Info on 19th Cent. S. America

[wolf_brother]

Posting this here because I'm not sure where else it would go.

I'm trying to do research for future updates on my timeline (link in signature [/advertising]); however I'm running into a brick wall when it comes to researching the history of South America in the mid-19th century. It appears that, asides from a few very specific events, most online sources describe the period in as few sentences as possible; usually something along the lines of "(Country X) was characterized by a period of political instability and a declining economy."

Could anyone, please, point me towards some more informative sources for research on and period? Specifically the late 1840s to early 1860s.

[wolf_brother]

Ba-Bump (filler)

[wolf_brother]

Originally Posted by wolf_brother

Ba-Bump

Bumping one last time

[Petete123123]

I can help you with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Can't give you any source as I use them in Spanish for a quality matter, but you could research David Rock, he made this book.

For Brazilian history, ask Gonzaga. Chile I may know a bit, but not much. The same with Bolivia. After that, I can't help much more.

[Plumber]

I recently got a few books about it, but they're hard to get in English and the only country-specific ones were Brazil and Argentina. I will be taking a course on South America in the fall, so if you still need sources then I can give them to you.

[wolf_brother]

OK, bumping this with something more specific; does anyone have any good sources on the Argentine Civil War, the Uruguayan Civil War, the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata, and the Platine War, and all of that associated background, characters, etc? I realize its all kind of worked into one grand adventure but I don't know how the exact pieces fit together Plumber and Petete you both mentioned both the countries who'd be involved in the above-highlighted events specifically so I'd love to hear from you (I couldn't find Rock's work); as well as anyone else out there who'd be willing to help.

[Gonzaga]

Originally Posted by wolf_brother

OK, bumping this with something more specific; does anyone have any good sources on the Argentine Civil War, the Uruguayan Civil War, the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata, and the Platine War, and all of that associated background, characters, etc? I realize its all kind of worked into one grand adventure but I don't know how the exact pieces fit together Plumber and Petete you both mentioned both the countries who'd be involved in the above-highlighted events specifically so I'd love to hear from you (I couldn't find Rock's work); as well as anyone else out there who'd be willing to help.

My sources about this period are all in Portuguese, and they are few, but maybe you can find something in John Lynch's "Argentine Caudillo: Juan Manuel de Rosas".

[Grey Wolf]

Well, I would definitely recommend this book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Imperial-Ski.../dp/1902669215

This book on Eliza Lynch
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lives-Eliza-...4&sr=8-1-fkmr0

captures the spirit of Paraguay from the 1850s on

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

[Grey Wolf]

Also don't forget the Mapuche and this guy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Or%C3%A...ine_de_Tounens

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

[Grey Wolf]

IMHO a systematic mining of Wiki can be useful - don't just look at the countriies, look at the parties, the generals, the politicians and get an overview, and check out the Spanish language wiki (use Chrome and it will auto translate for you)

Whilst "most common denominator" there can be a lot of information there. There are also of course the links at the bottom of any wiki article and they can take you to more scholarly studies

Sorry if this sounds obvious, but keeping on going sideways can get you a lot more information than an initial overview might suggest.

But get the Graham-Yooll book for sure

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

[Petete123123]

If you can't get David Rock's book, then all I can recommend you are Spanish sources, but anyway most are books that at least I didn't found in the internet.

[wolf_brother]

I've been able to procure a copy of The South American Republics: Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil by Thomas Cleland Dawson, is it a reputable source?

@ Gonzaga: I was able to find a copy of Argentine Caudillo, thank you for the reference, it looks like it'll be very enlightening on the background of the region.

@ Grey Wolf: Thanks for the references. I've found Imperial Skirmishes, but not The Lives of Eliza Lynch; I'm assuming (hoping) that the latter is rather less important than the former?

Regarding Wikipedia, I have been trying that method, the issue is that, as I said, I know all the pieces fit together somehow but I'm not sure exactly how, or why. If there was Wikipedia article summarizing the whole period for all the countries involved that would be very helpful, but as it is it appears to divvied up between historical pages relating to Argentina, Uruguay, etc.

Speaking of which, do you have any reference materials asides from Wikipedia to recommend on de Tounens?

@ Petete123123: Damn. Do you have anything in French? Or possibly German, I might be able to fumble my way through that.

Thanks everyone for the support, hopefully I'll be able to get a clearer picture of the region now

[Grey Wolf]

If you're looking at the Pacific side don't forget the war against Spain in the 1860s. I researched that online a few months back and found a LOAD of stuff, including a lot on other websites than Wiki. Can't recall off the top of my head. I know I researched it in reply to someone wanting info on the Spanish Navy in the 1870s or something. Might be in the Help forum - if not less chance to find it

Best Regards
Grey Wolf