Fear of slave uprisings helped drive Latin American independence

Evidence

Far from seeking to ‘induct the lower classes into political life,’ one key factor initially spurring the drive for independence from Madrid, in such important cases as Venezuela, Mexico and Peru, was the fear of ‘lower-class’ political mobilizations: to wit, Indian or Negro-slave uprisings. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 217

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on reactionary/defensive nationalism and to the ADDENDUM-style theme of rebellion motivated by preserving hierarchy.

Related

• Fear of lower-class uprisings drove creole bids for independence (similarity 0.86)
• Latin American independence was led by landowners, not middle classes (similarity 0.80)