This volume provides readings from the works of eighteen Latin American thinkers of the nineteenth century who were engaged in articulating and examining the problems that Spanish and Portuguese America faced in the one hundred years after securing independence. The selections represent all major regions of Latin America. Although these regions differ significantly with regard to indigenous background, geography, climate, and available resources,their people confronted the common problems that surround the intractable challenges of statecraft and nation building: issues of race, international relations, economics, education, and self-understanding.