A Functional Past A Functional Past THE USES OF HISTORY IN NINETEENTH­ CENTURY CHILE Allen Woll Louisiana State University Press Baton Rouge and London Copyright © 1982 by Louisiana State University Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designer: Patricia Douglas Crowder Typeface: Linotron 202 Garamond #3 Typesetter: G&S Typesetters, Inc. Printing and binding: Thomson-Shore, Inc. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Woll, Allen. A functional past. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Chile—Historiography. 2. Chile—History— 1824-1920. I. Title. F3074.W64 983'.06 81-12411 ISBN 0-8071-0977-0 AACR2 To Myra CONTENTS IX Acknowledgments i Introduction Part I THE ORIGINS OF HISTORICAL STUDIES IN CHILE (1830-1851) 7 1 Discovery of the Chilean Past: The Intellectual Renaissance of 1842 29 2 The Philosophy of History in Chile: The Lastarria-Bello Debates 49 3 Theory and Practice: The First Historical Writings (1845 — 1851) Part II THE FUNCTIONS OF HISTORY IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CHILE (1851-1900) 69 4 From Ambiguity to Action: History Becomes a Political Weapon 85 5 The Catholic Historian in Nineteenth-Century Chile 105 6 Historians as Diplomats: The Chilean Boundary Disputes 127 7 A Question of Honor: Historians Defend Their Profession 150 8 For God or Country: History and Education in Chile 172 9 Keys to the Future: Positivism and Historical Thought in Chile 189 Conclusion 193 Selected Bibliography 205 Index ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This BOOK originated in an evening course at the University of Chicago on the philosophy of history taught by Karl J. Weintraub. Herbert Klein en­ couraged my early interest in Latin American history. Peter Smith, Thomas Skidmore, and the late John L. Phelan of the University of Wisconsin, Madi­ son, provided diverse critical viewpoints which aided this manuscript consid­ erably. Simon Collier of the University of Essex first introduced me to Chil­ ean history, and he has read most of this manuscript and offered helpful suggestions. Charles Hale of the University of Iowa has expressed interest in this topic for many years. His comments, from the earliest days of the work to the final revisions, have improved this book immeasurably. I would also like to thank the Doherty Foundation for the opportunity to live in Chile during 1972 and 1973 and initiate the research for this book. Finally, I would like to thank my current colleagues at Rutgers University, Camden, for their continued faith. Portions of this book appeared in the following journals: History and The­ ory , The Americas, the Journal of Latin American Studies, and the Journal of the History of Ideas. I would like to thank them for permission to reprint these articles in revised form.