Editing Caudillo (section)

==Independence era==
Although there was the hope of some Spanish American leaders of independence that the political contours of regions would reconstitute the former [[viceroyalty|viceroyalties]], but with local autonomy. The [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] as an institution remained strong and the militaries won victories against royalist forces. The state as an institution in most areas was weak. Conflicts over the form the new governments should take were rampant, and veterans of the wars of independence saw themselves as the leaders of the nation-states they had helped bring into being.<ref>[[#Henderson|Henderson]], p. 110.</ref> 

These ''caudillos'' were able to maintain their power through their connection with their ''gauchos''. Unlike their traditional elite counterparts, ''caudillos'' sought to keep the relationships with their supporters strong. They often lived near or amongst the "common people", so they were able to develop personal connections and experience problems first hand that otherwise might have been ignored by the elites. ''Gauchos'' would influence the political opinion of the common people, or peasants, through oral culture. They would tell stories and write songs and poems that shed their ''caudillos'' and the ''caudillos''<nowiki/>' ideals in a positive light. Their influence on the political climate allowed the common people to be a driving force of nation-building rather than just elite leaders.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=De la Fuente |first=Ariel |title=Children of Facundo: caudillo and gaucho insurgency during the Argentine state-formation process (La Rioja, 1853 - 1870) |date=2004 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-2596-3 |edition=2. print |location=Durham}}</ref>

In the wake of the violence and political disruption, new nations were faced with widespread property destruction, the disappearance of trade, and states that lacked political authority. The first few decades after independence saw the rise of strongmen with roots in the military. Spanish America had known no other type of regime than monarchy, and Mexico established one under a royalist general-turned-insurgent [[Agustín de Iturbide]]. In Spanish America, new sovereign states grappled with the question of balancing a central authority, usually in the hands of the traditional elites, with some kind of representation of the new "citizenry" of the republics. Constitutions were written laying out the division of powers, but the rule of personalist strongmen, ''caudillos,'' dominated. Dictatorial powers were granted to some ''caudillos'', nominally ruling as presidents under a constitution, as "constitutional dictators".<ref name=s20>Smith, Peter H. (2005) ''Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective''. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 20–22. {{ISBN|0195157591}}</ref>

===Major leaders of the independence era===
<gallery>
File:Portrait of Simón Bolívar by Arturo Michelena.jpg|[[Simón Bolívar]]
File:Retrato más canónico de José de San Martín.jpg|[[José de San Martín]]
File:Martin Tovar y Tovar 12.JPG|[[Antonio José de Sucre]]
File:Francisco de Miranda by Tovar y Tovar.jpg|[[Francisco de Miranda]]
File:Miguel Hidalgo con estandarte.jpg|[[Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla]]
File:Emperor Agustin I kroningsportret.JPG|[[Agustín de Iturbide]]
File:Juan Manuel Blanes - Artigas en la Ciudadela.jpg|[[José Gervasio Artigas]]
</gallery>