapers and
fly-sheets which have ever been printed concerning San Martin, and of
manuscripts I have a collection of at least 10,000 documents, bound in
73 thick volumes, which it is my purpose to deposit in the National
Library.
The most important of these sources of information has been the archive
of General San Martin himself, which was placed at my disposal by his
son-in-law, the late Don Mariano Balcarce. I have also consulted the
archives of this city from the year 1812 to the year 1824, without
which it would have been impossible to compile a complete history. The
archives of the Director Pueyrredón, which were given to me by his son,
have also been of great service to me, as also those of General
O’Higgins, Don Tomás Godoy Cruz, General Las Heras, and others. I have
also acquired much verbal information from conversations held with many
of the contemporaries of San Martin, and with some of his companions in
arms.
In addition to consulting all available maps and plans relating to the
campaigns of San Martin, I have inspected in person the routes followed
by the army of the Andes and have made sketches myself of the scene of
memorable events when plans were not forthcoming.
* * * * *
This book will not be the historical monument which posterity will some
day consecrate to the immortal memory of San Martin, but those who do at
some future date erect it, will herein find abundant materials, stones
finished or but roughly cut, with which solidly to lay out the
foundations.
BARTOLOMÉ MITRE.
BUENOS AYRES, 1887.
Here follows, on 25 pages, a list of unpublished manuscripts
consulted in the compilation of this work, which manuscripts will
be deposited in the National Library of Buenos Ayres.
WILLIAM PILLING.
THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
THE ARGUMENT OF THE BOOK.
Three great names stand forth conspicuous in the annals of America,
those of WASHINGTON, BOLÍVAR, SAN MARTIN. Of Washington, the great
leader of the Democracy of the North; of Bolívar and of San Martin, who
were the emancipators of the southern half of the continent. The story
of the life-work of the latter of these two is the Argument of this
book.
The scene of action passes on a vast theatre, a territory extending for
more than fifty degrees of latitude, from Cape Horn to the Tropic of
Cancer, and occupies twenty years of strife. The starting-point of this
history is the Argentine revolution; it follows the course of this
revolution as it spreads over the continent, and its object is to
explain the laws which governed the establishment of a family of new
Republics, and the fundamental principles from which they sprang.
This argument is dual and complex, for it treats both of political
revolution and of social evolution. It shows how the Argentine
revolution became a propaganda to the world outside, of the principles
upon which it was based, and how under these auspices independent and
sovereign nations sprang into existence, with forms and tendencies in
the same likeness and similitude. It shows the proclamation of a new
international law, which only permits of alliance against an enemy in
the name of a common destiny, and forbids conquests and annexations. It
shows also the failure of the attempt in Columbia to unite the
emancipated colonies artificially into a monocracy in opposition to
natural law and to the new idea of the rights of man inaugurated by the
Argentine revolution.
The two hegemonies, the Argentine and the Columbian, unite to set the
seal upon the emancipation of South America. San Martin and Bolívar
cross the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific by different
routes, giving liberty to enslaved peoples, founding new nations, and
meeting as together they enclose the colonial system in its last
entrenchments, they bring the two opposing systems face to face, the
shock resulting in the triumph of the superior principle.
Thus considered, the history of the emancipation of South America
presents a homogeneous character, with unity of action and with one
dominant idea, which in the midst of accidental deviations reveals the
existence of a law giving one accordant significance to facts
accomplished.
The study of the theatre of the war of independence shows that the scene
passes in two distinct revolutionary areas--one at the south,
comprehending the United Provinces of the River Plate, Chile, and Upper
Peru; the other, at the north, comprehending Venezuela, New Granada, and
Quito. The strife and the triumph proceed simultaneously in each area
until the two revolutions, like to two masses obeying a reciprocal
attraction, converge towards the centre. This plan, drawn up and carried
out by the two great Liberators, emancipates South America by the
combined military action of the revolted colonies, which action has at
once the ideal unity of a poem and the precision of a machine.
The unity of this action is clearly displayed in the general lines of
the life of San Martin, and gives to his historic figure an importance
far transcending both his deeds and his designs. He was born in an
obscure American town, which disappeared as he commenced to figure upon
the scene; thus America in its entirety became his country. He grew up
as a soldier in the Old World, fighting by sea and on land in company
with the first soldiers of the age, and so prepared himself for his
warlike mission, unwitting of his destiny. In the New World he commenced
his career by establishing tactics and discipline as his base of
operations, and from their combination produced his machine of war. He
consolidated the independence of the United Provinces of the River Plate
as the point from which he might start for the conquest of South
America. In command of the army of the North, his name is associated
with the revolution of Upper Peru; as he passed the Andes in prosecution
of his own plan, he became identified with the revolution of Chile, and
after consolidating the independence of this country he initiated the
first international alliance in America. He secured the command of the
Pacific, without which the independence of America was at that time
impossible, and gave liberty to Lower Peru. He then carried the
revolutionary standard of the allies to the foot of Pichincha, where he
met the liberator of Columbia. Under the equator, which divides the two
theatres of the war, he clasped hands with Bolívar. Thus ended his grand
campaign; at the apogee of his power he disappeared from the scene,
knowing that his mission was fulfilled, that his strength was exhausted,
and condemned himself to exile, faithful to the ruling maxim of his
life, _Serás lo que debes ser; y sinó, no serás nada_.[1]
From exile he looked upon the results of his life-work: the definitive
political organization of South America in accordance with geographical
divisions, the foundation of a new constellation of independent States
in obedience to natural laws as by him instinctively foreseen. He saw
without envy that Bolívar, with whom he shared the glory of the
redemption of a new world, wore the crown of the final triumph, though
he knew that both as a politician and as a soldier he was his superior.
Then the wild dream of Bolívar that he could found an empire of
dependent republics under the auspices of Columbia faded away, and gave
place to the Argentine plan of independent republics heralded by San
Martin.
SYNOPSIS OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
It has been said that posterity will look upon the emancipation of South
America as the most important political phenomenon of the nineteenth
century, both in itself and from the probable extent of its future
consequences. The immediate result was to bring into existence a new
group of independent nations, founded on democratic principles, in open
opposition to the right of conquest and to the dogmas of monarchy and
absolutism which yet prevailed in the Old World. These new nations were
organized on the principle of equality, and were emancipated from
privilege, and thus offered an entirely fresh field for experiment in
the development of the physical and moral faculties of man. This
movement thus constitutes one of the most drastic changes ever effected
in the condition of the human race.
The first throes of this revolution were felt at the two extremities and
in the centre of South America in the year 1809. In 1810 all the Spanish
American colonies rose up in rebellion as by one innate impulse, and
proclaimed the principle of self-government. Six years later all, save
one, of these insurrections were quelled.
The United Provinces of the River Plate alone maintained their position,
and after declaring their own independence they gave to the conquered
colonies the signal for the great and final struggle by making common
cause with them.
In 1817 the Argentine revolution drew up a plan for the emancipation of
the continent, took the offensive, crossed the Andes, and liberated
Chile; in union with Chile obtained command of the Pacific, liberated
Peru and carried her arms to the equator in aid of the revolution of
Columbia. This vigorous impulse was felt in the extreme north of this
southern continent, which in its turn defeated and expelled the
champions of the old system, went through a similar evolution, and
crossed the Andes to the point where the two forces united. The
Highlands of Peru became the scene of the final struggle. Then the
Spanish American colonies were free by their own strength, and from the
chaos sprang up a new world.
During the progress of these events, the United States of the North, the
pioneers of the Republican era, recognised the independence of the new
republics (1822), as “an expression of the simple truth,” and declared--
“The peoples of South America have a right to break the chains which
bind them to their mother country, to assume the rank of nations among
the sovereign nations of the world, and to establish institutions in
accordance with natural laws dictated by God himself.”
As a consequence of this recognition the United States, in the year
1823, promulgated the famous Monroe Doctrine which, in opposition to the
Bull of Alexander VI., established a new principle of international law
under the formula--“America for the Americans.”
Free England, who at first looked favourably upon the revolution, began,
in 1818, to lean towards Spain and the Holy Alliance, advocating an
arrangement on the basis of the “commercial freedom” of the colonies.
The diplomatists of Washington interfered in favour of their complete
emancipation, and Lafayette, in support of this idea, declared to the
Government of France:--
“Any opposition which may be made to the independence of the New World
may cause suffering but will not imperil the idea.”
Thus, much before the final triumph, the emancipation of the new
continent was accepted as an accomplished fact, and the attitude of the
United States supported by England turned the scales of diplomacy in its
favour in 1823. When at the Congress of Verona the party of reaction
proposed a contrary policy, Canning, Prime Minister of Great Britain,
wrote to Grenville those memorable words which re-echoed through two
hemispheres:--
“The battle has been fierce, but it is won. The nail is clenched;
Spanish America is free. _Novus sæclorum nascitur ordo!_”
The battle of Ayacucho was the response to these words, and Canning
could then exclaim:--
“I have called a new world into existence to redress the balance of the
old.”
THE ACTION OF AMERICA UPON EUROPE.
The land discovered by Christopher Columbus, which completed the
physical world, was destined to re-establish its general equilibrium at
the moment the base thereof was shaken.
Before the end of the fifteenth century Europe had lost its moral and
political equilibrium. After the invasion of the barbarians, which
imbued it with a new principle of life without destroying the germ of
decay left by the fall of the Roman Empire, its civilization was again
on the point of collapse. Not one homogeneous nation there existed, her
productive energy was exhausted, liberty was but a latent hope,
privilege was the dominant law, politics were founded on the principles
of Macchiavelli, all healthy evolution in the path of progress was
impossible. A fresh invasion from the East advanced under the standard
of the Crescent, and the despotism of Mussulman fanaticism was the last
hope of the people. Europe, shut in between the Danube and the Pillars
of Hercules, seemed lost; the discovery of a new world alone could save
her.
This discovery restored harmony to the discordant elements, gave new
life to Christianity, and saved the liberties of mankind. The
Reformation, which came immediately afterwards, engrafted upon the
consciences of men the germ of the democratic principles of the Bible,
which, transplanted to a new world, later on regenerated the effete
civilization brought from Europe, and spread it as a vital principle of
politics all the world over.
The popular belief that the fountain of eternal youth was to be found on
the new continent discovered by Columbus, was no vain imagination. The
decrepit civilization of the Old World drew fresh youth and strength
from the virgin soil of America, the genius of progress therein latent
developed rapidly in the genial air. The opening of this new and vast
field to human activity, was truly a renovation of social order in
accordance with natural law, and resulted in the organization of a
democracy based upon labour. To this end it was only necessary that the
European, leaving his old traditions behind him, should, on a vacant
continent, work out his own destiny under the guidance of healthy
instinct.
THE COLONIZATION OF SPANISH AMERICA.
In the repartition of the new continent the worst lot fell to the
southern half. Spain and Portugal carried their feudal absolutism to
their colonies, but they could not plant there their systems of
privilege, of aristocracy, or of social inequality. The good and the bad
seed alike were modified by cultivation in a new soil, the natural
product being democracy. The mode of colonization contributed to this
result. The most trustworthy annals of the Indies recognise the fact
that the conquest was achieved at the expense of the conquerors, without
any drafts on the royal treasury. Hence arose that spirit of
self-reliance which they bequeathed to their descendants. A rebel world
grew up under the auspices of absolutism. The colonial constitution,
which inculcated a personal despotism and excluded the idea of a common
country, contributed fatally to this result. Spanish America was looked
upon as the personal property of the Spanish monarch, in virtue of the
Bull of Alexander VI. Thus the colony did not form a part of the nation,
and was united to her only by allegiance to a common sovereign. When the
monarch disappeared, his power lapsed to his vassals; the logical and
legal result being the separation of the colonies from the mother
country.
The government of the colonies was entrusted to the Council of the
Indies, represented politically by a Viceroy, and in law by the
Audiencia, the bounds of whose authority were ill-defined. In municipal
affairs, the Cabildos, derived from the free communities of the mother
country, were nominally the representatives of the people. In them lay
the germs of democracy, as they possessed the right to call public
meetings for the settlement of their own affairs by vote, which right,
for long in abeyance, became an active power when supported by popular
force.
The great extent of the country, the want of moral cohesion, the
admixture of races, the general corruption of manners, the absence of an
ideal, the lack of political and industrial activity, and the profound
ignorance of the masses, all contributed to produce a state of
semi-barbarism by the side of a weakly civilization, and vitiated the
entire social organism. From this embryo was to spring a new republican
world, the product of the germs latent within it.
THE COLONIZATION OF NORTH AMERICA.
North America, more fortunate, was colonized by a nation which had
practical notions of liberty, and by a race better prepared for
self-government. The process commenced a century later. The colonists
easily adapted themselves to a climate similar to that of the mother
country, and founded there a new home to which they were bound by free
institutions. Originally the English colonies were looked upon as Crown
provinces, and were ruled by privileged companies, and by a Council
similar to that of the Indies, the monarch reserving to himself, as in
Spain, the supreme legislative authority and the right of appointment,
without giving any legislative rights. The colonists of Virginia, by
their own energy, soon acquired some political rights, which were
secured to them by royal charters. This example was followed by the
colonists of Maryland. Colonial assemblies absorbed the privileges of
the companies, and the royal charters formed later on the basis of
republican institutions.
After the planters of Virginia and Maryland came the PILGRIM FATHERS of
New England, who, flying from persecution in Europe, sought liberty of
conscience in the New World. Authors of the great revolution, they were
deeply imbued with the republican spirit, and with the democratic spirit
of Switzerland and of the Netherlands, in which latter country they had
seen their ideal of the ruler of a free people in the austere person of
William of Orange, the antetype of Washington. In accordance with these
ideas, they established at once a form of popular government hitherto
unknown, based upon just laws. Finally came the Quakers, who proclaimed
freedom of the intellect as an innate and inalienable right, and drew up
their constitution on the basis of democratic equality, absolute and
universal; in this anticipating the most advanced of the modern era.
Under William Penn they established the representative colony of
Pennsylvania, the nucleus and the type of the great republic of the
United States.
Such was the genesis of democratic liberty, destined to become
universal.
COLONIAL POLICY IN BOTH AMERICAS.
The commercial monopoly which Spain adopted as a system on the discovery
of America, had an influence quite as evil upon herself as upon her
colonies. The intention was that Spain should draw to herself the wealth
of the New World, by keeping in her own hands the exchange of European
manufactures for the products of America. Every industry which might
compete with those of the Peninsula was prohibited in America. At first
Seville, and afterwards Cadiz, was declared to be the only port from
which ships laden with merchandise could sail, or at which they could
land cargoes of colonial produce. All direct trade between the colonies
themselves was forbidden. The restrictive system was completed by
collecting all the merchant vessels into annual or biennial convoys
sailing in charge of ships of war to or from Portobello and Panama.
Merchandise so introduced, was carried across the isthmus and
distributed by way of the Pacific and by land to Potosi, where the
Southern and Atlantic Provinces could supply themselves at prices five
or six hundred per cent. over the original cost. Such a system could
only spring from a mind enfeebled by the possession of absolute power,
and could only be tolerated by a race of slaves.
Before one century had elapsed, the population of Spain was reduced by
one-half, her manufacturing industries were ruined, her mercantile
marine no longer existed, her trade was in the hands of foreign
smugglers, and the gold and silver of the New World went everywhere
except to Spain.[2] When Spain, taught by experience, sought to remedy
the evil, it was already too late, her colonies on the southern
continent were lost to her. Neither force nor love, nor a common
interest, bound the disinherited children to their parent; the
separation was complete, and the independence of the colonies a question
of time and of opportunity.
The colonial system of Spain was not an invention, it was an ancient
tradition, it was the economic theory of the epoch reduced to practice.
England followed the same system, committing even greater errors in the
establishment of privileged companies, such as the East India Company,
giving territories to them on a feudal basis, the monarch reserving
absolute authority over commercial relations.
In practice these errors furnished their own remedies. Tyrannical laws
fell into disuse from the resistance of colonies armed with municipal
rights. Thus the results sought by England were achieved without great
violence and with advantage both to the mother country and to her
colonies. The navigation laws of 1650--1666 gave supremacy to the
mercantile marine of England, and by shutting out foreign competition
from her markets, monopolised the trade with the colonies. This monopoly
in skilful hands, colonized North America and corrected to some extent
the errors of the system. In 1652, under Cromwell, freedom of commerce
was established between England and her colonies, the right being given
to the colonists to tax themselves by the votes of their representatives
and to regulate their own Customs duties. This was almost independence.
Even when their charters were mutilated or abrogated by the Stuarts,
this doctrine was respected by common consent. When England disregarded
it came the revolution.
THE EMANCIPATION OF NORTH AMERICA.
A special question of constitutional law concerning Customs duties, was
the immediate cause of the revolution in North America. The revolution
of South America arose from a question of fundamental principles.
The Stamp Tax imposed by England on her colonies was repealed on the
ground that it was an _internal_ tax, but Parliament sanctioned the
imposition of Customs duties on the ground that they were an _external_
tax, the produce of the colonies being subject to the will of the king.
The colonists protested and took a further step by declaring that the
_Mutiny Act_ had nothing to do with them, as it was sanctioned by a
Parliament in which they were not represented. They called out their
municipal militia, and so in 1774 commenced the great struggle for the
emancipation of America. During ten years their resistance had been kept
within the limits of the laws, but from this moment they took their
stand on the wide basis of natural and ideal right, independent of law
and of tradition.
The Declaration of Independence on the 4th July, 1776, was the
proclamation of an innate universal human right, of a new theory of
government independent of precedent, inspired by natural law, by
philosophy, and by political science. This declaration became, as has
been said,
“The profession of faith of all the liberals of the world.”
The echo of these theories was heard in France, and by her was
transmitted to the Latin nations of both hemispheres. The people
embraced them with enthusiasm. Up to that time two schools of politics
had divided the empire of free thought. The historical school, led by
Montesquieu, looked upon the constitution of England as the finished
work of experience and of human logic. The philosophical school, led by
Rousseau, denied the value of experience and thought to establish
liberty and the sovereignty of the people by seeking “the best form of
association for the defence and protection of each associate against the
force of all, so that each one should obey only himself and remain free
as before.” This second doctrine formulated in the constitution of the
United States, became a new principle in political science, and as such
met with general acceptance throughout the colonies of South America.
The most important feature of the revolution of North America is not the
achievement of her national independence, but her emancipation,
political, intellectual, and moral, in the name of human rights and in
constitutional form. From this moment, English constitutionalism ceased
to be a model, and the English constitution to be an ideal, even among
the English themselves, who have had to recognise their descendants and
political pupils as their masters.
The spirit of free England, anticipating the verdict of posterity,
justified insurrection in America. Statesmen and thinkers such as
Chatham and Burke, sympathised in the movement, declaring, “There is no
monopoly of principle,” but its effect upon France was still more
marked, being the outcome of the reasonings of her philosophers.
Thus it was that America reacted for the second time upon Europe with
most beneficial effect. On the third occasion the part of teacher is
played by South America.
THE AFFILIATION OF THE REVOLUTION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
Hardly was Peru conquered by the Spanish race, than it became the
theatre of civil war. The conquerors, headed by Gonzalo Pizarro,
rebelled against their king in the name of their rights as conquerors,
cut off the head of the king’s representative and burned the Royal
Standard. Hardly had one generation time to grow up in America, ere a
son of Hernan Cortez, in whose veins flowed the blood of the celebrated
Indian Doña Marina, conspired to give independence to Mexico in the name
of the same territorial rights invoked by Pizarro. The far off colony
of Paraguay was from the first a turbulent municipal republic. The
colonists deposed their royally appointed governors with shouts of
“Death to Tyrants,” elected rulers of their own, and did as they liked
for more than twenty-five years (1535-60). These and many other similar
facts, prove that the colonization of South America was imbued from the
commencement with the principle of individuality and with the instinct
of independence, which naturally resulted in emancipation and democracy.
These insurrections were outbursts of Castillian spirit, but early in
the eighteenth century, Creoles begin to call themselves with pride
Americans, and for the first time is heard in Potosi the cry of
_Liberty_. In 1711 the half-breeds proclaimed a mulatto King of
Venezuela. In 1733 the Creoles rose in arms and compelled the abrogation
of the commercial monopoly of the “Compania Guipuzcoana de Caracas.” In
1730 two thousand half-breeds at Cochabamba (Upper Peru), made armed
protest against the poll-tax, and acquired the right to elect Creoles as
officers of justice to the exclusion of Spaniards. In 1765 the Creoles
of Quito rose in armed insurrection against the imposition of direct
taxes. None of these outbreaks had as yet any definite political
character. The embryonic republic of Paraguay gave the first example of
a revolutionary movement based upon the sovereignty of the people.
José Antequera, by birth an American but educated in Spain, appeared on
the scene during a dispute between the governor of Paraguay and the
Cabildo of Asuncion. The people named him governor by acclamation. He
placed himself at their head, in opposition to the theocratic rule of
the Jesuits, who were ruining the country. He fought pitched battles
against the royal troops and was blessed as a saviour, but died on the
scaffold as a traitor to his king.
After his death, his pupil Fernando Mompox organized the popular party
under the name of the _Comuneros_, deposed another governor and
established a governing Junta, but was also overcome.
In 1781 the _Comuneros_ broke out in insurrection in New Granada, but
the movement was suppressed.
These were not events of great historical importance, but they show that
throughout the period of Spanish domination, the rule of the mother
country was irksome to the Spaniards themselves, and was hateful to all
Americans.
THE MORAL REVOLUTION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
There can be no revolution until the ideas of men become the conscience
of the mass, and until the passions of men become a public force,
because “it is man and not events which constitute the world.” The
revolution was accomplished in the man of South America before the end
of the eighteenth century; after that all his actions have one object
and one meaning. Emancipation was no longer an instinct, it became an
active passion.
Spain through jealousy of England joined France in aiding the rebels of
the North, and her recognition of the independence of the new republic
was virtually the abdication of her own authority over the South.
Aranda, one of the first statesmen of his time, advised his sovereign in
1783 to forestall the inevitable future by making one _infante_ King of
Mexico, one King of Peru, and one King of the Mainland, taking to
himself the rank of Emperor. The King of Spain shut his ears to these
counsels.
The revolution of 1789 proved that the ideas embodied in the Declaration
of Independence were of universal application. The monarchs of Europe
took the alarm and formed reactionary leagues. To South America these
ideas were conveyed by educated Creoles, who travelling in Europe
learned them from French writers. “The Rights of Man” was translated,
printed in secret, and circulated through New Granada by Antonio
Nariño. Charged with this as a crime, no proof could be brought against
him as no copy of the book could be found, tortures failing to extract
information from suspects. He was banished to Africa, his property
confiscated, and his original copy of the work was burnt by the public
executioner. From the men of culture the new ideas filtered to the
masses, transforming their minds by the creation of an ideal, which each
one interpreted in accordance with his own talents, interests, or
prejudices.
THE PRECURSOR OF THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
During some years previously an ardent apostle of human liberty had
wandered about the world. He was a dreamer with confused ideas and
undisciplined attainments, a generous minded warrior, above all, a man
of strong will. A soldier of Washington, a comrade of Lafayette, a
general under Dumouriez,[3] a companion of Madame Roland in her prison,
a confidant of Pitt in his schemes of insurrection in the colonies of
Spanish America, distinguished by Catharine II. of Russia, whose favours
he put aside in deference to his austere mission, looked upon by
Napoleon as a lunatic with a spark of the sacred fire, FRANCISCO
MIRANDA, a native of Caracas, was the first to foresee the great
destinies of republican America, and the first to raise the banner of
freedom on the southern continent.
He it was who organised the revolutionary efforts of South Americans in
Europe; establishing an understanding with the Creoles of the colonies.
It was he who towards the close of the eighteenth century founded in
London the political society, the “Gran Reunion Americana,” to which
they were all affiliated. In this society were initiated in the
mysteries of future liberty, O’Higgins of Chile, Nariño of New Granada,
Montufar and Rocafuerte of Quito, Caro of Cuba, who represented the
patriots of Peru, Alvear, an Argentine, and others who later on became
illustrious. Here the two great liberators, BOLÍVAR and SAN MARTIN, took
an oath to work out the triumph of the cause of the emancipation of
South America.
This society was the type of the secret societies which, transplanted to
the theatre of action, impressed its seal upon the characters of those
who directed the revolution of South America. They inoculated it with
the true American idea, which, heedless of frontiers and disregarding
all obstacles, looked upon the enslaved colonies as one, with one
aspiration, with one love, and with one hatred of their common master.
This gave cohesion to the revolution in America, and ensured triumph by
the union of all forces to one common end. Here was the point of contact
of all Creoles, wherever they might work for independence and for
liberty. Here is the explanation of the identity of the original
movements in spite of the isolation of each colony.
Miranda sought to interest the whole world in the cause of independence;
chiefly he sought the help of England. Three times (1790--1801) he
obtained a promise of moral and material support from Pitt, with the
co-operation of the United States. European complications and the
hesitation of the cabinet at Washington, prevented the fulfilment of
these promises. In 1791 he published a letter to the Americans, in which
he attacked the colonial system of Spain, declaring that nature had
separated America from Spain by the interposition of the ocean, thus
emancipating her sons from the mother country, and that they--
“Were free by natural right received from the Creator; that the moment
had arrived for opening up a new era of prosperity; and with the aid of
Providence, to raise up in America a grand family of brothers united by
a common interest.”
Failing in his attempt to secure the help of England and the United
States, Miranda ventured upon the enterprise by himself. In the year
1806 he made two attempts to kindle the fire of revolution in his native
country. He landed on the mainland at Ocumare with two hundred men, and
at Vela de Coro with five hundred. None responded to his call, but the
cry was heard, and its echo resounded through two worlds.
England, on the death of Pitt, abandoning his projects for the
emancipation of the colonies of Spanish America, attempted to conquer
them for herself, and was twice defeated at Buenos Ayres in 1806 and
1807. Miranda was pleased at this defeat, and in 1808 wrote to
congratulate the Cabildo of Buenos Ayres. At the same time he wrote to
the Cabildo of Caracas, giving notice of the invasion of Spain by
Napoleon, advising them to take charge of the government and to send
deputies to London to arrange the future course of the New World. At the
same time he published in London a pamphlet written in English by an
Englishman, in which from the defeat of the English was drawn a lesson,
based upon the opinion of General Auchmuty, that the Creoles would only
make alliance with England on condition of their own independence.
Miranda translated this pamphlet into Spanish, and added a sketch of a
constitution for the new States proposed, the dominant idea of which was
a federal republic on a basis of independent Cabildos.
As the victory of Buenos Ayres made a great noise in the world, and more
especially in the hearts of Americans, this propaganda fell in with the
new sentiment of nationality, disclosed in the words of Don Cornelio
Saavedra in his address to the Patricios[4] of Buenos Ayres in 1807:
“Those born in the Indies, whose spirits are undaunted, are in no way
inferior to the Spaniards of Europe, and in valour give place to none.”
THE RACES OF SOUTH AMERICA.--THE CREOLE.
Five races, which for historic purposes may be looked upon as three
only, peopled the Southern Continent at the outbreak of the War of
Independence: the European Spaniards, the Spanish-American Creoles, and
the half-breeds; also the indigenous Indians, and the negroes from
Africa. The Spaniards formed a privileged class, and by reason of their
origin enjoyed both political and social pre-eminence. The Indians and
the negroes formed the servile class. The half-breeds, derived from a
mixture of three races, formed an intermediate class, and in some places
were in a large majority. The Creoles, direct descendants of Spaniards,
of pure blood, but modified in character by contact with the
half-breeds, were the true sons of the soil, and constituted the basis
of society. Generally the most numerous, they were always the civilising
force of the colony. They were the most energetic, the most intelligent
and imaginative; and with all their inherited vices and their want of
preparation for freedom, were the only ones animated by an innate
sentiment of patriotism.
Those born in South America thus formed a race apart, an oppressed race,
who saw in their ancestors and in their contemporaries not fathers and
brothers, but masters. The colonial system placed, to a certain extent,
all natives of the soil upon the same level, and drew a broad line of
distinction between the Spanish-American colonists and their mother
country. Spain, by reason of distance, yielded to her colonists greater
freedom and more municipal rights than she gave to her own sons in their
own land, but her absolute government could not bind her colonies to her
by the tie of nationality. Men of Spanish birth looked upon the
colonies as feudal territory, over which they, as beings of a superior
race, were the natural lords, and thought that if only a shoemaker
remained in Castile, this shoemaker had the right to govern all America.
The natural aspiration of slaves is for freedom, and that of oppressed
races who know their own strength is to assume their place in the human
family. In this double aspiration lay the germ of revolution in America.
In 1780 the indigenous race under Tupac-Amarú, a descendant of the
Incas, rose _en masse_ in Peru against their oppressors, but were
naturally defeated. They possessed no great social force, and did not
represent the cause of civilized America. The day of the Creoles had not
yet come, but they saw nothing to admire, to love, or to respect in
Spain. An absolute King, generally an imbecile, was the sole point of
contact between them. Their mother country was to them neither a country
nor a mother. The instinct of independence became a passion, even more
vehement in those who resided in Spain than in those who had never left
their own hearths. Thus it was that the leaders who did most for the
revolution came from Spain.
In the struggle each race took its own special part. The Creoles formed
the vanguard and directed the movements. The indigenous races formed the
first line in Mexico, but elsewhere they were only useful as
auxiliaries. In South America the half-breeds formed the rank and file
of the armies of the revolution. The Argentine _gaucho_, with the
fatalism of the Arab and the strength of the Cossack, gave the type to
the cavalry, renowned for the impetuosity of their charge from La Plata
to Chimborazo. The _llaneros_[5] of Venezuela, half-breeds for the most
part, formed the famous squadrons of Columbia, whose feats were
celebrated from the Orinoco to Potosi. The _rotos_[6] of Chile, mostly
of Indian blood, formed with Argentines in solid battalions, who
measured their strength with Spanish regiments, victors over the
soldiers of Napoleon in the Peninsula. The manumitted negroes gave their
contingent to the American infantry, showing the warlike qualities of
their race. In Upper Peru the indigenous races kept alive for ten years
the flames of insurrection when the patriot armies were defeated. The
_cholos_ of the Highlands of Peru espoused the cause of the king, and
were highly esteemed as infantry by the Spanish generals, more
especially on account of the extraordinary rapidity of their marches.
The Creole of South America is a sturdy off-shoot of that civilizing
Indo-European race to which is reserved the government of the world. It
is his mission to complete the democratization of the American continent
and to found a new order of things destined to live and progress. He has
impressed the peculiarities of his character upon the new nationalities.
When the revolution broke out in 1810, it was said that South America
would become English or French; when it triumphed, that the continent
would sink back into barbarism. By the will and the work of the Creole,
it became American, republican, and civilized.
THE FIRST THROES OF REVOLUTION.
The initial outbreaks of the year 1809, were in some parts of a more
radical character than were those of the following year, when the first
political formula of the rebellion was merely a demand for relative and
provisional independence, for a compromise between democracy and
monarchy upon the basis of autonomy.
The doctrine that on the disappearance of the monarch his sovereignty
reverted to his people, was for the first time boldly proclaimed in
Mexico. From this it was deduced that they had the right to appoint
governing Juntas for their own security, and owed no allegiance to those
established in Spain at the time of the French invasion. Hence arose
disputes between the Creoles and the Spaniards, and between the
Audiencia and the Viceroy, which at the end of 1809 changed the movement
into a conspiracy for independence.
In Quito the commotion assumed more definite forms. The colonial
authorities were overturned and a governing Junta was set up, which took
to itself the attributes of sovereignty and raised troops for its own
defence. They exhorted the peoples of America by a proclamation to
follow the example, announcing that “law has resumed its authority under
the equator,” and that “the rights of man were, by the disappearance of
despotism, no longer at the mercy of arbitrary power.” The authors of
this premature revolution were overcome and put to death in prison.
In Upper Peru, the city of Chuquisaca was the first to move. In May,
1809, the Creoles, at the instigation of the Audiencia, tumultuously
deposed the constituted authorities, and set up an independent
government. In July the city of La Paz followed the example. Under the
name of the _Junta Tuitiva_, an independent government composed
exclusively of Americans was established, which raised an army, and hung
on a gallows those who denied its authority. Both these revolts were
suppressed by the combined arms of the neighbouring Viceroyalties of
Peru and La Plata. The leaders of the insurrection of La Paz died either
on the field of battle or on the gallows. One of the latter before being
thrown off cried out:--“The fire which I have lighted shall never be
quenched.” Their heads and limbs were nailed to the posts which mark out
the public roads in that country, but before they had rotted away the
fire was again burning in Upper Peru.
By the quelling of these conspiracies it was thought that the danger was
averted, but as was said by the Viceroy of Peru fifty years before, on
the first revolt of the Comuneros of Paraguay, “it was but a covering up
of the fire with ashes.”
THE GROWTH OF THE REVOLUTION.
In the year 1810 the drama of revolution unfolded itself upon a vast
continental scene, with a unity of action which from the first attracted
the attention of the world. All the Spanish American colonies with the
exception of Lower Peru, arose in rebellion simultaneously, and
proclaimed one political doctrine. Some historians have thought that
this movement was the result of an external impulse, and that the
subsequent separation was as the falling of unripe fruit. Others, better
informed, look upon this separation as a necessity: “The union of Spain
with America, possible under an absolute _régime_, was incompatible with
representative government and with the political equality of the
citizens.” The truth is that the South American revolution was inspired
by an innate sentiment of patriotism, in obedience to conservative
instinct, and by its nature tended to independence.
The divorce of the colonies from the mother country took place at a
critical moment, when their union was hurtful to them both. If America
was not prepared for self-government, and if her attempts at
self-government almost exhausted the forces already weakened by the
struggle, what would then have been her condition had she remained under
the rule of unnatural laws which condemned her to a lingering death, a
prey to vices inoculated by an evil system?
It cannot be denied that without the invasion of Spain by Napoleon in
1808, and the consequent disappearance of the dynasty of Spain, the
revolution would have been delayed; but this does not imply that America
was not ripe for emancipation, the opportunity was nothing more than the
spark setting fire to the combustibles already prepared for burning.
The Provisional Government established in Spain anticipated the
complaints of the colonists, and recognised by its acts the justice of
their cause, fomenting their resistance as much by its concessions as by
its refusals. The Regency of Cadiz called upon Americans to join the
national Cortes, thus raising them to the rank of freemen, but at the
same time gave them only one deputy, chosen by itself, for each million
of inhabitants, while to the natives of the Peninsula, for the most part
under the yoke of the foreigner, it gave one deputy for each hundred
thousand. The essential difference lay in the divergence of their
political opinions. The Regency maintained “The American dominions are
an integral part of Spain,” from which it deduced the right of Spain to
rule America in the absence of the sovereign. Americans, as we have
already seen, maintained that the crown was the only link between them.
Take away this fundamental divergence of opinion, and the reason for the
revolution disappears, the insurrection loses its legality, and the
question becomes one of national representation, having no relation
either to independence or to autonomy.
The colonial authorities were deposed without resistance by the force of
public opinion, and new ones were instituted without any rupture of
relations with the mother country, though all foresaw the logical end of
the process. In answer to this moderate policy, the Regency refused to
the colonies that freedom of trade which it had proposed to give them,
avoided the mediation of England, and, without attempting to arrive
peacefully at an understanding, stigmatised the Americans as rebels and
declared war against them, punishing as high treason in them that which
the Spaniards themselves had done in Spain. It was then (1811) that
Venezuela declared herself independent, and gave herself a republican
constitution.
South America was ill-prepared for the struggle; she had neither
soldiers nor politicians, she had to improvise all she needed. Spain in
alliance with England and supported by the first nations of the world,
was mistress of the seas, her armies triumphant in Europe, were
stronger than before the French invasion, nevertheless South America
unaided accepted the challenge, and triumphed all alone.
The meeting of the Cortes and the promulgation of the Constitution of
1812, instead of reconciling the mother country with her colonies,
fanned the flames of insurrection, and by concessions encouraged the
spirit of independence. When in 1814 the King was restored, America was
still governed in his name, and the movement having been crushed in
Venezuela the revolution was placed in a false position. The refusal of
America to surrender without conditions to absolute power, was replied
to by the proclamation of a war of reconquest, and amicable arrangement
was no longer possible.
In 1820 despotism triumphed in Europe under the banners of absolute
kings allied against the liberties of the people, but in South America
the cause of independence, fostered by the example of the United States,
was successful. From this epoch the reaction of American thought is felt
in the Parliament of England, and influences even Spain herself, where
the armies collected to stamp out revolution in America, turn against
the absolute king and re-establish a constitutional _régime_. This is a
critical moment: upon the triumph or the defeat of revolution in South
America depend the destinies of two worlds.
Five years later on, victory crowned her efforts, America is republican,
independent, and free. From this moment the current of history, which
has for three centuries carried despotism from the East to the West, now
turns back; the action of the principles of American regeneration flows
from West to East and spreads over Europe until stopped by the barrier
of Islamism. Greece cries out for emancipation, and Europe instead of
joining to crush her aspirations, runs to help her. Portugal becomes
free by the example and influence of her American colonies, who send
back to her her absolute kings, transformed into constitutional rulers.
In France the revolution of 1789 revives in a compromise between
monarchy and a republic, its champions being a comrade of Washington and
an emigrant prince who had studied American democracy at close quarters.
Take away the South American revolution of the year ’10, suppose it to
be suppressed in 1820, or eliminate the final triumph of 1825, and the
republic of the United States remains the sole representative of
liberty; and the world, even with the help of free England, lies
grovelling under the sway of absolutism.
ATTEMPTS AT MONARCHY IN SOUTH AMERICA.
Had the idea of Aranda been adopted in 1783, it is probable that a
bastard monarchy would have been established in America, upon which time
would have impressed the seal of democracy. Had the King of Spain
removed his throne to America in 1808, as did he of Portugal, it is
possible that the course of the revolution might have been changed under
dynastic auspices, delaying the advent of the republic and perchance
accelerating constitutional stability. These two opportunities being
lost, the revolution could only develop in accordance with its own
nature and become essentially a republican movement.
The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and the Quakers of Pennsylvania
carried with them the seed of republicanism. The Cavaliers who colonized
Virginia became republicans by founding a new country of a distinct
type, which produced Washington. The Spanish colonists of South America
brought with them no such ideas but only germs of individualism, from
which time developed desires for independence and for equality. The
indigenous races knew nothing of any form of government except monarchy.
The Creoles were born republicans. The idea of establishing a monarchy
never sprang from a Creole brain, and when proposed was looked upon by
them only as a compromise or as an artificial expedient when it was not
folly. In 1808 the English constitution was the ideal of thinkers
trained in the school of Montesquieu. In 1810 the _social contract_ of
Rousseau was their gospel, and the revolution of that year assumed
spontaneously a popular form, producing municipal republics, whereby the
course of opinion became exclusively democratic.
When early reverses damped the republican hopes of Argentine leaders,
they looked to the establishment of a monarchy under the protection of
the Great Powers as a means of securing independence and constitutional
freedom. In 1814 it was proposed to crown an Infante of Spain King of La
Plata. In 1816 that same Congress which declared the independence of the
Argentine Provinces, embraced the idea of crowning a descendant of the
Incas at Cuzco, and uniting Peru and the River Plate under his rule, a
proposition quenched in ridicule. The same Congress, in 1819, after
swearing to and promulgating a republican constitution, sought in Europe
for a king, lowering their character in the eyes of the world, and
bringing accusations of treachery upon themselves from their own
countrymen.
This reaction took place precisely at the time when the perseverance of
the republicans had gained for them universal sympathy, when the United
States threw her shield over the infant peoples to protect them from the
attacks of the Holy Alliance, and when England, after declaring that she
would not recognise “the revolutionary governments of America,” became
convinced of her mistake. The agents of this policy were men such as
Rivadavia, who stands in America second alone to Washington as the
representative statesman of a free people; such as Belgrano, the type of
republican virtue; and such as San Martin, who, a republican at heart,
had no faith in democracy, yet founded republics which by natural law
became democracies. When San Martin ignored this law, his career as a
liberator came to an end. So also, later on, fell Bolívar in the
attempt to convert democracy into monocracy. The only American liberator
who in his folly crowned himself emperor--Iturbide in Mexico--died on
the scaffold, a presage of the sad end of another emperor, whose corpse
was sent back to Europe as a protest against the imposition of monarchy.
The Empire of Brazil is apparently a proof of the possibility of
establishing monarchy in America, but the contrary is the fact. Brazil
is a democratic empire, founded upon the principle of the sovereignty of
the people, without any privileged class or hereditary nobility, and has
nothing monarchical about it except the name.
RETROSPECTION.
When the war was over and the continent at peace, Bolívar exclaimed, “I
blush to say it, independence is the only good we have achieved at the
cost of all else.” Even at this price independence was solid gain, for
it was life. The continuance of the colonial system was death by
decomposition. Independence was, moreover, the establishment of the
democratic republic, a system under which all losses may be retrieved.
South America has no reason to complain of the task allotted to her in
working out the destiny of humanity.
In the first decade of this century the republic of the United States
was a sun without satellites. The apparition of a group of new nations
from the colonial nebula of the South, formed, for the first time in the
political world, a planetary system of republics governed by natural
laws. An entire continent, almost one half the globe, extending from
pole to pole and washed by the two greatest of the oceans, became
republican.
At that time there were but two republics in the world--in Europe,
Switzerland; in America, the United States. The influence of the latter
was not yet felt, but the new system of republics soon became a power of
the first rank.
The republics of South America were strong enough to conquer their
independence, but they lacked the elements of self-government. They had
passed at one bound from slavery to freedom, and it took them more than
one generation to eradicate evils produced by three centuries of
misgovernment. In the war they had expended not only their blood, their
treasure, and their vital energy, but also their intellectual strength.
Wealth came to them with independence, but the want of the elements of
self-government made them an easy prey to anarchy and despotism, from
which the conservative instinct at length saved them. Still they suffer
the evils of inexperience, but nothing is lost while republican
institutions, the great work of the revolution, are preserved.
No people so ill-prepared for the change could have done better. Even
the United States passed through a critical period of transition, which
imperilled their existence as an organised nation. The republics of
South America have suffered greatly from misgovernment, but the
instincts of the people have ever been superior to the incapacity of
their rulers. Had they continued subject to Spain, they would have died
of inanition; had the English invasion been successful, they might now
be colonies of England, such as Australia and Canada, and might possibly
be richer in material wealth than they are, but they would not be
independent nations, charged with the mission of creating new elements
of progress; they would but feebly reflect a far-off light. South
America would but exist as an appendage of Europe, and Europe would be
subject to the Holy Alliance of absolute kings.
If South America has not realised all the hopes awakened by the
revolution, still it cannot be said that she has faltered in her course.
She has resolved for herself the problem of life, educated herself in
the hard school of experience, and by sorrow has purged away her vices.
Giving the lie to sinister presage, which condemned her to absorption by
inferior races, the energetic Creole has assimilated them, giving them
freedom and dignity, or, when necessary, has suppressed them. With help
from the most superior races of the world, acclimatized upon her
hospitable shores, the reins of government have been secured to him. Her
regenerated population doubles itself in twenty or thirty years; before
the end of the next century South America will number four hundred
millions of freemen, North America five hundred millions, and all
America will be Republican and Democratic.
To these great results, following the example of Washington and equal to
Bolívar, will have contributed, with such talents as he possessed, the
founder of three republics, the emancipator of one-half of South
America, whose history will now be told.