Independence Processes in Spanish vs. Portuguese Latin America

Even though the independence processes in Spanish and Portuguese Latin America had many similar points, the mother countries were different, which caused a range of distinctions. The first discrepancy deals with the way independence were granted. The leaders of the countries had different relations with the population. Agustin de Iturbide is said to “betray” his mother country, as he supported the colonial rebels who wanted to become independent. He designed the Plan de Iguala, which included the guarantees he would maintain. On the contrary, the Portuguese prince found himself stymied. He saw no other opportunity to act except for granting independence. In this way, he would be engaged in the attempt to govern Brazil apart from Portugal.

The second point is the attitude towards the kings and their views on independence. In Portugal, people wanted to shatter the royal power. They rejected the divine right underlying that the power is given to the leaders by people but not from God, and everything depends on the extent, to which the king is accepted by the population. People from Spanish colonies had no desire to become fully detached from their mother country. They wanted to be tightly connected to it but be ruled by another person. They believed that Joseph Bonaparte became the king only due to the invasion, and that is why he cannot be considered a true leader of the country. Thus, they manifested a desire to be governed by Ferdinand VII, their rightful king.

The rationality occurred to be the third difference found by dint of comparison of the independence processes in Spanish and Portuguese Latin America. They both were divided in regard to their locations and cultures which is why it was hard for them to maintain their actions conjointly. The independence movements did not reach the regions at the same time. Still, Spanish America got involved and was able to act separately without uniting and becoming one big country. The same situation was not maintained in Portugal. It was to be united even though it was extremely complicated to manage due to the localism of the population. However, it was achieved, as it was easier to fight for independence and maintain it as a single country but not a collection of separated regions.