ABSTRACT
The period immediately following independence in Hispanic America was a time of turmoil and disunity: it was a period defined largely by caudillo rule throughout the region. The rise of caudillos was a logical response to the disorder, destruction, and collapse of rule during and after independence. Caudillos in Latin America were men on horseback. They had authority and charisma and understood that independence, while offering great change in Latin America, did not fundamentally change the prevailing social structure or ingrained sense of hierarchy in the region. The case of Mexico is a prime example of how the arbitrary rule and mismanagement of self-aggrandized caudillos resulted in grave problems, including foreign intervention and the loss of about half of the country’s territory by 1848. Santa Anna managed to influence political affairs in Mexico through 1855, when he was finally ousted from power and forced into exile.
