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Over the last fifteen years, there has been a marked increase in the number of publications on the political history of Spanish America during the nineteenth century. The methodological and conceptual revival of political history has prompted historians to challenge the traditional interpretation that identified caudillos as traitors to the political ideals of independence. On the contrary, recent research tends to underline the influence of legal liberalism in the new political contexts. After briefly analyzing contributions on the absolutist and independent periods, this article focuses on three crucial issues that serve as guiding threads through the most important historiographical evolutions of recent years: political citizenship and the founding of the nation, violence and conflicts, and the institutionalization of the state.