The aim of this book is to offer a comprehensive approach to the history of the South American republics since the South American histories written before were mostly treating of special periods, and few authorities existed for post-revolution times. One of the main questions he tried to answer was why there were so many revolutions in South American countries. Constitutional traditions, inherited from Spain and Portugal, implanted a tendency toward disintegration; Spanish and Portuguese tyranny bred in the people a distrust of all rulers and governments; the war of independence brought to the front military adventurers; civil disorders were inevitable, and the search for forms of government that should be final and stable has been very painful. On the other hand, the generous impulse that prompted the movement toward independence has grown into an earnest desire for ordered liberty, which was steadily spreading among all classes, resulting in a slow evolution toward republicanism.
Volume 1:
Argentina:
The Argentine Land
The Spanish Colonial System
Completion of the War of Independence
The Era of Civil Wars
The Modern Argentine
Paraguay:
Paraguay Until 1632
The Jesuit Republic and Colonial Paraguay
The War
Uruguay:
Portuguese Aggressions and the Settlement of the Country
The Revolution
Independence and Civil War
Brazil:
Discovery
Early Colonization
Independence
Events of 1849 to 1864
Republicanism and Emancipation
Volume 2:
Peru:
The Inca Empire
The Spanish Conquest
The Wars of Independence
Chile:
The Spanish Conquest
The Colonial Period
The War of Independence
The Formative Period
Bolivia:
The Conquest and the Mines
The War of Independence
Bolivia Independent
Ecuador:
The Spanish Conquest
The War of Independence
The Formation of Ecuador
Modern Ecuador
Venezuela:
Conquest, Settlement, and Colonial Days
The Revolt
Modern Venezuela
Colombia:
Conquest and Settlement
Colonial Times
The War against Spain
Modern Colombia
Panama:
The Events Leading to Independence