Consequences of Independence across the Atlantic: Patria, Slavery and Betrayal Overview: - By 1826, all of Spanish America = independent - GB and USA; the main powers in the Atlantic world, rapidly adapted to this new reality and defined new models of economic, political and diplomatic relations with the new republics. - In Madrid, the reaction took longer and was determined by both a sense of betrayal and its relation with those territories that had remained loyal to the Metropolis: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines - In the new republics, a complex political picture defined the post-bellum years: beyond political separation from SPN, what had the long years of warfare achieved? Questions: - Did African Americans and indigenous peoples benefit from participation in the wars of independence? - What impact did the wars of independence have on women? - How democratic were the first Spanish America republics? - How did Spain, Britain and the United States react to Independence? What happened in those American territories that "remained loyal" to Madrid? - How did slavery impact Cuba's loyalty to the Empire? Reading 1: "The Not So Loud 'Anti-Slave Trade Clamour' of the 1840s" by Jesús Sanjurjo - The development of abolitionism following the Constitution of 1837 o Sanjurjo challenges the historiographical notion of a public 'anti-slave trade clamour' in the 2nd half of the 1840s. o There was not a structural change in Cuban elite opinion > it was a temporary reaction linked to the social commotion caused by the GB government's actions against the Brazilian slave trade and conspiracy of La Escalera (SPN colonies = accused of a planned slaver revolt) o Anti-abolitionist discourse = continued o The 'abrasive' diplomatic strategy put in place by the GB authorities against the slave trade > contributed to justifying anti-abolitionist positions in both SPN and Cuba. - Increased militarisation and the restriction of civil rights in the SPN colonies -> within this context a anti-slave trade discourse emerged > a political response due to SPN's inaction - Key Cuban intellectuals = engaging in the discourse e.g. José Antonio Saco advocated for the eradication of the slave trade BUT he wanted to do so in order to 'whiten' the island in order to improve their economy and advance political rights for the white population HOWEVER -> his anti-slave trade ideas = become the most successful abolitionist discourse in Cuba during the 1840s Exclusion and Slavery at the Cortes of 1836
- Ferdinand VII = dies in 1833 - 1834 -> Francisco MartĂnez de la Rosa = appointed PM with the support of the Conservative and Moderate liberals. Under his presidency, the regent sanctioned the Estatuto Real of 1834 o The Estatuto = contested by radical and progressive liberals who in 1836 (after the military uprising know as the MotĂn de la Granja) proclaimed the restoration of the 1812 Constitution of Cadiz. o Difficulties of implementing it led the new PM, JosĂ© MarĂa de Calatrava, to call for the formation of a Constituent Cortes