Liberalism and Nationalism: 150 Years of Change - Essay Sample

In which ways have, liberalism and nationalism alternated in ascendance during the past 150 years.

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The French Revolutions led to the intellectual enlightenment that brought concepts of positivism among the Latin Americans turning ideas of equality, liberty and sovereignty into liberalism ideologies. The liberalism in the eighteenth century represented a laissez-fare economy (with limited government influence). Liberal idealism favoured evolution in traditions, universal values reason to religion and a free market economy. Such liberality enabled capitalism to thrive. Neoliberalism encouraged globalization among the Latinos a phenomenon that has doubled in the modern neoliberalism. The laissez-fare economy has, however, not brought overall positive effects since it only favours the few individuals on top, leading to nightmares from stratified societies.

The other dominant ideology in Latin American political history is the nationalism. Nationalism is the form evident globally within the last two centuries where kingdoms and dynasties have been abolished in favour of sovereign nations. The nationalism transformation has been widespread in the modern history of the world been associated with both negative and positive effects. Nationalism encourages every person been in part of the nation, and those countries should have a system of self-rule. Nationalism as such became the basis of world decolonization. Nationalism calls for unity among the citizens for the development of the nation. The population of public amenities such as schools, hospitals, government ministries marked nineteenth-century Latin America's nationalism. The system, however, shuns values of liberalism such as free trade.

Nationalism and liberalism have alternated in dominance for over a century and still stands. The history in Latin America not only revolves in politics also abut in economics, amazing people and vibrant culture.

If the Spanish and Portuguese colonial system was a brutal one in which Native American and peoples of African descent were oppressed, why did colonialism last for so long.

When the Portuguese and the Spanish entered America to colonize the Native dwellers, they came in the name of spreading "the good news". Without religion, the colonizers may not have managed to influence their colonies. The Portuguese and Spanish spread the Christian faith calling it the salvation of the human species. The religion idealism mainly held to the Catholic Church not only used words to convince their targets but also force. The bringing of Christianity to the Native Americans resulted in immense exploitation.

Before the colonization began, some Franciscan members entered Mexico. These individuals treated indigenous people with high regard. The intention of the Franciscans was, however, to study the native people; religion, history, and their way of life. To accomplish the learning goal, these Franciscans, most notably Bernardino, learned the language of the local people and then integrated them in his research. Together with his indigenous students, they documented notable works such as the Trove of Aztec that described the customs and literature in the native language. The writing was critical in giving an external force direct influence. Later, Toribio de Motolinia, another Franciscan came to the indigenous people denouncing the former Spanish rules and adopting forced labour and torture.

Similarly, other colonizers in Brazil also started working with the indigenous people in their affected areas and later turned into monsters. These oppressors preached the gospel, and whoever accepted it with its slavery got spared. Those who rejected the religion faced the wrath of death from the colonizers who already had well elaborate weapons. The religion usually derived support from scriptures that advocated for it. The same indoctrination influenced the people of black origin in colonization for many decades.

Who was caudillo, and what ideas did he represent? Provide an example of a well-known caudillo.

Caudillos were patrons of patronage politics. Patronage politics entailed a top individual who was legally entitled to great wealth and power: a caudillo owned employees, guards and faithful servants as acquaintances. The patronage system was, however, a designed to embezzle and loot government resources to cronies, friends, family, clients or any other person the caudillo felt appropriate. The caudillo had a direct influence on his people and swayed important governmental decisions such as voting. These people had a military power ready to take down whomever they deserved. A caudillo possessed not only wealth but also great physical attributes. He was a great man of the army and mostly came from a wealthy family.

The caudillos were essential people to investors who acquired anything they wanted through them. When people such as Don Miguel needed to something in government, a caudillo was necessary for doing in for him. One of the notable caudillos was Juan Manuel de Rosas who controlled Argentina between 1829 and 1852. He was a great cattle keeper and militia frontier. He was a political image of propaganda who routinely caused violence against his opponents in politics.

How did the relationship between the United States and Latin America change during the nineteenth century?

The nineteenth-century marked Latin America's independence in 1823 except for Cuba and Puerto Rico. The rest of the Latin Americans remained economically and culturally focused on the outside world. Both the conservatives and the liberals viewed the United States as a glorious nation worth imitation. Traders from the US flocked Latin America where they were readily welcome. The relationship between the two zones improved where the US advocated a diplomatic policy for solidarity, the Monroe Doctrine, requiring the Europeans to hand off the Americans. The Monroe Doctrine, however, did not remain in action for long because the US would not keep up with Britain and France. The trade between Latin America and the US, however, gained ground and expanded, especially in the atmosphere of technological advancement in the US.

What is populism? Provide at least two examples that demonstrate how populism functioned in Latin America.

Populism is a political style aimed at the middle and urban working classes. The two types constitute the populist coalition as in the famous 1945 that mainly involved the employed nationalists and the promoted soldiers of World War 2. The leadership style concentrated on the politics of masses and winning elections.

The Latin America populism functioned well due to the region's governance characterized by democracy and free elections. The area also faced inequalities in social, economic aspects leading to resentments among the middle class and peasants towards the wealthy.

Populism also gained popularity in the twentieth century as a result, charismatic leaders who surfaced. These were unaffected by capitalism and activated the urban working class leading to reform-based politics.