Latijns-Amerika 1825: antecedenten van een cultuurmissie

Samenvatting

Notes are presented on European attitudes towards Latin America, collected in preparing a doctoral dissertation on the Dutch role in the Caribbean in 1780-1830. The first reaction to C. Columbus' discovery of the New World tended to be ecstatic, including the first impressions of Columbus himself. Later, a reaction set in, and Las Casas' book attacking Spanish behavior in the Americas was re-published 42 times in Western Europe, largely as a popular piece of anti-Spanish propaganda. In the 18th cent the attack on Spanish rule shifted to a rationalist approach, exemplified by G. T. Raynal's defense of trade as against Spain's 'dog in the manger' attitude about her colonies. The struggle for Latin America independence received an enthusiastic welcome from Europe; but it was followed by pessimistic interpretations of the newly independent states. I. Langnas.