Latin American Revolutions

As we progress forward in history to the Revolutions of Latin America in the early 1800s, we ask ourselves the question, why is it essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race, and how are the events in the Latin American Revolutions evidence to this social imperative? Considering the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and countless other examples of racial discrimination prevalent in today’s world, this question in incredibly important to think about and try to answer. To help ourselves answer this question, our history class was split up into three groups, one for each part of Latin America. The groups included Gran Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. Each group made a timeline of revolutions that happened in their country and presented them to the class, and everyone was assigned the task of making a list of commonalities and a list of differences between the three countries’ revolutions.

My group's timeline for Gran Columbia.

There were several commonalities between all of the different revolutions happening in Gran Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. Primarily, every single revolt was rejecting European rule, promoting a more liberal way of living, perhaps influenced by the recent success of the Haitian Revolution. Another commonality between all three revolutions is that they were all successful at one point, however it was not guaranteed that it would stay that way for some. The final similarity in between the three revolutions is that the first rulers to take power after each revolution did not stay in power for long, proving the true difficulty of rebuilding and reforming an empire based on racial equality. The differences between the revolutions were not numerous, but they were very important factors within each revolution. The Brazilian revolution featured much less bloodshed than the other revolutions, making it the most peaceful revolution. The revolution in Gran Colombia resulted in the creation of several new countries, forever altering the course of history in Latin America. These revolutions are evidence of the fact that it is essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race. The revolution in Mexico was ultimately seeking racial equality. The Colombian revolution was started by a man who was extremely displeased with racial discrimination ,and was able to recruit people of many different races into one army with the intention of fighting the Spanish. Pedro I, the emperor of Brazil, only allowed whites born in Europe, or peninsulares, to become members of his cabinet, sparking the revolt in Brazil.  

While these examples of social discrimination are quite outdated, racism still resides in the heart of society, as if a deadly tumor. One of the best examples of this is the recent situation in Ferguson, Missouri, which can be explained here. This situation is proof that racism is still as relevant as ever in society, and it is always best to keep a very open mind in these situations, eliminating the risk of racism influencing peoples’ biased opinions.