VIEW OF SOUTH-AMERICA AND MEXICO, COMPRISING THEIR HISTORY, THE POLITICAL CONDITION, GEOGRAPHY, AGRICUL- INDEPENDENT STATES. BY A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES. TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. VOL. I. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY H. HUNTINGTON, JR. 1825. L.S. District of Connecticut, ss. EIT REMEMBERED: That on the twenty-second pendence of the United States of America, H. HUNTINGTON, JR. of the said district, has deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit. "A View of South-America and Mexico, comprising their history, the political condition, geography, agriculture, commerce, &c. of the republics of Mexico, Guatamala, Colombia, Peru, the United Provinces of South-America and Chile, with a complete history of the Revolution, in each of these Independent States.-By a Citizen of the United States.— Two volumes in one. Vol. I." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and proprietors "of such copies, during the times therein mentioned. CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. Grad Glaser 10-4 94 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF SPANISH AMERICA; TO THE REVOLUTION. THE discovery of America, forms a new and most conspicuous era in the annals of the world; and probably no other event has had greater influence on the destinies of the human race. Its immediate effects were, to excite a spirit of discovery, of enterprise, and commercial cupidity, which not only gave a new direction, but a new and vigorous impulse, to speculative and commercial operations, and by extending the bounds and magnifying the objects of navigation, a degree of interest and importance was conferred on that pursuit, which it had never before possessed. To these effects, succeed the planting of colonies, which gradually gave a new aspect to the commerce of Europe, engrafted novel principles into the laws of nations, and in no small degree influenced the politics of almost every state in Europe; as for a long period, most of the contentions and wars among the principal powers of the old world, arose from conflicting claims and interests in the new. New relations were created, between the parent state and its colonies, and between the latter and other powers, the last of which, was a source of constant jealousy, and often disturbed the peace of nations. That the discovery and colonizing of a new world, several times as large as the continent of Europe, would produce an important change in the commercial and political relations of the maritime powers of the continent, must have been foreseen at the time; but that it should have had an important moral influence on the character of mankind, and have been the means of securing their rights, establishing their liberties, and exalting their destinies, no one could have anticipated. On the contrary, it must have been supposed, that the establishment of distant colonies, dependant on the parent state, to be nursed by its care, protected by its arms, and entirely subject to its power, would have tended to colonial oppression; which by its example and by strengthening the power of the sovereign, would re-act upon the parent state, and thus tend to the oppression of both. And however it may have been with others, this was undoubtedly true of the Spanish Colonies, down to the period of the late glorious revolution. But their degradation and oppression alienated them from the parent country, and prepared their minds to embrace the first opportunity to throw off the yoke of a distant and foreign power, which instead of conducting towards them, like an affectionate mother, treated them with the jealousy, selfishness, and cruelty of an unfeeling step-dame. The English colonists in North America, consisting of the persecuted at home, brought with them, to a considerable extent, the elements of freedom; and many of the colonies obtained charters securing the essential rights of self-government, and the enjoyment of civil liberty; so that at a very early period, many scattering rays of light were shed abroad in this western hemisphere, which served as the dawn of that glorious day of liberty which we now behold in its meridian splendour. Although the system of colonial government in the two continents, was different, yet the views and policy of the parent countries, were essentially the same, and tended to the same result. This policy was to keep the colonies, not only dependant, but tributary states; to monopolize their commerce, cripple their manufactures, and in all respects render them contributary to the wealth and aggrandizement of the colonizing state. In both continents this policy was more rigorously pursued, as the colonies became more populous and wealthy, and in proportion as a jealousy and apprehension of their independence increased. This illiberal policy tended to a separation, and has resulted in the independance and freedom of the greater part of both continents. Notwithstanding the vast extent of the two American Continents, their various and happy climate, their magnificent rivers and mountains, their unrivalled fertility of soil, and their capacity of sustaining a population almost sur |