Creole Revolution DBQ

Beginning in the 15th century, Spanish explorers conquered almost all of the New World, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, and South America. Most of these societies were controlled by a strict social hierarchical system with the Peninsulares at the top, followed by the Creoles, then finally the mixed classes of Mestizos, Mulattos, Native Americans, and the African Americans who made up majority of the population. However, at the beginning of the 19th century with all the turmoil occurring in Spain, the colonies decided to take action and declare their freedom. Within the span of two decades almost all of the New World had declared themselves independent from their Spanish motherland. Although all the classes were involved, the leaders of
The historian Francisco H. Vasquez said in Latino/a Thought: Culture, Politics, and Society in 2009 (Document 8) that the main purpose for the creoles was to have a revolution that would gain them political equality that they were previously denied but also were afraid that the lower classes would push the revolution beyond its political goals. The creoles wanted to keep the status quo and the social hierarchy but wanted independence from the motherland. The fear that the revolution would come from beneath that would change the social structure caused the creoles to instigate the revolutions. In Document 9, Rei Berroa, the historian, said in An Introduction to Latin American Society: A Background to its Fiction in 1986 that the creoles were not willing to relinquish their want for power in favor of equality and feared that the either the blacks or the Indians could take control of their much awaited revolution. The creoles feared that they would lose their supremacy over non-European social classes and possess even less authority and political influence than they did under Spanish control. This resulted in the creoles initiating the revolutions in order to prevent the African Americans and the Native Americans from leading a social revolution which would have dismal outcomes for the creoles. However, the
Political power was a huge motivator for the Creoles. The historians Howard Wiarda and Harvey Kline said in Latin American Politics and Development in 2011 (Document 4) that the Creoles had growing economic and social influence, but the peninsulares monopolized all administrative positions. Even though Creoles composed a much larger percentage of the population than did peninsulares, only 12 Creoles were judges, compared to 87 peninsulares. The historian Albert Prago said in The Revolutions of Spanish (Document 6) that the monarchy of Spain had a policy of appointing Spaniards dispatched from the motherland to the highest political positions in the New World. The Creoles possessed some power, but real authority remained tantalizingly out of reach, residing only in the hands of the peninsulares which caused the creoles to resent this favoritism. This was especially infuriating to Creoles, since many of them were very well educated and well-versed in Enlightenment thinking. They believed in the democratic ideals of fair representation and equality; these values conflicted with the very foundation of the hierarchical Spanish colonial system with only the king’s policies being implemented through the peninsulares. Also, the Spanish motherland monopolized the economic trade