From Colonies to Nations: The Struggle for Independence.
Many Latin American colonies gained their independence from colonial control early in the early 1800s. The political structure and way of leading the countries then, were structured mainly by the Enlightenment. Because of the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the capitalism that was being placed onto Latin American nations this led to their economic dependency on other countries. Laurent Dubois illustrates the impoverishment that followed the uprising in his book Haiti: The Aftershocks of History. He writes about the security imposed by the French rulers and how it left the country in a continuous cycle of debt. Although Dubois does not refer to the Haitian leaders as caudillos, there were still many leaders of the slave rebellion who had the characteristics of a political leader. The events of the Haitian Revolution helped re-shape the country from the political system they had before, and it introduced new leaders who would become similar to those in the Spanish American Wars. .
In the beginning of the 18th century, the Spanish ruler had given control and colonization of Haiti to the French. Haiti soon became known to be one of the most profitable countries during the 18th century and was producing nearly half the coffee of the world and nearly one-third of its sugar. The French came to this position by putting the slaves to work. That of which included harsh conditions, such as working 12 hours per day under the hot sun, tropical diseases were a common appearance, and having to work till death before being replaced. The ethnic groups in Haiti consisted of blacks, whites and mulattoes. Mulattoes were important during this time because they were not only considered to be people of color, but could also be business and land owners if they were freed. Within these ethnic groups there was a division of political preferences; there were those who supported the monarchy and those who supported republicanism.
