The institutions which were then set up remain in their great outlines unchanged. But the wisdom and moderation which are essential to self-government are not suddenly bestowed by Heaven; they are the slowly accumulated gains of long experience. There did not exist among the South Americans that reverential submission to majorities which self-governing nations gradually acquire. Here, as elsewhere, two opposing parties speedily revealed themselves. One was zealously liberal and reforming—seeking progress and desiring in each country a federation of States as opposed to a strong centralized Government; the other preferred centralization and a maintenance of existing conditions. Among a people so utterly unpractised in political life no method of settling these differences other than the sword suggested itself. During half a century the continent has been devastated by perpetual wars around questions which, among nations of larger experience, would have merely formed the theme of peaceful controversy. And in a large number of instances the original grounds of contest were forgotten—exchanged for an ignoble personal struggle to gain or to hold the advantages of power.
The South American States perceived the desirableness of a popularly chosen Legislature, but their political knowledge carried them no further. They consented to an autocratic Executive. They placed Dictators in supreme authority. Theirs was the idea which Napoleon in modern times originated and which his nephew developed—the idea of a despotism based on universal suffrage. They intrusted their liberties to a selfish oligarchy. When the struggle for independence was victoriously closed, they had still to conquer their freedom, and the contest has been more prolonged and bloody than that which they waged against the tyranny of Spain.
The three northern States of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador began their independent career by forming themselves into a great federal Republic. Their possessions extended over an area six times larger than that of France; thinly peopled by men of diverse races; severed by mountains well-nigh impassable, without connection of road or navigated river. The task of government under these circumstances was manifestly desperate. But hopes were high in that early morning of liberty. 1821 A.D. With a constitution closely resembling that of the United States, and with Bolivar the liberator of a continent as President, the Republic of Colombia entered proudly upon the fulfilment of its destiny. Five years after, the union which had been found impossible was dissolved. Bolivar, the great and patriotic soldier, proved himself an incapable and despotic statesman. He became Dictator of New Granada, which he ruled according to his arbitrary pleasure. 1830 A.D. The outraged people delivered themselves by a bloody but successful revolt from a yoke scarcely more tolerable than that of Spain; and the man to whom the continent owed its independence died broken-hearted, by what seemed to him the ingratitude of his countrymen.
Incessant strife now raged between the party of the priests and soldiers on the one hand and that of the people on the other. During a period of seventeen years the country endured a government of clerical ascendency and brute force. But during these years the numbers and political influence of the artisan class in towns had largely increased; and the far-reaching influences of the revolutions in Europe roused the energies of the people. 1848 A.D. They were able to wring from the Government large promises of reform, and a decree for the expulsion of the Jesuits. Some years followed, darkened by incessant revolts and the alternating victory and defeat of the opposing parties. 1854 A.D. At length the Liberals took the field with a “regenerating army” of twenty thousand men, and were utterly defeated. The Conservatives were now in the ascendant. But the tenacious Liberals, refusing to accept defeat, maintained for seven years a war in which, after a hundred battles, they were at length decisively victorious. 1861 A.D. There have been revolutions since that time, and short-lived Conservative triumphs, but the Liberal ascendency has never been very seriously shaken.
1826 to 1847 A.D. Venezuela spent twenty tranquil years under the military despotism of General Paez—one of Bolivar’s companions-in-arms. But at the end of that period there arose a cry for reform. Even the Indians and the men of mixed race sought eagerly for the correction of the abuses which the ruling party maintained. 1849 A.D. General Paez was banished from the country. 1863 1868 1870 A.D. For some years he troubled the Republic by armed attempts to regain his lost authority, but the power of Liberalism could not be shaken. Once a sudden Conservative uprising gained a short-lived triumph. But a spirited Liberal—Guzman Blanco—drove the enemy forth and became President of the Republic—an office which he held for eight years. During the period of his rule there was no more than one revolutionary movement of importance. 1872 A.D. That revolt was closed by a desperate battle, in which the strength of the Conservative party was utterly broken.[43]
Under the judicious rule of President Blanco, Venezuela has enjoyed what to a South American Republic must seem profound tranquillity. Priestly power has received great discouragement. The convents and monasteries have been suppressed; civil marriage has been established; subjection to Rome has been disavowed.[44] A compulsory system of national education has been established—not too soon, for only one Venezuelan in ten can read or write. Some beginning has been made in developing the vast mineral resources of the country. Numerous roads, canals, and aqueducts have been constructed. Population has increased, and the trade of the republic, although not yet considerable, grows from year to year. The industrious habits of the people draw no reinforcement from necessity; for in that rich soil and genial climate the labour of a single month will maintain a family in comfort for a whole year. Nevertheless, the people are fairly industrious; and they are honest, cheerful, and hospitable. The tendency to redress political wrongs by violence seems to lose its power as these wrongs diminish in number and intensity; and the prospect of a peaceful future, with growing intelligence and increase of industrial well-being, steadily improves.
1822 A.D. When the Mexicans gained their independence, they raised to the throne a popular young officer, whom they styled the Emperor Augustine First. They were then a people utterly priest-ridden and fanatical; and the clergy whom they superstitiously revered were a corrupt and debased class. The reformers had avowed the opinion that the Church was the origin of most of the evils which afflicted the country. The Emperor, while he offered equal civil rights to all the inhabitants of Mexico, sought to gain the clergy to his cause by guaranteeing the existence of the Catholic Church. But a monarchy proved to be impossible, and in less than a year a republican uprising, headed by Santa Anna, forced the Emperor to resign. 1824 A.D. A Federal Republic was then organized, with a constitution based on that of the great Republic whose territories adjoined those of Mexico.
For the next thirty years Santa Anna is the prominent figure in Mexican politics. He was a tall thin man, with sun-browned face, black curling hair, and dark vehement eye. He possessed no statesmanship, and his generalship never justified the confidence with which it was regarded by his countrymen. But he was full of reckless bravery and dash, and if his leading was faulty, his personal bearing in all his numerous battles was irreproachable. His popularity ebbed and flowed with the exigencies of the time. 1828-39 A.D. He repelled an invasion by Spain and an invasion by France, and these triumphs raised him to the highest pinnacle of public favour. Then his power decayed, and he was forced to flee from the country. When new dangers threatened the unstable nation, he was recalled from his banishment, and placed in supreme command. At one period one of his legs, which had been shattered in battle, was interred with solemn funeral service and glowing patriot oratory. A little later the ill-fated limb was disinterred, and kicked about the streets of Mexico with every contumelious accompaniment. His public life was closed by a hasty flight to Havana—the second movement of that description which it was his lot to execute.
Santa Anna sought the favour of the people by the grant of extremely democratic constitutions, but throughout his whole career he remained the willing tool of the clerical party. The Mexican clergy were possessed of vast wealth and vast influence. Fully one-half the land of the country belonged to them, and a large portion of the remainder was mortgaged to them. Their spiritual prerogatives were held to exempt them from taxation, and thus the whole weight of national burden fell upon the smaller division of national property. It was the concern of this powerful interest to maintain its own unjust privileges and to repress the growth of liberal sentiments among the people. So long as they were able to command the service of Santa Anna, they were able to frustrate the general wish, and guide the policy of the country according to their ignorant and tyrannical pleasure.