Its Culture and Its Ideals 171
Moses. Anglo-Saxon America did not have uniformity of
government, and a diversity of creeds contributed to foster
sentiments of liberty and tolerance.
With the picture before us as I have sketched it, any
impartial sociologist could do no less than admire the efforts
made by the Spanish-American people to achieve a high
degree of culture and government, while struggling against
economic and historical difficulties. Certain aspects of the
work of Spain and of the efforts of the Spanish-American
peoples have been prodigious. What first strikes the at-
tention is the achievement of independence, and it has been
rightly called “the American miracle.” The struggle began
in 1810, and it was drawn out for fifteen weary years.
Spain combated liberty with her characteristically vigorous
energy and her traditional gallantry. The movement for
independence originated with an outburst of idealism that
strengthened and exalted the heroic energy of the people.
The epic of the conquest was repeatedly reversed. The sons
accomplished the feats of their fathers in order to attain
higher ends.
The Cabildo had an important rôle : by its activities, the
idealistic or emancipative movement became popular
thrpughout the continent, and upon this intellectual and
sentimental preparation the heroes of independence
founded their work.
A people’s civilization ought, I think, to be judged in
the light of its aptitude to understand and to feel new
human ideals, and of its ability to produce superior men
that can bring them to pass. The application of this stand-
ard to Spanish America would show a high degree of cul-
ture. The ideals of liberty and political progress that
characterized the social philosophy of the eighteenth cen-
tury, of the French and the American revolutions, were