Mexico and Brazil
Economic cost of the wars of independence
- Mexico’s war (1810–1821) caused heavy destruction to mines, ranches, and roads; silver output fell sharply and government revenues collapsed, producing chronic debt and fiscal instability in the 1820s.
- Brazil’s path to independence (1822) was negotiated rather than fought on a large scale, so infrastructure and export capacity remained mostly intact; the state still faced start-up costs, but war damages were far lower than in Mexico.
Definition
Infrastructure
The fundamental physical and organizational structures, such as transportation, communication, and energy systems, needed for a society’s economy to function effectively.
Establishment of new trade relations
- After independence, both countries shifted toward British finance and markets. Mexico struggled to revive mining and borrowed heavily from British lenders; Brazil deepened commodity exports first in sugar and then in coffee, supported by British shipping and credit.
- Tariff policy and treaties favored foreign merchants in the short term. Mexico’s weak fiscal base limited protective policies, while Brazil’s early opening of ports (from 1808) meant rapid insertion into Atlantic trade under British influence.
Definition
Tariff Policy
A government’s system of taxing imported or exported goods to protect domestic industries, raise revenue, or regulate trade.
Impact on social groups
- Indigenous peoples in Mexico saw tribute obligations debated or ended, but land pressures increased; weak post-independence governments did little to protect communal lands, and political instability exposed Indigenous communities to displacement.
- In Brazil, Indigenous groups on frontier zones faced continued encroachment as plantation and ranching economies expanded.
- People of African descent experienced different outcomes. Mexico abolished slavery by 1829, yet racial inequality persisted through labor coercion and discrimination. Brazil preserved and expanded slavery after 1822 to fuel sugar and coffee exports, entrenching a slave society that lasted until 1888.
- Creoles rose to power in both countries. In Mexico, Creole elites captured offices but faced regional fragmentation and military caudillos. In Brazil, planter and imperial elites sustained a centralized monarchy that delivered relative political continuity while protecting slaveholding interests.
Case study
Mexico and Brazil after Independence, 1810s–1830s
- Fiscal position
- Mexico entered independence with wrecked revenue streams and high foreign borrowing; Brazil maintained steadier customs income through expanding exports.
- Exports
- Mexico struggled to restore silver mining to colonial levels, while Brazil’s sugar and rising coffee sectors integrated quickly into British-dominated trade.
- Labor systems
- Mexico ended slavery but relied on indebted peonage and military levies; Brazil preserved slavery as the backbone of plantation growth.
- Political frameworks
- Mexico cycled through constitutions and caudillo rule, fragmenting investment; Brazil’s constitutional monarchy under Pedro I created a central authority aligned with planter interests.
- Social hierarchies
- Creole elites led both states, but outcomes diverged for subaltern groups. Indigenous land security eroded in Mexico, while enslaved Africans in Brazil faced intensified exploitation.
- External dependence
- Both relied on British capital and shipping, shaping tariff policies and limiting early economic sovereignty.
Common Mistake
- Treating “the Americas” as uniform and ignoring that negotiated independence in Brazil produced different economic and social outcomes than Mexico’s destructive war.
- Assuming independence immediately improved life for marginalized groups; for many Indigenous communities and people of African descent, exploitation and exclusion continued or deepened.
- Focusing only on ideology and leaders without connecting independence to concrete changes in exports, credit, tariffs, labor systems, and land tenure.
Exam technique
- Use a two-country compare and contrast frame. Organize paragraphs by theme: costs of war, trade realignment, and group impacts, with Mexico vs Brazil in each paragraph.
- Balance macro and micro evidence. Pair national trends like export growth or debt with specific examples such as slavery’s abolition in Mexico (1829) versus expansion in Brazil.
- Show continuity and change. Identify what persisted from the colonial era (plantations, racial hierarchies, external dependency) and what changed (political sovereignty, tariff autonomy, elite composition).
Self review
- Examine the economic consequences of independence for Mexico and Brazil in the decades after 1820.
- Compare and contrast the impact of independence on Indigenous peoples, people of African descent, and Creole elites in Mexico and Brazil.
- To what extent did the nature of each country’s independence process determine post-independence trade patterns and social structures?
