I.2.1 DIGITAL ARCHIVE 1052451
Charles (Carlos) Calvo (1824–1906) was an Argentinean jurist who served as Paraguay’s chargé d’affaires to the courts of France and England. He represented the administration of Francisco Solano López (1962–69) during the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. At the height of France’s intervention on the continent, Calvo published his diplomatic and commercial history of Latin America, Recueil complet des traités, conventions, capitulations, armistices, et autres actes diplomatiques de tous les États d’Amérique latine compris entre le Golfe du Mexique et le cap d’Horn, depuis l’année 1493 jusqu’à nos jours, précédé d’un memoir sur l’état actuel de l’Amérique, des tableaux statistiques, d’un dictionnaire diplomatique, avec une notice historique sur chaque traité important). In fact, the name Latin America appears in print for the first time in this work. Calvo’s letter to Emperor Napoleon III and the response from Minister of the French Foreign Office Édouard Thouvenel (1818–1866), both signed in January 1862, three months after the French invasion of Mexico are presented here. The selection also includes the beginning of Calvo’s essay “Amérique latine,” a passage from volume I in which the author, using extensive statistics to make his case, highlights to French investors the intellectual and commercial potential of Latin America. Although the present translation is from the original edition of 1862 [(Paris: A. Durand Librairie), i–v], a later edition of Calvo’s book was published in 1912 by the same Parisian publishing house.
SIRE,
YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY HAS UNDERSTOOD, better than any other European sovereign, the full importance of Latin America and has made the most direct contribution to the substantial development of trade undertaken by France with this vast continent. As one born on the bountiful banks of the River Plate and relying on your customary benevolence—which is one of Your Imperial Majesty’s most distinctive traits—I beg Your Majesty to accept the dedication of this body of work, as well as the Foreword and the Introduction, which I have the honor to send together with this request. This is not merely a token of respectful admiration inspired by Your Imperial Majesty’s superior intelligence and keen insight; it is, I assure you, the sincere expression of gratitude of all people of the Latin race.
Sire,
I have the honor of being, with the very deepest respect,
Your Imperial Majesty’s most humble and obedient servant,
CARLOS CALVO
53, rue de la Chaussée-d’Antin Paris,
April 16, 1862.
SIRE,
I HAVE RECEIVED THE LETTER that you honored me by writing on the 16th day of this month, and I immediately hurried to show it to His Majesty. I am referring to the one in which you asked His Majesty to accept the dedication of your work. I am pleased to answer that the Emperor—who genuinely appreciated the affection that inspired your request—has graciously accepted the dedication of a body of work whose publication, in his opinion, seems to be of great interest at this time. Please be assured of the most distinguished consideration with which I am honored to be
Your humble and obedient servant.
THOUVENEL
Paris, April 22, 1862
LATIN AMERICA WAS DISCOVERED, CONQUERED, AND POPULATED by Europe, yet it is not as well-known as it should be in terms of the interests that underpin the close relationship enjoyed by these two regions of the world. Scholars such as [Alexander von] Humboldt, [Aimé] Bonpland, [Jean-Baptiste] Boussingault, Roulin d’Orbigny, [Augustin] Saint-Hilaire, and many others who have visited America were content to study her physical nature. They therefore revealed to the world—in works as profound as they were enlightening—the rich treasures that she harbors in her bosom. However, and unfortunately for the Americas, in order to understand [these treasures] completely, we would need a thorough study of the intellectual, political, social, and even economic activities of the population. And we are still lacking this essential work.
But I believe that there are many other factors that could be blamed for Europe’s perpetual state of blind ignorance vis-à-vis the level of civilization and progress in the Americas:
FIRST The inadequate teaching provided by European schools on the history and geography of the South American continent; with regard to these subjects, the teachers are at the same level as their students, a fact that I am frequently in a position to confirm.
SECOND The lack of competent, patriotic groups that could educate Europe concerning the specific, positive interests involved, and provide information on the development of wealth in the Americas and the swift growth of trade in these countries with impressive futures.
THIRD The intolerable chattering of shallow writers who travel with their eyes closed and then confine themselves to a hotel room to write fictional novels in which they are always the heroes—of novels in which they discuss everything except the true history of the country they are visiting in a style that is designed to impress people and dazzle the imagination of the feeble-minded.
These are but some of the factors that may prevent Europe from learning anything about the Latin people in the Americas. The lack of information is shameful.
Most Europeans still think of the Americas as they did at the time of the Discovery, which means they still consider them to be “wild” and “primitive.” The intelligent and civilized inhabitants of these lands are thought of as either Indians or Negroes from Africa, who are either naked or clothed in feathers; our fine cities—whose monuments and luxurious surroundings are a match for any second-tier European city—are pictured as villages made of wretched huts, and so on.
Sixteen years after my first trip to Europe, the image of South America still has not changed. As viewed by the Europeans, Latin America got stuck somewhere between 1492 and 1810 and has not moved since. That is to say, between the Discovery and Colonial times, between the pristine state and civilization, between ignorance and enlightened despotism.
In the eyes of the Motherland, our political emancipation ruined us; European nations thought that, if it was not a step backwards, it was at least what brought us into discredit.
One must wonder if judgments of this kind, as severe as they are unfair, might nonetheless hold a kernel of truth. Are they based on history as well as the facts and the current situations in the various countries that have evolved from the Old Spanish colonies? No, certainly not; it should therefore be the duty of all Latin Americans whose heart is in the right place to take the necessary steps to eliminate any possible doubt among European readers.
Such is the mission that we accept in the name of patriotism and that I shall constantly strive to fulfill here, even though I will be considered the least competent and the most humble son of the Young America. In order to reach this goal, it might be necessary to depart from the plan of this project that focuses exclusively on the study of Public Law of the Americas.
The sovereign and independent states that have been established in the domains formerly ruled by the Spanish, Portuguese, and French Crowns encompass a geographic area of 390,466 square miles and are home to some 32,312,542 inhabitants. In other words, almost the same population as the mighty French Empire; but with an additional 380,433 square miles that—based on the current population of France—could be considered entirely unpopulated.
The Empire of Brazil ranks highest among these States due to the relative superiority of its civilization and people—as well as its prosperity, liberal institutions, and the stability of its administration and government. It rivals several nations of the Old World in terms of its material and intellectual advancement.
It must be said, however, that the Republics of Chile, the River Plate (the Provinces of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay), Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, New Granada [Colombia], Venezuela, Central America, and Mexico are all on much the same level as Brazil with regard to modern civilization. They too have suffered the kind of internal upheavals that, regardless of their varying durations or degrees of violence, are endured by every other country in the world. But the consequences here are not necessarily the same as those produced in Europe by this kind of unrest. Due to the extraordinary vitality of Latin America countries, such turmoil frequently stimulates the eminently progressive spirit of their populations.
All aspects of modern European civilization, whether in terms of intellectual or material improvement, are rapidly introduced in America with alacrity that is the very antithesis of the decadence to be found in certain nations of the Old World. The standard of education there is such that young Americans no longer feel the need to go to Europe except to attend schools of higher education. These days, there is no region in the Americas without a literary or scientific society, no area without colleges dedicated to teaching art and industry. In Chile, Brazil, and Buenos Aires—and in Paraguay, Montevideo, and Peru—the railroads, electric telegraph, gas, and so on are, in general terms, far more advanced than they are in Spain, Italy, or Turkey, or in certain Northern European countries.
But the prosperity of these countries is to be expected when one considers their trade, which is the basis of their wealth, their well-being, and their civilization. These days, trade in Latin America is livelier than it is in most European countries, as I intend to prove here beyond a doubt. If, upon arriving in Europe, American travelers feel deeply disappointed by the ignorance they encounter concerning their country, they might be relieved to know that there are at least some honorable exceptions to be found, specifically among prominent intellectuals who set the pace of modern civilization.
In 1850, in an eloquent speech that buttressed the authority of words with the accuracy of numbers, the eminent French publicist, Mr. [Adolphe] Thiers made an astonishing prediction concerning Latin America. He referred to Argentina’s ten-year struggle with France and England. For the benefit of the Governing Assembly, Mr. Thiers drew from his deep wells of genius and intellectual curiosity. I will thus reproduce some paragraphs of his outstanding discourse.
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