L** 'bv" i°-n^. V ha 2. HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE No. 78 Editors: HERBERT FISHER, M.A., F.B.A. Prof. GILBERT MURRAY, Litt.D., LL.D., F.B.A. Prof. J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A. Prof. WILLIAM T. BREWSTER, M.A. THE HOME UlSriYEKSITY LIBKAEY OE MODEEIT KITOWLEDGE i6mo cloth, so cents net, by mail 56 cents HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY Already Published THE DAWN OF HISTORY . . . By J. L. Myres ROME By W. Warde Fowler THE PAPACY AND MODERN TIMES By William Barry MEDIEVAL EUROPE By H. W. C. Davis THE FRENCH REVOLUTION . By Hilaire Belloc, NAPOLEON By H. A. L. Fisher CANADA By A. G. Bradley THE COLONIAL PERIOD ... By Charles M. Andrews FROM JEFFERSON TO LINCOLN By William MacDonald THE CIVIL WAR By Frederic L. Paxson RECONSTRUCTION AND UNION (1865-1012) By Paul L. Ha WORTH THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND . By A. F. Pollard HISTORY OF OUR TIME (i885- 1911) By G. P. GoocH POLAR EXPLORATION (with maps)By W. S. Bruce THE OPENING UP OF AFRICA By Sir H. H. Johnston THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA By H. A. Giles PEOPLES AND PROBLEMS OF INDIA By Sir T. W. Holderness A SHORT HISTORY OF WAR AND PEACE ByG. H. Perris MODERN GEOGRAPHY By Marion Newbigin MASTER MARINERS By J. R. Spears THE OCEAN By Sir John Murray LATIN AMERICA By W. R. Shkpherd GERMANY OF TO-DAY .... By Chas. Tower Future Issues A SHORT HISTORY OF EUROPE By Herbert Fisher ANCIENT GREECE By Gilbert Murray A SHORT HISTORY OF RUSSIA By Paul Milyoukov FRANCE OF TO-DAY By M. Albert Thomas THE GROWTH OF EUROPE . . By G. A. J. Cole THE REFORMATION By Principal Lindsay PREHISTORIC BRITAIN .... By R. Munro ANCIENT EGYPT By F. L. Griffith THE ANCIENT EAST By D. G. Hogarth MODERN TURKEY By D. G. Hogarth THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE . . By N. H. Baynes HISTORY OF SCOTLAND . . . By R. S. Rait LONDON By Sir Laurence Gomme ALPINE EXPLORATION ... By Arnold Lunn LATIN AMERICA BY WILLIAM R. SHEPHERD PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ; HONORARY PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHILE ; CORRESPOND- ING MEMBER OF THE SPANISH ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY, OF THE ARGENTINE SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY AND OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY OF VENEZUELA ; MEMBER OF THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE C(»>TRIGaT, 19X4, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY MAR 13 1914 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. ^7^ A^ ©CI.A362920 PREFACE "Latin America" is a geographical ex- pression applied to twenty republics in the New World. Eighteen of them have arisen from Spanish origins, and hence are known collectively as "Spanish America." Of the other two, Brazil has sprung from Portu- guese settlement, and Haiti owes its exist- ence to France. The present work is intended to serve as an introduction to the study of the various republics in Latin America. Given the small amount of space that is available, to treat each country in separate fashion would be to compile a statistical summary. Since the group of states is numerically large and their points of resemblance, on the whole, are greater than their points of difference, to emphasize their individuality throughout would be as difficult a performance as that of trying to satisfy each state that full jus- tice was being shown it in comparison with its fellows. After all, the existence of twenty republics, as such, is less important than is vi PREFACE the evidence of what they have done to merit attention. Unfair and erroneous notions, which are only too prevalent about the lands of Latin America, are best dispelled by bring- ing forward the proofs of civilization. To this end institutions and culture should be made the touchstone that determines ap- preciation. As exemplified in the colonial period, they will reveal the kind of equip- ment with which the republics started on their career. As exemplified by one state or another since that time, they will indicate the extent to which any given republic has advanced to the forefront of nations that have a direct share in the general progress of mankind, or has lagged behind them. For these reasons the contents of the book have been arranged, in the main, so as to describe phases of civilization, and to draw from one country or another illustrations of similarities, or of differences, in character, spirit and attainment. W. R. S. CONTENTS PART I The Colonies chap. page I The Expansion op Spain and Portugal . . 9 II Government 19 III Social Organization 29 IV Economic Conditions 38 V The Church ". . . 49 VI Intellectual and Artistic Status 59 PART II The Republics VII Independence 69 VIII National Development 81 IX International Relations 96 X Geography and Resources 107 XI Social Characteristics 121 XII Political and Financial Situation .... 141 XIII Industry 154 XIV Commerce 168 vii viii CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE XV Teanspoetation 179 XVI Education 192 XVII Public Charity and Social Service . . . 204 XVIII Science 208 XIX Journalism 215 XX Literature 227 XXI Fine Arts 241 Appendix: Area and Population 251 Suggestions to Readers 252 Index 253 Map . Facing 8 ll The Republics OF Latin A:merica ^ c:^; /„ 5 !>»«'' S .-^ ^ OCEAN ^^^"'''vV \S5K^ LATIN AMERICA PART I THE COLONIES CHAPTER I THE EXPANSION OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL The largest of the islands seen by Colum- bus in his first voyage was known to its na- tive inhabitants as "Haiti." This name he changed forthwith to "Espanola," or Hispa- niola, abbreviated from "Tierra espafiola" or " Spanish Land." Here Columbus proceeded to establish a town called "Navidad" (Christ- mas), which was destroyed by the natives soon after he returned to Spain. The first per- manent European settlement was not founded until 1496. This was the city of Santo Dom- ingo, a name that was often applied later to the entire island, and to the eastern and west- ern divisions of it, separately, as well. The voyages of Columbus and of the men who followed in his wake under the banners of Spain and Portugal, between 1493 and 1503, led to the discovery, not only of the islands of the West Indies, but of the At- lantic mainland of North and South America, 9 10 LATIN AMERICA all the way from what is now Honduras to Uruguay. In this course of action Portugal had relatively little share. An agreement between the two Iberian powers, in 1494, had provided for a "demarcation line," running from pole to pole and extending 370 leagues west of the Azores Islands. The Spanish area of activity was to lie to the westward and the Portuguese to the eastward of this line. It happened, how- ever, that, in 1500, a Portuguese expedi- tion bound for India went so far out of its course that it reached the northeastern coast of South America. This fact, added to the rights conferred by the "demarcation line" which, though never actually run, un- doubtedly would have cut through the eastern part of the southern continent, gave Portugal its claim to the present Brazil. But as Portugal was absorbed at the time in the development of its trade with India and the regions beyond, the immediate work of col- onization in the New World was left to Spain. So far as the West Indies were concerned, Spain confined its area of occupation to the four large islands. Expeditions from His- paniola took possession of Porto Rico in 1508, of Jamaica in 1509 and of Cuba in 1511. As time went on Cuba became the most important of them all. A fertile soil gave it commercial value, and its location EXPANSION, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 11 made it strategically the key to the Gulf of Mexico. Certain points, also, along the coast of what is now Venezuela were occu- pied from Hispaniola between 1523 and 1527. Twenty years later, after a futile at- tempt at colonization by a German bank- ing-house, the Welser of Augsburg, to whom the region had been assigned as a fief, it became definitely a Spanish province. Though settlements had been made on the Caribbean coast of southern Central America as early as 1509, it was not until after Balboa had discovered the Pacific Ocean that active interest began to be shown in its development. In 1519 the seat of government was shifted across the isthmus to Panama. From this point expeditions were despatched to the northward, which laid the foundations of Spanish power in the present Costa Rica (1523) and Nicaragua (1525). Towns began to spring up, also, along the Caribbean shore of what is now Colombia. From one of these an expedition, sent out in 1536, effected within two years the con- quest of a large part of the interior. Meanwhile the Spanish arms had won laurels far more brilliant. As a result of explorations from Cuba, in 1517 and 1518, news was brought of the wondrous civiliza- tion of the state ruled by a native people known as "Aztecs," on the plateau of n LATIN AMERICA Anahuac in the central portion of the pres- ent Mexico. Forthwith all available re- sources were called into play to equip a for- midable array of fighting men who should win this realm for Spain. Under the leader- ship of a young soldier of fortune, named Hernando Cortes, a struggle began, in 1519, which ended two years later in the complete subjugation of the Aztecs and their con- federates. The course of conquest was then carried southward into what are now Guate- mala, Salvador and Nicaragua. By 1525 all three of these areas had become more or less subject to Spanish control. Rumors borne to Panama of a southern dominion called "Birti" (Peru), the wealth and splendor of which, under the sway of the "Incas," were said to resemble those of Aztec Mexico, stirred Francisco Pizarro, a former comrade of Balboa, to emulate the achievements of Cortes. In 1531 he suc- ceeded in gathering the necessary force, and by the end of the following year had gained possession of the coveted region. From Peru as a center his lieutenants widened the Spanish domain northward, eastward and southward, by the issue of their campaigns in the present Ecuador (1533), Bolivia (1538) and Chile (1540). About the same time a futile effort to rival the feat of Pizarro was made in the EXPANSION, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 13 lands to the southeast of his general zone of conquest. Its net result was the planting of a Spanish settlement in what is now Para- guay (1536) . Seventeen years later the defini- tive colonization of the present Argentine Republic was begun in the northwest by an expedition from Chile, and, in 1580, along the River Plate (La Plata), by one from Spain. By the middle of the sixteenth century the work of the Spanish "conquistadores" (conquerors) had been substantially accom- plished. Their motives, and those of the men in general who entered upon the earlier exploration, conquest and colonization of the New World, may be summed up in the three words "gospel, glory and gold." Provi- dence, it would seem, had bestowed upon Spain a huge dominion overflowing with a wealth beyond the wildest dreams, abound- ing in the possibilities of exploits that would bring fame to the adventurous as well as grandeur to their country, and teeming with heathen peoples to be converted to the true faith and given the blessings of civilization. Romance and reality stirred the soul of the Spaniards to deeds of strength and valor almost unparalleled in the annals of man- kind. Forcing their impetuous way through tropical swamp and forest, up mighty moun- tain ranges, and across trackless plains, bat- tling at every step with savage nature and still 14 LATIN AMERICA more savage man, and marring many an act of heroism by shameful scenes of blood, they cre- ated for Spain an empire greater in extent than any that the world had ever known. Despite all its glamor, what the process of conquest really did was to secure certain strategic points of vantage, which might serve as foundations for the colonial Spanish America yet to be constructed. It is an error to suppose that what happened before 1550 was generally true of the centuries to follow. On the contrary, with very rare exceptions, the course of colonial expansion during the far longer period took the form of setting up an orderly system of life, whereby the relations of conquerors and conquered might be effectively adjusted. Evolution along these lines, ' and not a ro- mantic career of military adventure, explains how Spain consolidated a dominion that lasted upwards of three hundred years and left a heritage of eighteen republics. Although a few Portuguese convicts had early been banished to the region of Brazil, nothing like permanent occupation was es- sayed there until after a number of French settlers had located themselves along the northeastern coast. In 1530, accordingly, an expedition was organized under the com- mand of Martim Affonso de Souza, an ex- perienced navigator, to take formal posses- EXPANSION, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 15 sion of the land in the name of Portugal and drive out the intruders. He reached the shores of Brazil early in the following year, but did not fix upon the site for a colony until 1532. The spot chosen was in the southern part of the country in what is now the State of Sao Paulo. About this time the coast of Brazil was partitioned into twelve feudal "captaincies." The purpose of the arrangement was to awaken interest in a land that offered, as yet, no evidence that it contained any such wealth in precious metals as had fallen else- where in America to the fortunate lot of the Spaniards. In only six of the grants were permanent settlements erected. All of them lay within the present States of Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo, Bahia and Pernambuco, and constituted the chief centers from which the areas of colonization in Brazil were succes- sively widened. Because of this location of the settlements more or less independently at various points along the coast, life in the Port- uguese colony never became so concentrated in the capital city, as was commonly the case in Spanish America. Nor did the processes of occupation extend so far into the interior: the size of the country forbade it. Among the Portuguese founders of Brazil there were no empire-builders actually com- parable with the Spanish " conquistador es." 16 LATIN AMEMCA The same incentives did not exist. Por- tugal itself was inferior to Spain in size and strength. Its characteristics and traditions were less intense and less imperialistic. Whatever energies it possessed found their fields of application mainly in the East Indies, No native states, furthermore, of relatively high civilization, like those of the Aztecs and the Incas, with their corresponding riches, existed anywhere in its American domain. The nearest approach to the "conquista- dores" was furnished by the "Paulistas," largely a racial blend of Portuguese and In- dian found within the area of Sao Paulo. They were the real pioneers of Brazil. Fol- lowing the "bandeira," or banner, of a chosen chieftain, and hence known as "ban- deirantes," they fought their way into the interior, in a search for Indian slaves and the precious metals. On a much smaller scale, but none the less effectively, their traits and achievements bore a marked re- semblance to those of their Spanish compeers. In 1581 all the European colonies in the world became possessions of the crown of Spain, and a situation arose that never had existed before, and has never been known since. Master both on land and sea, Philip II of Spain and Portugal was a monarch whose power apparently had no bounds. Of those days it could well be said that, EXPANSION, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 17 "when Spain moved, the world trembled.'* Yet his empire was too huge, too loosely- constructed, too lacking in essential strength, to remain long intact. While it is true that Portugal continued subject to a Spanish ruler until 1641, the dissolution of the Por- tuguese dominions began early in the same century. Not content with assailing and appropriating many of its possessions in the Far East, the Dutch turned their attention to Brazil. From 1630 until 1654 they held a large part of the northeastern section of the country, and did not yield their pre- tensions to it until 1661. Now that Portugal had recovered its in- dependence of Spain and expelled the Dutch invaders, it proceeded to advance its do- minion in Brazil considerably to the south- westward. Both Spain and Portugal claimed the area between Sao Paulo and the River Plate, as a consequence of the arrangements made in connection with the "line of de- marcation." In 1680 the Portuguese founded on that river the first settlement within the limits of the present Uruguay. It became a source of constant strife and irritation be- tween the two powers. The Paulistas, also, clashed with certain Spanish Jesuits of Paraguay, who were seeking to connect their mission settlements eastward with the ocean. 18 LATIN AMERICA Still another cause of discord was furnished, in 1723, when the Portuguese strengthened their grasp upon the River Plate by establishing an additional post in Uruguay, just at the entrance to the river. Three years later the post was seized and thereafter retained by Spain. Not until 1777 was an agreement finally reached, in accordance with which the region of Uru- guay was recognized as belonging to Spain, and the land to the eastward of the Spanish possessions in general, as the rightful terri- tory of Portugal. A domain so vast and so rich as that held by Spain in the New World naturally be- came an object of envy to many a European rival. Until well into the eighteenth cen- tury, pirates, buccaneers and smugglers, English, Dutch and French, swarmed along the coasts, pillaging and destroying vessels and towns. Repeated efforts were made, particularly by the EngHsh on the Carib- bean side of Central America, to gain a foothold on the lands of the imperious Spaniard, whose weakness at home seemed to render his colonies fit objects of spoil. Yet the huge mass remained almost intact, and even became larger still. By 1786 the Spanish dominions may fairly be said to have reached their widest bounds. Eastward the scattering settlements stretched GOVERNMENT 19 to Porto E,ico, westward to the present State of California, northward to what is now the State of Missouri, and southward to Chile. In the West Indies, out of the four large islands only Jamaica, in 1655, had been lost to England and, in 1697, western Hispaniola (Saint Domingue), to France. On the continents, what are now Florida, southern Alabama and Mississippi, all of the area of the United States, also, west of the Mississippi River, together with Mexico, Central America and South America entire, except the Guianas and Brazil, acknowledged the sway of Spain. And even so late as 1810, Spain had lost no more than the re- mainder of Hispaniola, ceded to France in 1795, the island of Trinidad and a part of the present British Honduras, seized by England in 1797 and 1798, respectively, and the province of Louisiana, granted to France in 1802. Such was the extent of the Spanish empire in America. CHAPTER II GOVERNMENT At the time that Spain and Portugal started on their careers of expansion, "na- tional consciousness," the idea of a state resting on the personal rights and duties of go LATIN AMERICA its citizens, was virtually unknown. To the Spaniard, for example, his village, town or province was his country. What lay be- yond local bounds was something to be reg- ulated by officials in whose appointment, presumably, he had no choice. An absolute monarchy and an absolute church, that would safeguard the individual against a foreign foe or an alien faith, were all that could be desired in larger concerns. Ac- cordingly, whether he lived in his native land or in a distant colony, he was more or less content, so long as his local privileges were undisturbed. The spirit of individ- ualism was strong, but its manifestation worked within narrow lines. On this founda- tion Spain, and to a great extent, Portugal, based their respective systems of colonial administration. Since the dominions of Spain in America, known collectively as "The Indies," had been discovered and occupied under the auspices of the kingdom of Castile, the gov- ernment devised for them was modeled, so far as circfumstances might allow, upon the institutions of that realm. Made elaborate and comprehensive to deal with the intri- cate problems involved, it often displayed a degree of precision, uniformity and even rigidity, which suggested a Roman inherit- ance. On the other hand, following equally GOVERNMENT 21 the Roman principle of "divide and rule," powers, duties and privileges were rather vaguely defined, with the result that ojQ5- cials, classes and individuals were set off deftly against one another. No colonial authority was permitted to grow too strong, and no colonial counter- poise to become too weak, to serve the in- terests of the mother country. Every per- son, whatever his rank or station, and every governing body enjoyed the privilege of communicating directly with the govern- ment in Spain, and the exercise of the privi- lege was constantly encouraged. By this means temptation to arbitrary conduct could be restrained, no less than expres- sions of dissatisfaction checked or mollified, which otherwise might bring on revolt. Where abuses existed, they were apt to take the form of pecuniary corruption, rather than of wilful misrule. As a piece of machinery the Spanish ad- ministration certainly surpassed anything of the sort constructed by the colonial powers of the time. It was well suited, not only to the Spanish temperament, training and traditions, but to the special purposes of Spanish domination in the New World. Yet it was not, and could not be, efficacious. The resources of Spain were too inadequate, the conditions under which the processes 22 LATIN AMERICA of occupation were carried on too unfavor- able, the regions concerned too vast and too distant, the means of communication too defective, and the difficulties of creat- ing a new society out of a fusion of some thousands of Europeans with millions of aborigines too profound. The tasks accordingly imposed upon the officials in the home country and in the colonies were too complex to insure satis- factory results. No matter how well in- tentioned the laws may have been, the actual course of administration was neces- sarily slow and cumbersome, even if not altogether oppressive. Official activities on either side of the ocean were only too often shackled by red tape and routine, or else smothered under mountains of documents. During the first few years matters relat- ing to discovery, exploration and coloniza- tion were determined in accordance with special agreements, called "asientos" and "capitulaciones," between the crown and the persons interested in any particular venture. For the enforcement of the terms of these instruments, a commissioner resi- dent in Spain was provided. Later, as the course of settlement advanced beyond His- paniola to the neighboring islands and thence to the mainland, it became necessary to create a more elaborate agency of control. GOVERNMENT '^'>.^-*'^> m i$ ■^ ..wi ^'' > 'y: ^.r h^'^'Viti ih^y^M'h.^* I T* i ^ ,«.''> !}««? « C,^ Wi>3 •^. ;:■.?: ■tf>. ,••>!> tf. £■