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Latin American Revolutions And The Colonization Of Latin America

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The struggle of human society has always been about maintaining power. During the Age of Exploration, conquistadors and voyagers traveled across the world in search of new land, new people, and more importantly, new sources of bullion. Explorers like Pizarro and Cortés claimed the lands of ancient civilizations as colonies, ravaging the natives with disease and battle. The leading colonizers, primarily France, Spain, and Portugal, controlled every aspect of life for the Americanos. During this time, the Enlightenment was occurring in Europe. Writers like Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau inspired revolutions with ideas of natural rights, toleration, separation of powers, and equality. These philosophers inspired revolution, or uprising against a mother country, in the United States, France, and eventually Latin America. The main influences on the Latin American rebellions were the Enlightenment ideas of of equality, self rule, and freedom. During the colonization of Latin America, a majority of Americanos faced discrimination and unjust social hierarchies. At the top were the peninsulares, composed of the richest citizens, bureaucrats, and religious officials. The creoles followed them, and were also wealthy. However, the creoles held less powerful positions in society and were born in the Americas. After that were the mestizos (a mix of Native American and Spanish), mulattoes (a mix of white and black), natives, free blacks, and finally slaves. Each group

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