Overview

Throughout the nineteenth century, Spanish American writers and thinkers grappled with their unique circumstances of independence after three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. The emergence of a significant number of new polities that adopted representative institutions in an era when absolutism prevailed in Western Europe, their general adoption of republicanism, and their complex demographic composition, all posed serious challenges for the formation of national states in Spanish America. This volume explores how politically engaged Spanish American thinkers reflected on these issues, either in government or in opposition. Through a wide selection of texts, some previously unpublished in the English language, the volume demonstrates the multiplicity of voices across countries, perspectives and social background. The texts included are organised around main themes reflecting central concerns including history; democracy, constitutionalism and liberty; church and state; society; Spanish America and the World; and 'Fin de siècle'. This volume thus vividly demonstrates the significance of Latin America to the field of Global Intellectual History.

Full Product Details

Author:   Iván Jaksić (Stanford University, California) ,  Eduardo Posada-Carbó (University of Oxford)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Weight:   0.575kg
ISBN:  

9781108491587

ISBN 10:   1108491588
Pages:   346
Publication Date:   09 April 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; Introduction; Note on Translation; Part I. On History: 1. José Victorino Lastarria, Investigations on the Social Influence of the Spanish Conquest and the Colonial System in Chile (1844); 2. Lucas Alamán, History and fiction (1844); Part II. Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Liberty: 3. Bernardo Monteagudo, Memoir (1823); 4. Anonymous, The Political Faith of a Colombian (1827); 5. Esteban Echeverría, The Socialist Program (1837); 6. Florentino González, The Suffrage (1871); 7. Justo Arosemena, Constitutional Studies on the Governments of Latin America (1878); Part III. Church, State, and Religion: 8. Vicente Rocafuerte, On Religious Toleration (1831); 9. Francisco Bilbao, The Errors and Contradictions of Spanish America (1862); 10. Miguel Antonio Caro, Freedom of Religion (1871–72); Part IV. Society: 11. Juan Francisco Manzano, Life of the Negro Poet Written by Himself (1840); 12. Mariano Otero, Comments on the Social and Political Situation of the Mexican Republic in the Year 1847 (1847); 13. José María Samper, Essay on the Political Revolutions and the Social Condition of the Spanish American Republics (1861); 14. Juana Manso, The Moral Emancipation and the Education of Women (1854); 15. Martina Barros Borgoño, Prologue to The Subjection of Women (Critical Study by John Stuart Mill) (1872–1873); Part V. Spanish America and the World: 16. Andrés Bello, International Interventions (1846–1847); 17. José Antonio Saco, The Political Situation of Cuba (1851); 18. Juan Bautista Alberdi, International Society (1870); Part VI. Fin de Siècle: 19. Valentín Letelier, The Tyranny and the Revolution (1891); 20. Manuel González Prada, Our Indigenous Peoples (1904); 21. Andrés Molina Enríquez, The Secret of Porfirian Peace (1909); 22. Francisco García Calderón, Latin American Democracies (1912); 23. Carlos Arturo Torres, Idols of the Forum (1909); Select Bibliography; Index.

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Author Information

Iván Jaksić directs the Stanford University Bing Overseas Studies Program in Santiago, Chile, and holds the Andrés Bello Chair at Adolfo Ibáñez University. A Guggenheim Fellow, he has received multiple awards, including the Chilean National History Award in 2020. He is the author of Academic Rebels in Chile (1989), Andrés Bello (2001), and The Hispanic World and American Intellectual Life (2007). Eduardo Posada-Carbó is Professor of the History and Politics of Latin America in Oxford and William Golding Senior Research Fellow in Brasenose College. He recently co-edited (with Joanna Innes and Mark Philp) Re-Imagining Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1780–1870 (2023). His work has been published in leading academic journals, including Past & Present, Hispanic American Historical Review, and The Historical Journal.

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