Let's talk geography

[San Marino]

Why did Spanish America split into so many different countries and not just several large ones? Why did Brazil remain one country?

That is a very good question. I'm all ears.

Geography, mostly, is the reason the Spanish empire broke up post-independence wars. Look at the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the late 18th century.

The Spanish empire is all over the place—stretched out from north to south by almost 8,000 miles, and pretty narrow at points. And its major settlements were not easily accessible to one another. And a lot of major cities in the Spanish empire were not easily accessible because they were not on the coast. This was in stark contrast to the major Portuguese settlements, all of which were on the coast and easily reachable by boat.

Then there are the Andes Mountains, which splintered the Spanish areas in South America. The Amazon rainforest also provided a massive barrier because these cities and regions could not communicate by utilizing the easiest, flattest routes deep inland.

As a result of intermittent or almost no communication, different parts of the Spanish empire developed totally independent from each other, without much coordination other than through the Spanish government. So, when the wars of independence exploded, the only links that kept these regions together were ruptured permanently. The Spanish kings and court also refused to leave for safety once Napoleon invaded Spain. This was in stark contrast to Brazil, where the Portuguese royal family and court had no illusions of their 'European superiority' and set up in Rio de Janeiro, which kept the lines of communication and governance intact.

Then there was the other factor that split up the Spanish empire—the wars of independence themselves. These were long, bloody and extremely disruptive. Whole regions were economically devastated, especially in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. This sudden flaring in tensions between regions was kept to minimum in Brazil since no massive, long wars were fought there to expel the Portuguese.

The Portuguese empire was contiguous and compact. This meant that communications were easier to undertake, which fostered a sense of unity, if only because messages between local rulers and governments could be sent and received faster. That meant that coordination was much easier to undertake, so the Portuguese empire remained united and became the huge nation of Brazil. On top of that—the Portuguese empire was relatively flat.

When Napoleon invaded Portugal in the early 1800s, it wasn’t much of a leap of logic for Portugal’s royal family and court to flee on ships, cross the Atlantic and set up in Brazil. So, when independence time came for Brazil, there was no bloody, nasty war that tore the nation apart. The son of the Portuguese king, who stayed behind when the royal court returned to Lisbon because he liked Brazil way more than Portugal, simply said, 'I refuse to go back to Portugal.' He promptly declared himself Emperor of Brazil and that was the end of that. The Portuguese let go of Brazil and Brazil emerged totally intact, economically and socially, from independence.

 

[TribalDrumz]

Would love to take a ride in this long ass cave system Al Sadr in Iran

 

[Big Dawg]

Ok...

Now go on with your life and eat some Adobo.

Just keep finding your way.

 

[MicroBrew]

Here's one

What is the name of the straight that separates Australia from Papua New Guinea?

Torres Strait ?

No, I didn't google it prior to this reply.

I do like geography; used to do quite a few online geography quizzes.

 

[theBloB]

Andorra is like many area that were divided up based on religion. Many countries have existed and fallen as people worshiped the various gods they created and fought wars to prove that their god(s) were the correct ones. Many countries have been created, changed names or been absorbed since I started learning geography in the 1950s.

There is a lot of god in your text, and then that you learned geography in the 50s. You must be the oldest member on the site!

 

[theBloB]

Geography, mostly, is the reason the Spanish empire broke up post-independence wars. Look at the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the late 18th century.

The Spanish empire is all over the place—stretched out from north to south by almost 8,000 miles, and pretty narrow at points. And its major settlements were not easily accessible to one another. And a lot of major cities in the Spanish empire were not easily accessible because they were not on the coast. This was in stark contrast to the major Portuguese settlements, all of which were on the coast and easily reachable by boat.

Then there are the Andes Mountains, which splintered the Spanish areas in South America. The Amazon rainforest also provided a massive barrier because these cities and regions could not communicate by utilizing the easiest, flattest routes deep inland.

As a result of intermittent or almost no communication, different parts of the Spanish empire developed totally independent from each other, without much coordination other than through the Spanish government. So, when the wars of independence exploded, the only links that kept these regions together were ruptured permanently. The Spanish kings and court also refused to leave for safety once Napoleon invaded Spain. This was in stark contrast to Brazil, where the Portuguese royal family and court had no illusions of their 'European superiority' and set up in Rio de Janeiro, which kept the lines of communication and governance intact.

Then there was the other factor that split up the Spanish empire—the wars of independence themselves. These were long, bloody and extremely disruptive. Whole regions were economically devastated, especially in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. This sudden flaring in tensions between regions was kept to minimum in Brazil since no massive, long wars were fought there to expel the Portuguese.

The Portuguese empire was contiguous and compact. This meant that communications were easier to undertake, which fostered a sense of unity, if only because messages between local rulers and governments could be sent and received faster. That meant that coordination was much easier to undertake, so the Portuguese empire remained united and became the huge nation of Brazil. On top of that—the Portuguese empire was relatively flat.

When Napoleon invaded Portugal in the early 1800s, it wasn’t much of a leap of logic for Portugal’s royal family and court to flee on ships, cross the Atlantic and set up in Brazil. So, when independence time came for Brazil, there was no bloody, nasty war that tore the nation apart. The son of the Portuguese king, who stayed behind when the royal court returned to Lisbon because he liked Brazil way more than Portugal, simply said, 'I refuse to go back to Portugal.' He promptly declared himself Emperor of Brazil and that was the end of that. The Portuguese let go of Brazil and Brazil emerged totally intact, economically and socially, from independence.

Very interesting reading and new area for me. Are you implying that the Portuguese were better strategists than the Spanish?

In my social circle, I have someone who worked in both Angola and Mozambique. And what I know is that the Portuguese regarding these 2 countries have been real pigs as colonial masters and the fact that when they could not preserve the status quo, they ignited a brutal war of independence which subsequently resulted in an even bloodier civil war.

The contrasts are apparently great regarding their colony in South America and those they had in Africa.

Thank you for taking the time to write. I like to read, so you'll never get any stupid complaints from me that there's too much text.

Take care mate!

 

[griffen]

Looking forward to it!

Correction, this was further south by Lake Superior. I do have something in the Northwest territories, will post later.

This is from Hammerson Peters' articles on mysterious Canada
https://mysteriesofcanada.com/quebec/mysteries-of-the-canadian-fur-trade-episode-1/ which he got from the memoirs of Alexander Henry the Elder, a famous fur trader in the late 1700's:

It was an interesting period during the French and Indian war. Some Indian tribes allied with the French so an English fur trader like himself had to navigate some tricky waters during his expeditions. The Canadian wilderness is a harsh, unforgiving place in the winter so you can imagine what Indians had to to through to survive without technology.

"According to Algonquin legend, the Wendigo roamed throughout the wilderness in the winter in search of human hosts. Men or women possessed by this spirit would develop an insatiable craving for human flesh which would drive them to butcher and eat their friends and family, even when other food sources were readily available

Cases of suspected Wendigo possession occurred with casual frequency in the Canadian wilderness during the days of the North American fur trade. Most often, these cases ended with the gruesome execution of the suspected Wendigo, often at the request of the afflicted.

Every once in a while, however, cases of alleged Wendigo possession resulted in bizarre cannibalistic killing sprees which modern psychology cannot explain."

"Alexander Henry witnessed this strange phenomenon first-hand in the winter of 1766, while camped on the southern shores of Lake Superior with his French-Canadian employees. During their stay, they were joined by a band of Indians who were fleeing from famine.

Two days after the band’s arrival, a filthy and unkempt adolescent emitting a terrible odour wandered out of the woods. The native told Henry and his crew that his family had been starving, and that he alone had the strength to leave their camp in search of food. “His arrival struck our camp with horror and uneasiness,”

Henry wrote, “and it was not long before the Indians came to me, saying that they suspected he had been eating human flesh, and even that he had killed and devoured the family which he pretended to have left behind.”

"the Indians ecamped nearby decided to investigate and followed his trail back to his family’s camp. “The next day,” Henry wrote, “they returned, bringing with them a human hand and skull. The hand had been left roasting before a fire, while the intestines, taken out of the body from which it was cut, hung fresh on a neighboring tree.”

So this kid killed and ate his family and is now in their midst.

"He ate with relish nothing that was given him; but, indifferent to the food prepared, fixed his eyes continually on the children which were in the Indian lodge, and frequently exclaimed; ‘How fat they are!’” Fearful that he would attempt to cannibalize their children, the Indians executed the teenager by splitting his head with an axe when his attention was distracted."

Supposedly Alexander Henry witnessed the whole thing. I believe this is the origin of the Wendigo stories in America. Americans tend to view Canada as a mild, pleasant place because Canadians are liberals and "sissies" But those early Canadians were some hardy men. I couldn't fathom Indian life at that time and place, so brutal and barbaric and the thing that caused it all was the cold.