Spain’s Loss Of America: Free Trade VS. Military

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Spain’s Loss of America: Free Trade VS. Military

“Spain’s loss of its Latin American Empire was one of the most momentous events of the nineteenth century, with repercussions that can be felt even in the present day (Woodward 586).” There were many reasons that Spain lost her colonies. These ranged from economics to the horrendous ways that Spain exploited her colonies. The ideas of free trade versus military incursions have been debated for years. Spain never learned that diplomacy is often the better part of valor. Spain should have employed the use free trade because it would have allowed them to hold and use their colonies for years to come.
When Spain first began to explore and expand, she had dreams of an empire. First came conquistadors, such as Pizarro and Cortez, who maliciously conquered the new world. They put the established empires of the Incas and Aztecs under the knife and subjugated them to Spanish will. A “New World” was fashioned and exploited to the full extent by the Spanish Monarchy. Slowly, this heathen land was shaped and formed to be a center of trade and profit for Spain. This land was held for approximately 250 years but then uprising and talks of insurrection began to take place. Gradually the empire of Spain began to fall.
During the age of Napoleon, Spain was beset with difficulties. In 1808, a first of many uprisings began in Latin America. “It was at this juncture that word arrived of insurrections in the empire, first in New Spain and Venezuela, then spreading quickly to Peru, Chile, and the Rio de la Plata (Woodward 586).” At this time, Spain had approximately 125,000 troops stationed in Latin America. However, there was a great problem with these troops. Many of the men who served in these permanent regiments, in the New World, were composed of many Native Americans. These same people had their own comrades rebelling against Spain. Many persons in the Spanish ...