Eugene Tunney
Dr. Hodges
World History II
11/29/2018
Why did the Creoles lead the fight?
Napoleon's invasion of Spain incited the Latin American revolutions which were led by the Creoles to wrest the power from the peninsulares, this was done by creating a common enemy, however, what remained was a very colonial society.
When the Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808, the Creole had the revolution more or less thrust upon them. This was because the elite traditionally relied on Spain to defend them, and now that Spain had been conquered it left the Latin American Creole elites in a very vulnerable position. It says that “The Creoles had one eye on their masters, they kept the other on their servants.” This shows how vulnerable the Creole were, as their masters, the peninsulares, controlled almost all government positions, meaning that they more or less had ultimate power. While their servants the lower classes(mestizos, indigenous and slaves) vastly outnumbered them causing them to greatly fear rebellion from below. Tupac Amaro, was an indigenous man who organized a rebellion against the elites. This served the Creole as a very important reminder that they sat on top of a potentially explosive society, making them very aware of the rather violent and chaotic French and Haitian revolutions. Thus when Spain was invaded, the Creole had to act quickly in order to gain power.
One of the main reasons the Creole made the move towards independence was to gain a more prominent role in government. By gaining more government petitions, the Creoles would be able to take the power away from the Peninsulares, and thus be less vulnerable. However although the Creoles had growing social and economic influence, this was not enough to overthrow the Peninsulares. Thus they found a way to create a common identity w...
