The Cambridge History of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions: Volume 3, The Iberian Empires

Evaluates the revolutions of the Iberian Empires and the ethnic dimensions of the independent process in Spanish America and Brazil.

Wim Klooster (General editor)

9781108475969, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 November 2023

800 pages
23.6 x 16.1 x 3.4 cm, 1.13 kg

'The volume reveals the tension within the normative narrative of revolution as transition from top-down-declining-empire to participatory-bottom-up-new sovereign-nation, for nearly half of the twenty-two contributors deeply contradict this narrative. … Many of the essays reveal the deep contradictions of the liberal model of Atlantic Revolutions.' Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, Ler Historia

Volume III covers the Iberian Empires and the important ethnic dimension of the Ibero-American independence movements, revealing the contrasting dynamics created by the Spanish imperial crisis at home and in the colonies. It bears out the experimental nature of political changes, the shared experiences and contrasts across different areas, and the connections to the revolutionary French Caribbean. The special nature of the emancipatory processes launched in the European metropoles of Spain and Portugal is explored, as are the connections between Spanish America and Brazil, as well as between Brazil and Portuguese Africa. It ends with an assessment of Brazil and how the survival of slavery is shown to have been essential to the new monarchy, although simultaneously, enslaved people began pressing their own demands, just like the indigenous population.

Introduction, Wim Klooster
Part I. The Spanish Empire: 1. The Spanish Empire: general overview Stefan Rinke
2. The Spanish Empire on the Eve of American Independence Emily Berquist Soule
3. The Cortes of Cádiz and the Spanish Liberal Revolution of 1810–1814: Atlantic and Spanish American dimensions Roberto Breña
4. The Constitutional Triennium in Spain, 1820–1823 Juan Luis Simal
5. Mexico: from Civil War to the War of Independence 1808–1825 Juan Ortiz Escamilla, 6. Central America Timothy Hawkins
7. War and revolution in the Southern Cone, 1808–1824 Juan Luis Ossa Santa Cruz
8. Caribbean South America: free people of color, Republican experiments, military strategies, and the Caribbean connection on the path to independence Ernesto Bassi
9. The southernmost revolution: the Rio de la Plata in early nineteenth century Gabriel di Meglio
10. Royalists, monarchy, and political transformation in the Spanish Atlantic world during the Age of Revolutions Marcela Echeverri
11. Africans and their descendants in the Spanish Empire in the Age of Revolutions Jane Landers
12. Concepts on the move: constitutionalism, citizenship, federalism, and early liberalism across Spain and Spanish America Javier Fernández Sebastián
13. Patriarchy, misogyny, and politics in the Age of Revolutions Mónica Ricketts
14. Impact of the French-Caribbean Revolutions in continental Iberian America, 1791–1833 Alejandro E. Gómez
15. Deferred but not avoided: Great Britain and Latin American independence Karen Racine
Part II. Brazil, Portugal, and Africa: 16. Overview: the independence era in the Luso-Brazilian world Gabriel Paquette
17. Portugal's social and political change from the Ancien Régime to liberalism Nuno Gonçalo Monteiro
18. Conservative tracks towards independence: transfer of the court to Rio de Janeiro, the Porto Revolution, Brazilian autonomy Jurandir Malerba
19. Building new Brazilian institutions Jeffrey D. Needell
20. Slaves, Indians, and the 'classes of color': popular participation in Brazilian Independence Hendrik Kraay
21. Brazil and the independence of Spanish America: parallel trajectories, linked processes (1807–1825) João Paulo Pimenta
22. Waves of sedition across the Atlantic: liberal politics in Angola in the wake of Brazilian independence (ca. 1817–1825) Roquinaldo Ferreira.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]