How Did The French Revolution Affect Late-Colonial Latin America?

Throughout history, different social sectors were kept apart for a multitude of reasons. This was no different for the late-Colonial Latin America, which had different factors tied to separations, such as the Enlightenment and social classes. Although there were great divides throughout this history, there were also forces that drew people together. The Enlightenment was a period of time that was based on the movement of intellectual and philosophical ways of thinking. This enlightened way of thinking hurt the monarchy, as well as the church, because their followers were no longer mindless. Furthermore, books and print were used to spread knowledge amongst others. In Toward Independence, Fuentes acknowledges that forbidden books were smuggled in original ways. Churches and monasteries were exempt from customs inspections, which caused many enlightened clergymen from Europe hid forbidden books with sacred objects. Young intellectuals that were from the Spanish American world developed their own ways of thinking, especially when it came to the French Revolution. Whereas many lower class citizens were unable to gain access to print and other media. With the combination of this new found thinking, as well as the multitude of views involving the French Revolution, this war allowed for the greatest extension of

Anderson, in Imagined Communities, eloquently mentions the new advancement of print-journalism. One problem journalist had was reaching readers. Prior to the Enlightenment, print was under heavy scrutiny by the crown and church. The presses were exclusively ecclesiastical. As populations began to further their thinking, they were closely linked to print, as well as commerce. The Enlightenment had a powerful impact, especially in providing an arsenal of ideological criticisms of imperial and ancient regimes, as Anderson has mentioned throughout his