ABSTRACT
The end of Spain's empire in America opened up a world of opportunities for other expanding powers of the first third of the nineteenth century. Great Britain was the first European country to recognize the independence of the former colonies, in January 1825, in a move intended to achieve three main purposes: secure an advantage in the commercial transactions with a market hitherto monopolized by Spain (although Britain had begun to trade extensively with the region in the later part of the eighteenth century), prevent other European countries such as Spain or France from re-conquering that area, and counteract the expanding menace of the United States. Spanish Americans were also keen on attracting Britain's attention: the new independent governments urgently needed loans, investors and concessionaries for the precious gold and silver mines, which had been abandoned or destroyed during the wars. They also needed the support of a European power against a possible attempt at re-conquest by Spain. Moreover, once their links were cut off from the mother country, the new Spanish American governments felt a particular attraction for Britain, as it offered a source of inspiration for some of their institutions. Although their main political model was late eighteenth-century Bourbon Spain, they looked to the British Parliamentary system as an example for
1 '[Rudolph Ackermann] esta en cierta manera de dos o tres anos a esta parte en la casi
exclusiva posesion, debida a su actividad y oportunas ocurrencias, de excitar desde Londres el gusto literario de los hispanoamericanos, facilitandoles la adquisicion de algunos dijes, no todos de gran valia en cuanto a la materia, pero si bien brulidos e ingeniosamente confeccionados'. 'Juicio de algunas obras nuevas en espanor, Ocios de espanoles emigrados, 20, November 1825, p. 505.
