BORN IN BLOOD AND FIRE: a concise history of Latin America

by John Charles Chasten

Introduction

2011 The Granger Collection. http://www.granger.com

Introduction: Latin America

Shared country characteristics: Relatively young population Overwhelmingly Catholic Highly urbanized Dominant languages: Spanish, Portuguese

Differing country characteristics:

Literacy rates: Argentina (>90%) vs. Guatemala (70%) Geographic and population size: Brazil vs. Paraguay Health/Life expectancy: Costa Rica (77 yrs.) vs. Bolivia (63 yrs.) Racial/ethnic diversity: many indigenous groups, slaves, Europeans
2 http://www.worldatlas.com/

Introduction: Essential Question

Can we write a unified history of Latin America?

Introduction: Latin Americas shared history

If the people of Latin America have a shared history, what is it? Early encounters: Conquest, colonization, and independence Political trends: dictatorships, democratization Economic trends: debt, inflation, and stagnation; then came recovery Class struggle: rich vs. poor, conquerors vs. conquered, masters vs. slaves

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By Takkk (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0

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Encounters

Politics

Economics

Struggle

Introduction: A shared history of struggle

Starting in 1492, Spanish and Portuguese colonizers imposed... Religion

Language
Social institutions Political institutions

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copyright 2011 IMAGINE, all rights reserved.

Introduction: The modern struggle

Liberalism: Progress over tradition Reason over faith Universal over local values Equality over privilege Democracy over other forms of government Emphasizes individual Nationalism: Anti-imperialism Promotes social equality Force against white supremacy Emphasizes community

6 Copyright Calum McRoberts

Introduction: U.S. perspectives on L.A.

Prior to 1930s:
Racial and environmental determinism Focused on race, culture, and climate Latin Americans as defective goods, lacking self-discipline, the Protestant work ethic, and intelligence Too hot (climate-based explanations)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35832540@N03/3315576182/

1940 - 1970: Out with determinism and in with modernization theory

The need to modernize backward mentalities and traditional social structures

Blamed landowners and rulers Focus still on problems within L.A.
http://searunner.sv-timemachine.net/2007/04/about/

Introduction: Dependency theory

New perspective emerges in 1970s:
Scholars reject idea of blaming the victim Looked outside Latin America Focused on role of former colonizers (developed nations) in keeping L.A. economies dependent and underdeveloped Critical of economic globalization (and liberalism)

Incans and pre-Aztec cultures built these structures without machines, steel, or wheels. Does this characterize laziness and a lack of intelligence?

Introduction: Vocabulary
Dictatorship Democratization Foreign Debt Economic inflation Economic stagnation Social institutions Liberalism Nationalism Imperialism Determinism Modernization theory Dependency theory

Political institutions

Globalization
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BORN IN BLOOD AND FIRE: a concise history of Latin America

by John Charles Chasten

Chapter 1: Encounter

2011 The Granger Collection. http://www.granger.com

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Chapter 1: The encounter

For Latin America, conquest and colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese created patterns of social domination that became eternal givens, like the deep and lasting marks of an original sin. (page 25)
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Essential question: Should we judge the moral quality of European explorers?

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Chapter 1: Patterns of indigenous life

Non-sedentary
Food: hunters and gatherers Location: open, arid plains (north Mexico, Argentina) Society: egalitarian structure
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Fully Sedentary
The Tupi of Brazil

Food: sustainable agriculture Location: high plateaus (Mexico City, Cuzco)

Society: stratified by class; specialization

CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture

Semi-sedentary
Food: slash and burn, shifting cultivation
Location: forests, jungles Society: organized by tribe and gender; egalitarian
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The Maya

The Pampas

Chapter 1: Origins of the crusading mentality

Imperial Riches

Colonialism

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Chapter 1: Two parallel encounters

Portuguese in Brazil Cabral landed in 1500
Bound for India Accidental discovery Religious goals
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_New_Spain.svg

Initially uninterested in establishing a colony

Seeking resources Decimated local populations

Spanish across Americas Columbus landed in 1492 Immediate plans for colony

Relied upon slave labor

Established colonies

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Chapter 1: Slavery from Africa to the Americas

How were slaves taken from Africa?
Preexisting (though distinct) system of slavery within Africa Portuguese came for gold, left with slaves Slaves as a commodity Spanish and British soon to follow Why were slaves used to replace natives? Indigenous groups: difficult to contain, sensitive to Old World diseases Slaves: unfamiliar with land and language; long-developed immunity to microbes; familiarity with sedentary life, iron working, and domesticated animals
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Chapter 1: The conquest

Essential question: How did a few hundred Spanish soldiers defeat vast empires of the Aztecs and Incas?
Experience Cortez was familiar with Aztecs, though Aztecs were unfamiliar with him. Germs Military technology
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Pizarro

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Atahualpa

Divide and conquer

Empires demanded tributes from conquered groups.

Dissatisfied groups helped Europeans.

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Chapter 1: Same encounter, different results

Essential question: After the encounter, why did some indigenous groups vanish while others survived?

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Chapter 1: After the conquest

Intermarriage: birth of the mestizo; Spanish women come to Americas after conquest Religious conquest: Cathedrals/churches built on indigenous holy sites

Political institutions: Spanish rulers take place of indigenous rulers

1. Diego Rivera depicts birth of mestizo (child of Gonzalez Guerrero).

2. Diego Rivera depicts Corts, La Malinche, and Martn. 3. La Baslica de la Virgen de Guadalupe built on sacred indigenous site.

4. Aztec ruins discovered under cathedral in Mexico City. 18

Chapter 1: Countercurrents
Essential question: Were all the Spanish and Portuguese arrivals equally destructive? Bernardino de Sahagn: Franciscan who came to New World to proselytize; dedicated to the study of Aztec traditions and language; critical of mass conversions

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Toribio de Motolinia: Franciscan who denounced practices of Spanish colonizers; worked to protect natives against abuses
Bartolom de las Casas: Dominican friar and former native slave owner; critical of colonial practices, calling them a crime against Christian morals; author of A Brief History of the Indies

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Chapter 1: Vocabulary
Sedentary (non-, semi-, fully) Specialization Stratified Egalitarian Commodity Tributes

Mestizo
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