Native peoples of the Americas before the conquest- categories and examples
Sedentary natives – general characteristics, examples and how they’re impacted by colonization
-Semi-sedentary natives- general characteristics, examples and how they’re impacted by colonization
-Non-sedentary natives general characteristics, examples and how they’re impacted by colonization
-describe the factors behind why the conquest (Spanish and Portuguese invasion) was so one sided, so
overwhelming
-Guns, Germs and Steel. Germs as WMD’s. Steel and weapons; why such mismatch? Consequences?
-Diseases and demographic consequences: 1st wave: smallpox, influenza, measles…;
2nd wave: yellow fever and malaria (why diseases so one-sided?)
-native slavery- why, where did we see it (different from African slave trade)
-the encomienda: what it was, how it worked, where we saw it, and its consequences
-Know colonization patterns in Mexico, Peru… and compare to colonization of Brazil
-The Requirimiento (Requirement, or Requisition). I gave you this handout (in Canvas too)
-all of our paintings, political cartoons, charts, and graphs we’ve discussed in class
-Father Bartolomé de las Casas
-flows of Africans to Americas: why, when? how many, where? how that reshapes the Americasincluding
labor aspects and culture
-Film: Black in Latin America: Brazil, including Capoeira, Candomblé, and Xica da Silva; gold and
diamond production (economic and social conseq’s); Branqueamento,
-Hegemony (not that people “buy into own inferiority”, but recognition that “rules of the game” are
shaped/rigged by powerful men (of European descent, in the case of colonialism)
-Film: Black in Latin America: Haiti and the Dominican Republic: A Nation Divided”, including
different impact of slavery on each part of the island, merengue, Black brotherhood of Villa Mella,
Rafael Trujillo, vodoun, Creole
-transculturation
-Globalization 1.5 and consequences for Americas
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach 2
-“Ethnic Hierarchy from the Spanish Colonial Point of View” handout
-Late colonial economic and political changes
-Argentina’s development vs. Venezuela’s development in the late colonial era; consequences
-Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz (and how her case illustrates the power of hegemony/patriarchy)
-Patriarchy (another hegemonic force)
-Tupac Amaru II
-Commodities (like sugar, coffee, and chocolate) and coerced labor- patterns and locations
-mercantilism
-reasons for Independence (long term and short term)
-Napoleonic invasion of Spain and Portugal 1808 and consequences for Latin America
-Father Miguel Hidalgo’s movement for Independence/Social Revolt
-José María Morelos
-Simón Bolívar
-Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution
-The Colonial Legacies (Patriarchy; skewed social systems; inequality; ethnic inequality…)
From Wood’s Problems in Modern Latin American History:
Chapter I, “Independence” pp. 1-2, and
pp. 5-7 “War to the Death” by Simón Bolívar
pp. 7-10 “The Vision of Father Morelos” by Enrique Krauze
pp. 12-15 “Independence and Slavery” by George Reid Andrews
pp. 15-20 “What Independence Meant for Women” by Sarah Chambers
pp. 21-22, Chapter II, “Slavery”
pp. 26-30 “Africans in the American World” by John Thornton
pp. 30-35 “A Cuban Slave’s Testimony” by Esteban Montejo
pp. 35-38 “A Day on a Coffee Plantation” by Stanley Stein
-Article “Plastic Surgery for Peru’s Poor”, Hegemony, and colonial legacies
-Film “National Identity is Made Up” by Max Fisher, NYT, 2018; who is “we the people”; how that
applies to U.S., Latin America (who is included in the original constitutions, including U.S.)
-difficulties for the new nations in establishing viable nation-states with lasting institutions, and
why they had such a difficult time growing economically
-Antonio López de Santa Anna
From Wood, ch. III, “Caudillos” (a historical intro) pp. 43-45,
-Liberal vs. Conservative conflicts; consequences
-Caudillos
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach 3
-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and consequences
-Manifest Destiny and its consequences for Mexico, U.S. Native Peoples (and then Hawaii, and the
Philippines)
-Film “To Conquer or Redeem: Manifest Destiny”, Act II, “An Empire of Liberty” & q’s from journal
-“Time to Acknowledge Genocide of California’s Natives” article
-Film clip “Mexican Americans after the U.S.- Mexico War”
-Texas Rangers
-Guano
-Gunboat diplomacy
-Railroads, telegraphs, refrigeration, electricity and new technologies from Globalization 2.0
FROM THE FOLLOWING, WHATEVER WE GET TO COVER WELL BEFORE QUIZ/TEST
(THE REST IS FOR MIDTERM REVIEW-I’ll give you the complete one as we get closer)
SOME SAMPLE MIDTERM SHORT ESSAY QUESTIONS- these are actual possible questions- for
your upcoming midterm (not for this quiz). Please see your syllabus for the midterm description and
date. See sample midterm review in Canvas. Some of these are one paragraph; others two paragraphs.
1) Discuss all of the reasons why the conquest of the Americas was so one-sided (so overwhelming).
2) Discuss how germs/diseases brought from the old world transformed this hemisphere (both waves of
disease) and the Atlantic World. Include how the mosquito played a role in this transformation
3) Describe how the ideas fueling Manifest Destiny impacted Native Peoples on US territories. (see,
for ex., the article “It’s time to acknowledge the genocide of California’s Indians)
4) What sorts of “legacies” did 300 years of colonialism leave on Latin America (from the conquest in
1492 through 1888)? Discuss Wealth; Power; Race/Ethnicity; and Gender. Discuss why these would
matter for the modern era (19th through 21st centuries).
5) Discuss slavery, sugar, diamonds, power, and race relations in the colonial era as seen in “Black in
Latin America: Brazil” and our readings and how that would impact modern Brazil.
6) Discuss the legacy of slavery in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and how and why slavery
impacted each country differently though the two countries share an island.
7) Discuss in detail the importance of our article “A Cuban Slave’s Testimony” by Esteban Montejo for
our understanding of this hemisphere in the modern era. Explain with historical context and specific
examples.
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach 4
8) Describe some of the economic and political challenges Latin America faced from the 1820s to
1850s and some of their consequences.
9) Describe the emergence of “Manifest Destiny” in the U.S., and how it impacted Native peoples in
the U.S., Mexico and the Mexican-American and Native American population that lived in the
territories that the U.S. took from Mexico in 1848 (California, New Mexico, Arizona…)
