why did none of the latin countries in America succeed like the english ones?
In: Economics
Spanish colonies were governed with the primary motivation of resource extraction and direct control, even moreso than other colonial powers. This had a few implications:
– Settlement and development remained limited to coasts and areas where mineral wealth could be extracted. Extraction infrastructure itself isn’t well-suited to long-term economic growth and even undermines development in more sustainable sectors (a phenomenon known as the Dutch Disease)
– Effective local governance for long-term development never grew because top-down rule was more effective at resource extraction. There was no direct equivalent to the local assemblies of English colonies.
– Resources which could have been directed towards governance had to be redirected towards military garrisons to sustain Spain’s less lenient approach native governance and pursuit of large-scale conversions
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