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Barbarism Vs Liberalism

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1. One of the major political challenges for the Liberal party was the Catholic Church. Félicité de Lamennais citizens the political power of the Church saying it was “a political establishment concerned with money, power, and dignities” (Safford 69). To contend with this the Liberals wanted to take power form the Church so that they would no longer be the central political force. Liberals, fearing this power, would strive to separate the people from the hold of the Church. The Liberals would claim that the Church wanted to keep the natives in an uneducated state so the Church could continue to exploit their labor. The Liberals also faced the powers of the pre-existing caudillos. The caudillos opposed Liberal ideas and in turn the Liberals …show more content…

Economic progress was one of the defining components of Liberalism and one way that they felt they could establish this was “railroads and industrialization” (Burns 92). Many Liberals wanted to copy the United States and especially the European style of economic development. They particularity wanted to attract trade commerce with both countries likewise. The Liberals felt that to attract these future trade partners, they would need to industrialize. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento says as much in his article “Civilization versus Barbarism,” he states “When there is cultured government that cares about the national interest, then what business, what industrial movement there will be!” (Sarmiento 97). Sarmiento is also encouraging the political change that he believes that needs to occur for this industrial revolution to happen. They likewise encouraged the idea of free trade, they stated “a political ideology…and economic ideas harmonious with free trade specifically and with emerging capitalism” (Burns 93). Liberals wanted to conduct free trade with the Untied States and Europe, they believed this economic practice would make Latin America a leader in the world trade. In conjunction with establishing free trade, Liberals wanted to “abolish enterprise-constricting taxes…such as the abcubala, the tithe, and government monopolies” (Safford …show more content…

Liberal Latin Americans wanted a social doctrine based on scientific progress and balance with religion. The newly formed Liberal party would have to contend with the Catholic Church. Liberals felt that the Church was responsible for keeping the lower classes uneducated. Education was an important component of Liberal policy, they felt for there to be social equality everybody must be educated. In fact, an editorial written in 1866, “stressed the importance of improving primary education and hoped that at least two schools could be established in each district” (Delper 71).
Another social aspect of Liberal politics was legal equality meaning “the elimination of the juridical privileges of the Church and the military” (Safford 70). This called for a Liberal government to have a separation of State and Church. They sought legal equality by “abolition of slavery and the incorporation of Indian communities into…European society” (Safford

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