| In the three decades following independence, a movement based on the principles of popular republicanism developed in the city of Santiago de Chile. Composed of a multi-class, male constituency of artisans, university students, young professionals, and older veterans of the liberal opposition, the popular republican movement offered a radical alternative to the hierarchical, authoritarian republic created by the Chilean elite in the 1810s. The movement developed in the context of Santiago's unusually vibrant postindependence political culture. From the late 1820s to the early 1850s, Santiago politics were characterized by highly combative electoral campaigns and a diversified public sphere. The popular republican movement used electoral campaign associations and the emerging public sphere to press its demands for the radical reform of the republic. In the process, the movement engaged in a profound public debate on the social identity of the artisans. Yet, as the movement grew, a fundamental tension at its core became increasingly apparent. While one wing of the movement focused on the social reform agenda of the artisans, the other wing emphasized the political quest to capture the national government. This tension was manifested most strongly in the Sociedad de la Igualdad (Equality Society) of 1850--51, but really the tension had been present since the movement's origins. After 1851, this tension led to the breakup of the cross-class alliance on which the popular republican movement had been based. The history of Santiago's popular republican movement in these decades reveals several underappreciated aspects of Spanish America's postindependence period. First, it shows that the creation of the Spanish American republics was not simply an affair of the creole elite. The ideas and practices of republicanism penetrated deep into urban society, where they were appropriated by plebeian (especially artisan) actors. Second, Santiago's experience shows that Chilean citizens felt themselves deeply connected to the political culture of the Atlantic world. Any comprehensive historical analysis of the Age of Republican Revolution (c. 1776--c. 1848) must take into account the active, not-merely-imitative experience of Chilean republicans, as well as those in other Spanish American cities. |
