South America. Why not another United States?

Question

Just asking. Would this be because during european settlement the spanish and the portgugese were not able to or did not want to establish a united government?

Answer 1

There are entire books written on this. It is a very complex story. I can attempt to break it down, but I will be totally oversimplifying the situation. Here is a list of some of the many factors.

1. Portugal and Spain were rival countries, effectively ruling out any chance of their countries uniting together. They didn't even speak the same language. In any case, they each ruled South America as an absolute monarch. The individual countries of South America had to resist and rebel to become independent.

2. Spanish royal government took a direct route in ruling their colonies, unlike the British who essentially let the Americas take care of themselves up until the Revolution. Thus the Americans were used to being independent and rebelled, while the South Americans were not and waited in hopes that the royal government would fix their woes. While they waited, #3 below grew even stronger.

3. Racial diversity created a much more varied and tense social environment throughout South America. In the United States you were dealing with white Europeans running everything, which made it easier for them to unite. They were diverse, but essentially the same in most ways. It was virtually impossible for this to happen in South America, where Portuguese, Spanish, creoles, blacks, and numerous diverse tribes all co-mingled and formed different cultures and societies that were completely independent of one another. Thus, when they rebelled against Spain, they did it independently.

4. Don't forget that our ability to expand as far as we did was a matter of great luck. We only gained the middle portion of our country due to a fluke. Napoleon's army in Haiti was defeated by the slave revolt and disease, and that left Napoleon without much of a need for Louisiana, but in great need of money. Thus he sold it to us. The United States easily could have ended up being just the eastern seaboard had European powers not been too busy fighting one another throughout most of the eighteenth century.

To put it short, the United States united, grew, and prospered under completely different circumstances and in a completely different environment than South America. They are apples and oranges. What you are suggesting is essentually the same thing as wondering why Britain and France don't form one country together or asking why China and Japan do not join Russia and form one country.

Answer 2

1. Portugal and Spain were rival countries, effectively ruling out any chance of their countries uniting together. They didn't even speak the same language. In any case, they each ruled South America as an absolute monarch. The individual countries of South America had to resist and rebel to become independent.

Answer 3

For you little ones accessible, I heard the same stuff for the period of Carter's administration. guess what, Republicans governed for the subsequent 12 years to clean up Jimmy's mess. Then, at the same time as issues were operating nicely, we continually let yet another Liberal decrease back in. that's going to take a minimum of two a lengthy time period of Republican economic coverage to nicely proper the irresponsible route that the 6 years we've had because the Democrats took over the final public of our authorities because 2006.

Answer 4

Between Portugal and Spain fighting and the US trying to keep European powers out of the americas it never had a chance.

The preexisting feuds of the native peoples didn't help either.

Answer 5

You smokin' those tweeds again, son?