The photo below is the “Opening of Congress” from Arturo W Boote & Company c.1850-1910. Latin America is infamous for maintaining their sovereignty throughout the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Liberals took power of Latin America in the 1950s. Latin America’s liberal export boom was a really important period of time for Latin America. Liberalism in Latin America had many pros and cons for the nations, as well as the citizens. The “Opening of Congress” image shows opening ceremonies in front of the Casa Rosada in Argentina which we know at this time was completely run by Liberalists. This picture of people gathering around this government facility allows us to analyze what was happening in this time period, how the government was being ran, and how citizens were affected.
Liberalism in Latin America was effective and while Latin American rulers didn’t always have the best interests of its citizens in mind, the nation was greatly impacted, economically. Latin America’s liberal export boom was a period of large and successful economic growth from around the 1870s to 1920s. Liberalists believe in theories of positivism and “freedom”. But in Latin America, the government prioritized modernization, free trade etc rather than freedom for the citizens. One major development during the boom was an increase in railroads, vital for the economic boom. Latin America did a great job of maintaining sovereignty and financial freedom due to their liberal style of governing especially since during this time period, a majority of other nations were being put under US or European imperialism. Latin America’s governing held strong through this.
Though Latin America prospered financially, its citizens got the negative backlash from their prior governing. For example the period of caudillos rule was a very difficult time for the people of Latin America. “The Ribbons and Rituals of Rosismo” by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento tells an excerpt from Sarmiento on caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas in Argentina, where my chosen photo was also taken. This excerpt gives us insight on the people gathering in this photo, and what they had previously been through. The hope they had outside of the congress building at this time. “Yoked to the coach by cords of red silk are the men who, with criminal impunity, have kept the city in a state of continual alarm since 1833” (Wood,Chapter 4). Rosas’ men had implemented fear in the citizens, forced them to wear red ribbons to prove their loyalty. Blood was shed for many citizens. But worse, they had celebrations for months. Fake celebrations, to manipulate the people’s minds and eventually created a disease in the society that spread without even any action from Rosas and his men. Analyzing this photo is different and more beneficial when we have an insight of what was going on with the people in this photo as well as their past trauma, from the Caudillo Rule that came just before.