How Did The Center Decline In Latin America

Throughout the past few centuries, Latin America created and maintained a split between the center and the fringe of their society which at some points negatively affected them and their potential growth. This split focused on the rural and urban aspects of their countries, cities, and states and how they interact with each other throughout the 18th century and beyond. During the colonial period, the fringe or rural areas were more important than the center or urban areas, as the fringe produced many of the necessities that the center needed and had a higher population of working class individuals. Once they gained Independence, however, there was a shift to industrialization where the center became more significant. Jobs creation occurred and there was a movement of people who had resided in the fringe to the center because newer and better technology took their jobs in their rural communities. During colonial times, the difference between urban and rural was extremely dramatic due to the lack of disbursement of wealth throughout Latin America. People described the capitals as “labyrinths
of intrigue” as this was where “one rubbed elbows with the most powerful of people” (page 113). These city centers included “schools and universities, monumental churches and monasteries, courts of justice, palatial homes, and exclusive shops” (page 113). Some deemed urban population more civilized than that of their rural counterparts as the city maintained most of the power due to their religious, educational, and governmental authority, but others did not agree as issues with health were on the rise. Individuals who lived in the center overall had poor diets and unhealthy sanitation practices and hygiene habits. These issues aided the spread of disease and lead to high mortality rates. “Streets were open sewers, considered appropriate places to leave excrement and animal corpses” (page 128). Modern medicine was not much help in the cities because physicians did not have enough knowledge to properly treat people who were sick due to the low medical standards of the day. The book stated that surgeons and dentists were the worst of them all and lacked practically any training other than what they had learned as a barber. On the flip side, those who presided in the fringe usually received better medical care than those in the center. “Age-old folk medicine and habits of personal hygiene often created more sanitary living conditions than those found in the city” (page 128). This age-old medicine came from traditional practices that included herbal remedies that which were used for centuries. “In the vast Latin American backcountry, everyday life could seem to outsiders to be stuck in a pre-Columbian time warp” (page 120). A few hundred to a few thousand people resided in rural towns, settled far away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. Described as “miniature version of the great cities” (page 116), each town had their own central focuses which ranged from trading to military outposts to mines. Geographically isolated mining camps were in places that would never undergo urban development and played a large role when contributing to society. These mines were usually staffed by indigenous workers or by African slaves and owned by the wealthy (page 119). The center’s influence on the fringe was extremely slow but the fringe gradually adopted Atlantic world practices in the rural towns within the coming decades (page 121). The 1700s became a time of decline for the throne where no clear successor of who would rule in Spain- a Habsburg or a Bourbon. A war exploded in Europe over the Spanish succession until 1713. “In the end, the Bourbon Philippe won his throne and ruled as Philip V of Spain until 1746. But Philip’s throne was acquired at a price” (page 139). The price being that “the English were granted the slave trade monopoly of Spanish America, along with limited access to the massive Spanish America trade in dry goods” (page 139). Philip relinquished the French crown and Portugal received land. Soon after the change in power of Spain, the Dutch and Portuguese pulled out of the Atlantic and in turn created a century-long war over who claimed the land between the Imperial Triangle- Britain, France, and Spain (page 139). Throughout the 1700 and 1800s when the wars occurred, revolutionary ideas began to spread in Latin America.
“Revolts and independence movements…spread across the continent between 1808 and 1830. The high point of these movements was 1821, when the original core colonies of New Spain and Peru declared independence from Spain” (page 157). With independence came political parties- liberal and conservative dominated over all else. Liberals were typically educated merchants who wanted a modest federal government, expanded suffrage, a weak church, and free trade. Conservatives on the other hand were usually elites who owned land and favored a decentralized state that favored the center, limited suffrage, a strong church, and colonial trade barriers and monopolies (page 180). These parties show that the battle of power between the center and fringe continued even after
independence. With independence came a change in dynamic between countries across the world. When Europe’s demand for raw materials increased, the industrialization of Latin America began (page 212). However, industrialization in Latin America didn’t happen overnight, it took time and was complex, but it created massive growth in cities and increased population sizes dramatically (page 211-212). Growth was focused on exports both into Europe and the United States, where foreign investors often times took over manufacturing processes or land for their own gain, both financially and for their country (page 216). This shift to industrialization is when the center became more significant than the fringe. People flooded to cities from outside of Latin America for jobs and economic power seemed to shift to the center. This shift began in Chile when the demand for metal rose in the nineteenth century but they “lacked the capital and technical expertise to produce copper on a large scale, but foreign investors were quick to help out in exchange for generous concessions” (page 216). This led Chile to become the world’s top copper exporter and has continued that trend into recent years. The next commodity that foreign investors had their eye on was oil production and then coffee production was industrialized as well. Yet another reason for the shift to the center was that “even though the lion’s share of profits went to the handful for foreign companies that possessed concessions, “petrodollars” funded everything from universities to highways, making Venezuela a shining exemplar of the possibilities of export-led growth” (page 216-217). All in all, throughout the colonial age, Latin America began with a focus on the fringe and the individuals who lived and prospered there. Once industrialization of the countries occurred, there was a switch to the center being more significant. People from outside of Latin America flocked to the big cities for jobs, exports increased exponentially, and foreign investors all wanted to get a piece of the pie. This made Latin America a true powerhouse to this day for certain goods like coffee. Due to the continual development of the countries, it will be interesting to see how they grow and modernize in the future.