South America

The analogy between the first invasions of South America by the _conquistadores_ and the campaign of liberation undertaken by the South Americans of a later age is curious to re...

Until the period of Napoleonic chaos which overwhelmed the two westernmost countries of Europe, the South American colonies of Spain and Portugal had continued their existence o...

The rivalry which had existed between the Portuguese and the French in the early days of Brazilian colonization has already been referred to. With this exception, the first era...

Such history as can be claimed by the remaining Republics of South America has been achieved, from the political point of view, on a far smaller and less conspicuous scale than...

The discovery of South America stands as one of the most dramatic events in history. From the time of its occurrence until the present so deeply has this event impressed itself...

We have seen how the Spaniards, having in the first instance attempted without success to establish themselves in Buenos Aires, had made their way up the great river system to A...

It still remains a point of dispute between the Spanish and Portuguese nations as to who was the discoverer of Brazil. There is, moreover, Amerigo Vespucci. Amerigo Vespucci may...

Columbus was admittedly a visionary. It was to the benefit of his fellow Europeans and to the detriment of the South American tribes that to his dreams he joined the practical s...

With South America now definitely settled, we may glance at the various provinces which constituted the Spanish American Continent. For a long while after the first establishmen...

The history of no other Republic immediately following on the period of the Wars of Liberation is quite so complicated as that of Argentina. The circumstances in the River Plate...

Had the laws of the Indies been differently framed, there is no doubt that the hardy sailors and reckless buccaneers who plundered these coasts would have had no existence, and...

It was natural that after the first occupation of the New World the tendency of the explorers should have been to turn their attention to the south and to the still undiscovered...

Portuguese acquiescence in Dom Pedro's sovereignty was brought about largely by the instrumentality of Lord Cochrane, who, after harrying the deported garrison of Bahia when on...

We have seen how Paraguay, having in the early days of the war of liberation compelled the retirement of the Argentine army commanded by General Belgrano, was left to its own re...

The pioneer _conquistadores_ of South America afford an interesting study. Such men as those who took their lives in their hands and sailed out into the unknown were actuated by...

In Chile, as has been said, the conquest of the land was effected under far more strenuous circumstances than those which applied to any other part of South America, with the ex...

Having now definitely obtained possession of the enormous territories of South America, it was equally the policy of both Spain and Portugal to retain the enjoyment of the new l...

Although four States were involved in the struggle, South American historians are unanimous in giving the strife which broke out in 1864 the name of the Paraguayan War. This is...

It was at Mendoza that the famous Argentine General, San Martin, recruited the army destined for the campaign of Chile. In 1817 everything was prepared, and with an army of 4,00...

Dom Pedro II. was but five years old when his father abdicated in his favour on April 7, 1831, and, during his minority, the government of the country was entrusted to Regents....

Having followed the course of the Brazilian fortunes from the elevation of the province to a kingdom, from its promotion to an Empire, and from its Imperial status to its modern...

It is, to a certain extent, difficult for one familiar with the South America of to-day to realize the New Granada of the Spanish colonial period. From Guiana westward along the...

The collisions with the various peoples of the Continent had now afforded the _conquistadores_ an opportunity of testing the power of each. The force of the impact had, it is tr...

It has already been said how, at the conclusion of the War of Liberation in Chile, Bernardo O'Higgins found himself at the head of the State. The first President was in every re...

After the deportation of their third Monarch, the Brazilians settled down to enjoy the advantages of an ideal and much-exalted Republican Government; but it was not long before...

With the end of the Spanish power the centres of importance--hitherto quite arbitrarily and artificially chosen--tended to drift to their natural situations. From time to time i...

The story of Pizarro and the Incas has been told many hundreds of times, yet owing to the sheer audacity of which its elements are composed it would seem to retain its interest...

We have now arrived at the most critical of all the periods which Spanish South America has undergone in the course of its history, the decade or so which preceded the actual ou...