The End of Iberian Rule on the American Continent, 1770–1830 by Brian R. Hamnett (review)

THE INDEPENDENCE OF BRAZIL AND SPANISH AMERICA has produced an enormous historiography and many different arguments to explain it. Brian Hamnett's book is a valuable addition to this body of historical literature, as it offers a comprehensive, comparative analysis of that phenomenon. It is not very often that the independence of both Spanish and Portuguese America are examined together. It is even less common to study both sides of the Atlantic at the same time. Studying the Spanish and Portuguese empires as coherent units of analysis, instead of using the traditional perspective of the nation-state, is perhaps the most positive aspect of this book. However, Hamnett points out that he is not following an "Atlantic history" approach, because, in order to achieve a fuller understanding of independence, it is also necessary to pay attention to internal linkages within the Andean region, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, and Brazil. He states in the introduction that the main purpose of the book is "to explain why the empires lasted so long, why there was such strong identification with them, and how Spain and Portugal finally lost their continental American territories," although most of the book is dedicated to answering the last question. In a way, The End of Iberian Rule is a synthesis of the most significant literature on Latin American independence, although the author also makes extensive use of primary sources when discussing both Spanish and Spanish American matters.

In chapter 1, the author draws from the most recent historiography on the political culture of the Spanish Monarchy to conclude that it was the development of a dense network of personal and professional linkages, along with economic interests—mercantile and mining ones in particular—and shared religious and political cultures, that bound together metropoles and overseas dependencies. A common explanation for the breaking apart of the Spanish Monarchy has emphasized the dissatisfaction created among American elites by royal attempts to break up older networks that had been broadened and deepened in the course of the eighteenth century; Hamnett, however, argues that what brought down the Spanish Monarchy was its inability to manage its debts, that is, the incapacity of the monarchy to mobilize sufficient resources and to broaden its fiscal base to maintain such a vast empire in the face of constant war. Neither the influence of the French Revolution nor the Napoleonic invasion of Spain brought down the empire, but rather, the financial problems that had been festering for a long time. The author also devotes some space to discussing the extent to which the great Tupac Amaru rebellion of 1780 initiated the process of independence in Peru. Following recent historiography, Hamnett concludes that the rebellion that shook the viceroyalty of Peru was qualitatively different from the separatist movement of the 1810s. The latter was dominated by a creole–mestizo perspective that did not correspond to the ethnically diverse, alternative vision that had characterized the Andean rebellion. Although The End of Iberian Rule does not examine in detail popular participation in the independence movements, Hamnett acknowledges its significance and the existence of a growing historiography on this subject.

The first manifestation of the great political crisis caused by the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1808 would be the creation of juntas on both sides of the Atlantic. In Spain, in contrast to Portugal, these juntas would mark the beginning of a process of constitutional renewal. In Spanish America, there is no evidence that the elites took this opportunity to claim independence, not even autonomy. Their aim was to get greater representation and constitutional equality within the Spanish polity (and the same commercial rights as peninsular ports). Hamnett makes a very good point when he observes that, "before we rush to attribute revolutionary intent on the part of the American elites in 1808, we need to remember that it was the cabildos, those largely unreformed municipal councils of the old regime, which most vocally promoted the idea...