The End of Iberian Rule on the American Continent, 1770-1830

Brian R. Hamnett offers a comprehensive and comparative assessment of the independence era in both Spanish America and Brazil.

Part I. One Sole Monarch: 'One Sole Nation' - Advocates, Critics, and Challengers: 1. Negotiation, networks, linkages; 2. An alternative vision? Andean perceptions of the Hispanic monarchy; 3. The idea of metropolis and empire as one nation; Part II. Salvaging the Greater Nation: Constitutionalism or Absolutism?: 4. Iberian monarchies in crisis: juntas, congresses, constitutions; 5. Hispanic America - violence unleashed; 6. The first Spanish constitutional experiment: the 'one sole nation' and its opponents (1810-14); 7. The counter-revolution and its opponents (1814-20); Part III. Shattering the Greater Nation: Fragmentation, Separate Sovereign States, and the Search for Legitimacy: 8. Metropolitan Iberia - focus of disunion (1820-30); 9. The divergence of the American territories (1820-30); 10. Independence - territory, peoples, nations; Final reflections; Bibliography; Index.