Republics of the New World: The Revolutionary Political Experiment in Nineteenth-Century Latin America

Hilda Sabato's book provides a sweeping history of republicanism in nineteenth-century Latin America,showing how it differed across the region but was all based on the radical notion of popular sovereignty. It shifts the focus from rulers and elites to ordinary citizens and traces the emergence of new institutions and practices that shaped a vigorous and inclusive political life.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 28 September 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press

By the 1820s, after three centuries of imperial rule, the former Spanish territories of Latin America had broken free from their colonial shackles and established independent republics. In embracing republicanism, they embarked on a political experiment of unprecedented magnitude, far beyond the newly formed United States. In this comprehensive book, Hilda Sabato offers a sweeping history of republicanism in nineteenth-century Latin America, encompassing the entire region and placing the Spanish American experience within a broader global context.

Challenging the conventional notion of Latin America as a case of failed modernization, Sabato reveals how republican experiments varied across the region yet were all rooted in the radical notion of popular sovereignty—the idea that legitimate authority lies with the people. As in other parts of the world, the transition from colonies to independent states was complex, uncertain, and fraught with conflict. Yet, the republican order in Spanish America endured, transcending borders and traversing diverse geographies and cultures. Sabato shifts the focus from rulers and elites to ordinary citizens and traces the emergence of new institutions and practices that shaped a vibrant and inclusive political life.

Panoramic in scope and bound to spark debate, this book situates these fledgling republics within the context of a transatlantic shift in how government was conceived and practiced, placing Latin America at the forefront of a revolutionary age that gave birth to new ideas of citizenship.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691227306