Independence Movements of America and Latin America

The Navigation Acts regulated colonial commerce very strictly, closing the colonies to all trade except that carried in English ships and taxing coastal trade. In 1663, the English Parliament passed the Staple Act that prohibited the importation of goods direct from Europe to England's American colonies. The colonists, losing their liberty of free trade, began seeking to throw off the restraints of the Navigation Acts and to establish free trade with the world. Also, "colonial manufacturing was to be restricted, so that it would not compete with the rapidly expanding industry in Great Britain" "(Brinkley 105). In addition to these impetuses, the colonists were angered by England's excessive taxation and blatant desire to raise revenue. Taxes imposed under the rule of George III, such as the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767 were burdening the American colonists. The colonists also resented that all these taxes were taxation without consent or representation. The colonists" want of freedom from excessive taxation and free trade and manufacturing were principle impetuses of the Revolution.
             Similarly in Latin America, want of free trade and manufacturing and relief from taxes were important causes of the independence movements. After the Bourbon succession of the Spanish throne in the early 1700s, the new dynasty made economical reforms that were similar to Britain's mercantilist measures, especially under the reign of Charles III (1759-88). The purpose of these reforms was to raise revenues for the Spanish Crown. "Bourbon reformers tried to create a meaningful market for Spanish exports by prohibiting the production of certain commodities such as wheat, wine and olive oil in the colonies. The textile industry of Catalonia was protected from competition by the forced closure of obrajes, or workshops, in Peru and New Spain. Thus the economic autonomy allowed the Indies under the Hapsburgs was threatened by an artificial economic exchange with the mother country imposed by an interventionist state" "(Williamson 199).