Division of Spanish America and Brazil

Historical Context

• Christopher Columbus arrives in America in 1492, triggering a territorial struggle between Spain and Portugal.
• The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) divides navigation and conquest zones between the Spanish and Portuguese crowns.

Linguistic Situation

• Spanish America: 19 states speak Spanish.
• Brazil: the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas.

Administrative Differences

• Spain: America divided into viceroyalties (New Spain, Peru, Río de la Plata, New Granada) with loosely connected local administrations.
• Portugal: Brazil with centralized administration, populations concentrated in coastal cities.

Formation of Elites

• Brazil: Homogeneous elite, higher education centralized in Portugal.
  • Brazilian students studied in Coimbra, returned to Brazil to hold important positions.
• Spanish America: Diverse education with at least 23 universities, promoting independent ideas.

Impact of Reforms

• Bourbon Reforms in Spain increase control over colonies, favoring peninsular Spaniards over Creoles.

Napoleonic Invasion

• Portugal: Portuguese royal family flees to Brazil, maintaining territorial unity.
• Spain: Power vacuum due to Napoleon's invasion, increases desire for independence.
  • Colonial juntas reject Napoleonic authority, strengthen ideals of autonomy.

Economic and Social Factors

• Brazil fears slave revolts, maintaining territorial unity.
  • Spanish America: Less fear of revolts, greater willingness for independence.

Fragmentation of Colonies

• Spanish America: Viceroyalties fragment into multiple states due to administrative differences and independent ideals.
  • Post-independence internal conflicts consolidate modern borders.
• Brazil: Becomes United Kingdom with Portugal, then an independent monarchy under Pedro I.

Attempts at Unification

• Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín discuss the unification of the colonies.
  • Bolívar favors a federation of republics, San Martín proposes a monarchy.

Rebellions in Brazil

• Independence movements in Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Pernambuco, repressed by central administration.

Conclusion

• Multiple political, social, and economic factors contributed to the division of Spanish America and the unity of Brazil.

This summary reflects the key points of the BBC News article on the reasons behind the division of Spanish America into multiple countries, while Brazil remained as one after colonization.