[00:0.23]2007

[00:01.52]By 1830 the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies had become independent nations.

[00:07.52]The roughly 20 million inhabitants of these nations looked hopefully to the future.

[00:13.94]Born in the crisis of the old regime and Iberian Colonialism,

[00:18.41]many of the leaders of independence

[00:21.13]shared the ideals of representative government,

[00:24.76]careers open to talent, freedom of commerce and trade, the right to private property,

[00:31.03]and a belief in the individual as the basis of society.

[00:36.15]Generally there was a belief that the new nations

[00:39.90]should be sovereign and independent states,

[00:43.50]large enough to be economically viable

[00:46.44]and integrated by a common set of laws.

[00:50.52]On the issue of freedom of religion and the position of the church,

[00:55.38]however , there was less agreement among the leadership.

[00:58.94]Roman Catholicism had been the state religion

[01:02.61]and the only one allowed by the Spanish crown,

[01:07.13]While most leaders sought to maintain Catholicism

[01:10.60]as the official religion of the new states,

[01:13.40]some sought to end the exclusion of other faiths.

[01:18.17]The defense of the Church became a rallying cry

[01:21.68]for the conservative forces.

[01:22.50]

[01:24.45]The ideals of the early leaders of independence were often egalitarian,

[01:29.96]valuing equality of everything.

[01:32.91]Bolivar had received aid from Haiti and had promised in return

[01:37.71]to abolish slavery in the areas he liberated.

[01:41.71]By 1854 slavery had been abolished everywhere except Spain’s remaining colonies.

[01:48.57]Early premise to end Indian tribute and taxes on people of mixed origin came much slower

[01:55.82]because the new nations still needed the revenue

[02:00.13]such policies produced Egalitarian sentiments were often tempered

[02:05.13]by fears that the mass of the population

[02:07.96]was unprepared for self-rule and democracy.