Week 6 – Citizenship and Rights in the New Republics

Citizenship and Rights in the New Republics

Early years of Latin American history was brutal, with campaigns such as Argentina’s ‘Conquest of the Desert’ that decreased the Mapuches population significantly. Corruption and violence prevented liberal ideas to flourish in Latin America, which may have affected citizenship and rights issues among these young republics.

A powerful patron offers concrete benefits rather than the abstract rights promised by the liberal state. Under the Caudillo system, ‘clientelism’ appealed to those excluded by liberal elites.

Black Africans were forced to be transported across the Atlantic to work as slaves in Latin America. Many have died while crossing the sea and had short life expectancies, due to harsh treatments from the slave owners.

Slavery was abolished in the late 19th century, and it was not long time ago. Slaves were considered as objects or tools that work for the slave owners and clearly did not have a citizenship or any rights. Slavery’s legacies are still with us because there are biographies written that uncovered the hardships of being a slave. Still, racial violence and oppression continued in new forms even after slavery was abolished.

1888 was also the final date, where the slavery was abolished across the whole continent. It was first abolished in 1793 during the Haitian Revolution. However, the abolition of the slave trade was a different story, as there were illegal shipments continued to Cuba and Brazil until 1860.

Also, the motives for liberals or leaders who decided to abolish slavery was not only because it was advantageous for themselves to do so, but you cannot forget the effort of the slaves running revolts.

Dawson observed, ‘emancipated slaves sometimes demanded the right to recompense for their suffering,.’ Rights upon which people agreed depended on different interpretations of each individuals. Rights have to be first agreed upon by the public and then interpreted before they can be implemented as a policy.

Echenique used the term, ‘regeneration’. She claimed that a new womanhood is being born, ‘The women of today are not the women of the past’. she explains that this rebirth requires new conceptions. Later on, she discussed that ‘there are so many ideas and feelings overwhelming me’, bursting her imagination about the beginning of a new era.

Pelliza argued spiritedly that women should be ‘everything but emancipated, less free in independence and rights than men.’ However, she worries about the inequality, white and middle class whom held advantageous over the past regime may lose their rights.

Social issues such as slavery and anti-feminism are unresolved conflicts and there are many different ways to bring justice for this topic, just like how María Eugenia Echenique and Josefina Pelliza challenged. So here is my question. What could’ve or should’ve the government have done for the slaves to (try to) compensate their suffrage?