Summary:

The main topic for class discussion on 11/11 was the Bourbon Reforms. There were four central questions that drove class discussion. How does King Philip V attempt to rationalize colonial government according to Enlightenment ideals? What effects does this have on stability of colonial rule? How do race, class, and gender shape lived experiences during late colonial era? How can historians use biography to better understand the past? First, we talked briefly about King Philip V’s lineage and how he became the King of Spain. He removed himself from the line of succession in France and was the start of the Bourbon Reforms in Spain. The Bourbon Reforms were composed of four central topics: administrative, church, economic, and social. Philip V had some concerns regarding these ideas, however. The first one was anything that took away crown revenue, such as pirates. He also believed the church had too much power. He tried to limit what the church could do; therefore, they would be under colonial authority. Along with these concerns, there were a few goals Philip V wanted to achieve. He wanted direct collection of taxes, increased trade, regulation of wages and prices, abolition of the sale of office, and greater restrictions for social mobility. Next, we had a book report by Rachel on Mark W. Lentz’s Murder in Merida. This book discusses race, class, and politics of the Bourbon Era through the story of the murder of Lucas De Gálvez. One of the main points in the book was the belief that geography has something to do with racial makeup.

After this, we looked at the cases of Pedro de Ayarza and Juan Barbarín. Pedro de Ayarza’s story looks at the Gracias al Sacar petitions and what it reveals about colonial hierarchies of race and class. Honor or “Quality” was important in society, and this honor came with public reputation. Honor was based off phenotype, title, money, education, legitimacy, and legal status—either freeborn, enslaved, or freed. Pedro de Ayarza tried to gain white status for himself and his three sons. He claimed they were worthy of this status due to their accomplishments. Unfortunately, only his one son, Josef Ponciano was able to gain white status, while Pedro and his other sins were not. This story shows how race and class were limiting factors under colonial rule. Juan Barbarín’s story focuses on the fear of revolution in the New World. People, goods, and ideas were all circulating throughout the Atlantic World. Ideas of revolution were sparked by American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. Due to the lack of basic protection by the Spanish, revolution was a feared idea in other Spanish territories.

Transcription:

“The first question that naturally arises is: why would a pardo from Panama ever believe that he could successfully plead with a Spanish monarch to make him white? Pedro had several excellent reasons to forward such a request. First, a historic Hispanic mentality had always validated the monarch’s power to alter an individual’s rank or heritage. Second, at the same time that Pedro petitioned, the crown issued a 1795 arancel, or price list of favors that might be purchased through a process known as gracias al sacar. One provision made it possible for pardos to buy whiteness, while another set a price for the purchase of the honorific title of “don.” Third, there were precedents of others who have been whitened”

This excerpt shows ways as to how pardos would be able to purchase their whiteness. It also gives an insight on the Spanish greed and how they would capitalize on the opportunity for nonwhites to buy whiteness or a title. Under Spanish rule, a title or the whiteness of a person was important in social structure.

Key Terms:

Honor – “Quality”; based off appearance, title, money, education, legitimacy, and legal status

Gracias al Sacar – process through which people could buy “whiteness”

Pardo – dark skinned man in Spanish New World

Links:

https://notevenpast.org/purchasing-whiteness-race-and-status-in-colonial-latin-america/ – gives more insight about gracias al sacar

https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-the-Spanish-Succession – gives more insight about the War of the Spanish Succession

http://colonialbuenosaires.blogs.wm.edu/government-and-administration/ – gives more insight on Bourbon Reforms

Potential Exam Questions

What was the gracias al sacar process and what did it show about race and class during the bourbon reforms?

What were some of the main goals King Philip V wanted to accomplish during the bourbon reforms?

What are some reasons for the talk of possible rebellion under colonial rule?

We started class with announcements.  We then transitioned into the questions.  We discussed two main questions before heading into the primary sources.  The first question was “What do we know about the impacts of African slavery in Latin America?”   The second question was, “How do historians understand the lived experiences of Africans and their descendants in the New World?”  We looked at several maps that depict the movement of Africans to the New World.  We also looked at paintings from the era and discussed the meaning behind certain features in the paintings.

We had a book presentation on From Africa to Brazil: Culture, Identity, and an Atlantic Slave Trade, 1600-1830 by Walter Hawthorne.  Emma gave the presentation.  This book discussed the Guinean identity both before and after the slave trade brought Guineans to Brazil.  This tied into the class discussion for the day because it looked at the impact of slavery in Latin America.  The readings we had to do for class focused on the working conditions of slaves in Brazil as well as resistance to the slave system.

“But when today I see them so devout and festive before the altars of Our Lady of the Rosary, all brothers together and the children of that same Lady, I am convinced beyond any doubt that the captivity of the first transmigration is ordained by her compassion so that they may be granted freedom in the second….”    Antonio Viera’s Sermon

This passage discusses a Jesuit’s view of slavery in Brazil.  It relates to the main point because it discusses slavery in Brazil.  This passage in particular says that slavery must be ordained by the Lady of the Rosary because it allowed the Africans to get “saved”.  This ties in nicely with our discussion about the way Europeans viewed slaves.

Quilombos- Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin.

Slavevoyages.org

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/30/world/uniao-dos-palmares-journal-from-brazil-s-misty-past-a-black-hero-emerges.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/11/12/244563532/photos-reveal-harsh-detail-of-brazils-history-with-slavery

• How did the working conditions of slaves lead to Brazil having to bring in more slaves?
• Looking at “Blacks Dancing”, a painting from 1640, how is colorism present and what does this imply about the way Brazilian society views people of African descent?
• Why is it that there is better data for the arrival of slaves to the New World rather than the departure of slaves from Africa?

Class Notes

The class discussion for 10/23 centered around the various labor regimes that were put into place by the Europeans in order to control and understand the natives, and the effects that these regimes had. There were four main historical questions today: 1. How did the Spanish and the Portuguese attempt to maximize the economic potential of the New World? 2. What forms of labor regimes are developed? 3. How do the economics of colonialism effect the daily lives of colonial subjects? 4. How does colonialism shape the creation of knowledge? We began the discussion by talking about Philip D. Curtin’s novel “The Plantation Complex”, which tried to explain how different slavery was in the New World compared to the Old World. He gives many characteristics that described this form of slavery, like having forced labor systems like the Mita system, populations that are not self-sustaining, large-scale industrialized plantations, “feudal” powers given to the plantation head, exportation of almost the entire product, and rule from afar.

Following this, we had a presentation by Matt about the novel “Potosi, The Silver City that Changed the World”, by Kris Lane. Matt summarized Lane’s account of the transformation of Potosi into a silver production center following the discovery of silver in 1545, including the cruel and harsh treatments of natives that were done in order to extract the silver. Furthermore, he discussed how transformative this was for the world, as it played a massive role in globalizing the market and illustrated Spain’s cruelty towards natives.

In addition, we had a discussion of the primary sources that we studied as reading. We started this discussion by talking about the map of Potosi. This map clearly emphasized how important silver production was to the city. It illustrated a majority of people walking up the mountain to mine for silver and the actual making of silver from raw material to finished product. We then discussed the Relaciones Geograficas, which were a serious of questionnaires distributed to the Spanish by King Philip II. The two most common themes of these questions surrounded understanding the natives and their customs and discovering how to make as much money off in the New World as possible. Something that was found to be surprising was the fact that questions about religion were placed at the bottom of the questionnaire, but there was a disagreement within the class about whether this was due to a lack of interest in the native’s religion or not. We also discussed the Misquiahaula, a map from the indigenous group located in the state of Hidalgo.

Transcription:

“In answer to the fifth question, they said that this valley has many Indians, although in the time of the Inca there were many more…their numbers grew in the time of the Inca because the Inca rewarded valiant warriors with anywhere from two to six women or more, although common Indian men only had one woman. Their numbers declined with the wars of the Incas, and after the Spaniards arrived, they declined even more.” – Relacion of Jauja, Peru.

This is an example of a response to the Relaciones Geograficas from Jauja, Peru, located about 400 miles northeast of Lima. In class, we discussed whether the Spaniards were interviewing the natives, and according to this response, it seems like they are. It’s also clear in this response that the natives are knowledgeable about why their population decline occurred.

Key Terms:

Casa de Contratacion: established in 1503 as an agency of the Spanish Empire that was responsible for regulating overseas trade, especially legal disputes arising from it. It is an example of Spain trying to control the seas and its colonies, with the specific purpose of protecting its domestic industries from foreign competition.

Relaciones Geografias: series of elaborate questionnaires distributed by King Philips that were meant to provide an understanding of the natives and how to extract the most money and resources from them as possible.

Links:

https://slaveryinjustice.wordpress.com/slavery-in-ancient-aztec-mayan-and-inca/ : source that details slavery in Mesoamerica and how it was executed.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/21/story-of-cities-6-potosi-bolivia-peru-inca-first-city-capitalism : source that further explains Potosi’s importance in the future of the global economy.

https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/benson/rg/rg1.html  : images of the Relaciones Geograficas and analysis of why it was so important.

Potential Examination Questions:

How did Spain’s previous experiences will colonialism affect their treatment of the natives of Mesoamerica?
What was Potosi’s influence in the global economy and why is it so significant in history?

How did the Spanish attempt to control the natives and were these attempts successful?

Class Summary:

The historical questions we discussed in class on Wednesday focused on what tools of conversion did the Spanish use on indigenous people in Latin America. The tools of conversion we discussed were: church construction, secular and regular clergy, congregation (missions), education, and public festivals. The student presentation of the day was on the use of public festivals in colonial Latin America, summarized in the thesis- Spanish authorities designed festivals that were aimed at the mass population to promote a shared history and values. Native people were made to feel like they had to participate because of their “implicit evil”, their skin color.

We also discussed what kind of sources let us get at questions of belief. These included primary sources, material culture, local stories & oral histories, prayers, educational materials, paintings/art, etc. Our sources we read for class fall under many of these categories. The “Orders Given to the Twelve” is a primary source from 1523. The article on Gaspar Antonio Chi included images of places, art, and reimaginings of public spaces.

Transcription: 

“Go, therefore, my much beloved sons, with the blessing of your father, to carry out what I have commanded you; and armed with the shield of faith and with the breastplate of justice, with the glade of the spirit of salvation, with the helmet and lance of perseverance, struggle with the ancient serpent which seeks and hastens to lord himself over, and gain the victory over, the souls redeemed with the most precious Blood of Christ.” – Orders Given to “the Twelve”

When discussing this source, the class mentioned the language used. It’s warfare terminology that focuses on the violent nature of the task posed to Catholics spreading the faith. The class talked about how urgent this mission was. Spanish Catholics believed they were fighting evil by spreading their religion.

Key Terms:

public festival – a celebration of the public for a certain event or purpose, usually religious. They were used in colonial Latin America as a way to control and influence indigenous peoples.

Saint Rose of Lima – the first person born in the Americas canonized as a Saint. Because of the great documentation that must be done in the process of sainthood, we have lots of sources on her.

Links:

• Journal Article: Catholicism and National Identity in Latin America
• Journal Article: Racialization and modern religion (hot a historical research paper, but if you’re interested in intersections between race & religion, check this out)
• News Article: Why the Catholic Church is Losing Latin America (not scholarly, but includes citations, graphs on the religious belief in LA in the 20th century, and updates on modern issues)

Class Summary:

The class discussion for 10/14 was focused on colonial institutions, and the differences between how the colonizers (particularly the Spanish), and the colonized indigenous peoples viewed colonial rule in Latin America. There were three main historical questions today: 1. What strategies did Spain and Portugal use to consolidate colonial rule in Latin America? 2. How did colonial administrators describe their experiences? And 3. How do indigenous people describe their colonial experiences? What themes emerge? We began our discussion for the day with a book presentation from Jaz who presented on Richard Kagan’s Urban Images of the Hispanic World: 1493-1793. This text primarily focuses on the mapping of cities, and how maps are shaped by those who create them; for example, how someone views the city is influenced by whether someone is a colonizer or has been colonized, meaning that cartography is subjective.

This discussion about city mapping served to transition the class into a discussion on Spanish views of colonial rule, which centered around the obstacles that colonial administrators faced, drawing largely from the assigned reading on encomenderos. We determined the main obstacle to be communication, as it took a very long time for information to travel between the Old and New Worlds (for example, it takes 210 days for a round trip between Spain and Panama, and 35-60 days one-way on the shorter trip of Angola to Brazil). Other major obstacles to colonial rule included issues with the chain of command (as viceroys were not fully in charge and had to answer to the Spanish Monarchy, being so far from Europe meant that there was a question about the amount of authority that viceroys held, and prohibited them from changing course quickly when problems arose). A third obstacle was the language barrier between colonizers and the indigenous people they colonized, and a sense of isolation amongst the colonizers. In the encomenderos letters, other themes emerged, including the theme that land/labor grants were not always as economically efficient as they were initially assumed to be, especially after the first ten years of colonization, the theme that the colonies were not well planned, and that much of the planning took place ad hoc with colonizers figuring out what colonization would look like once they were already there. There was also a noticeable shift in tone from how conquistadors had talked about indigenous peoples; whereas Díaz and other conquistadors had described many native peoples as barbaric, savage, and dangerous, the encomenderosdescribed them in a much more paternalistic manner and without agency, for example referring to indigenous employees as an encomenderos’s children. Next, we discussed “Two Images from the Codex Osuna” and how to interpret it as a primary source. We discussed how the images indicate a non-singular, non-linear perspective, indicating a different way of thinking about space from the Western perspective. This source is useful in helping us to understand how indigenous peoples who worked as part of labor grants used Western technology for their work, as well as how Natives were treated unfairly by the Spanish—for example, the codex indicates that the Natives had not been paid since beginning construction on a Catholic Cathedral that the Spanish commissioned. Finally, we discussed Kagan’s description, and the map of San Juan de la Frontera, Argentina 1562. This map is important because it helps to underscore the idea that the Spanish believed that by having the city organized, colonial rule would be organized. It also indicates, with its lack of walls and roads that don’t come to definitive ends, that the Spanish assumed that they would be expanding the city

Transcription:

The discussion on Spanish views of colonization relates to a passage that we discussed from Lockhart and Otte’s work, the primary source “An Encomendero’s Establishment,” in a section by Andrés Chacón, in the encomendero of Trujillo, Peru in 1570:

“I know that those who have been here say that I am rich. Certainly I have more than I deserve from God. But as I said, everything goes for expenses, and at the end of the year the income only covers operations, and even sometimes isn’t enough. And as the Indians give me nothing, that is, I take little from them and have expenses for priests and other things for them and they have been destroyed in past wars, since they are on the main highway and have been mistreated and destroyed, few of them remain. Once there were more than 2,000 Indians, and now there are about 200. I consider them as if they were my children; they have helped me earn a living and, as I say, I relieve them of tributes and everything else that I can. I have given them 220 pesos in income,[1?] 60 at my pleasure and 60 perpetually and if God gives me life, I will leave them free of tributes when I die, so that whoever enjoys the tributes will not mistreat the Indians to get his revenue. Probably you will say that it would be better to give this to my relatives than to the Indians. But I owe it to these children who have served me for thirty-odd years; it is a debt of life, and if I did not repay it I would go to hell. I am obliged to do what I can for my relatives, but if I don’t, I won’t go to hell for it.”

This relates to the main points as it indicates the frustration that Spanish colonizers felt over the lack of planning that went into the colonies, particularly as seen in Chacón’s emphasis on how his time in Peru was not lucrative. Furthermore, it underscores the paternalistic views that he and other encomenderos held about their role in serving as ‘protectors’ of the Natives.

Key terms:

• Historiography: “Historiography is the study of how history is written and how our historical understanding changes over time. Historiography considers the approaches used by historians and seeks to understand how and why their theories and interpretations differ.”(definition given in class, from Alpha History)
• Communicentric view:“exported” images of cities, mainly created by northern Europeans, which may be topographically accurate, but convey stereotypes of colonized cities that to don’t portray them as changing over long periods of time (see Kagan, Urban Images of the Hispanic World, 1493-1793)
• Corographic view: images of cities produced by locals that emphasize human and material features of the landscape rather than topography (see Kagan, Urban Images of the Hispanic World, 1493-1793)
• Encomendero:in the Spanish encomienda system, the person in charge of an estate of land, and the indigenous people who inhabited the land (for tribute and evangelization)

Links:

1. Here’s an Al Jazeera article on cartographic bias and why we think of Europe as being “on top” of the map: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/2/maps-cartographycolonialismnortheurocentricglobe.html
2. This CNN article allows you to compare divergent countries/continents to the actual size of Africa, to help show one aspect of colonial cartographic bias visually: https://www-m.cnn.com/2016/08/18/africa/real-size-of-africa/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
3. This scholarly article discusses how the Natives of Huaquechultecas, Mexico used a rhetorical strategy of loyal service in the conquest of Mexico to defend their interests against the encomienda system: Mysyk, Avis. 2015. “Land, Labor, and Indigenous Response: Huaquechula (Mexico), 1521-1633.” Colonial Latin American Review24(3): 336–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10609164.2015.1086595

Potential Exam Questions:

1. What challenges did Spanish colonizers face in implementing colonial rule? How did they balance power between viceroys and the monarchy?
2. Why did the Spanish implement a grid system when planning cities in Latin America? What are the implications of using a grid system?
3. How did the Spanish view of indigenous peoples change between the time of first contact, and colonial rule in the late 1500s? How is this reflected in primary sources from both the Spanish and Natives?

.

-Today we looked at the question of how natural history texts can be looked at as colonial knowledge. First we talked about the Columbian exchange and how it was consequentially harsher on the new world than the old world. Most of our discussion on this matter revolved around the depictions of animals and plants from Historia Naturae. Both allowed us to look at tangible physical things as a way of colonial impact and understanding among Europeans.

-Historia Naturae was the first European attempt to systematically describe and classify new world plants and animals. Some descriptions and classifications of animals are hysterically false. Other facts about these animals are relatively accurate. Showcases a thirst for knowledge among Europeans for things in the new world. Huge sense of exoticism in this publication. Produced in a collaborative effort with natives. Which proves that European science wasn’t totally accurate as they relied on native input to create this publication. Overall Historia Naturae is a good source to look at how colonialism depicted new things they were unfamiliar with and how Europeans put these things into terms they could comprehend.

-Columbian Exchange: Artificial re-establishment of connections through the mingling of old and new world plants, animals, and bacteria.

• https://vimeo.com/51367465
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/precontact-and-early-colonial-era/old-and-new-worlds-collide/a/the-columbian-exchange-ka
• https://www.jstor.org/stable/43797868?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=columbian&searchText=exchange&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dcolumbian%2Bexchange&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-4631%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3A855dffec8dbeeab2ef76d39557613740&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Above is a video about Historia Naturae and two articles about Columbian Exchange

Examination Questions

-How did Columbian Exchange negatively impact the new world more so than the old world?

-What ways can you see European influences in Historia Naturae?

-(Relating to the book presentation from today) What does Alchon claim as other causes for the deaths of so many indigenous people in the new world?

The class discussion for 9/18 was focused on early colonial perspectives as the two groups we have been studying up to this point, the Iberians and the indigenous peoples of Latin America had recently met. The historical questions for today were 1. How do Spanish and Portuguese “ceremonies of possessions” and approaches to colonialism differ from those of other ‘European powers’? and 2. How can we apply to Bauer’s ideas about ‘contact goods’ to understand colonial power structures and hierarchies of differences? We began this discussion with a book report from Christian who presented on Puritan Conquistadors: Iberianizing the Atlantic by Jorge Cañizares- Esguerra which discusses the similarities between the Purtians and the conquistadors and their colonization of the Americas. He discovered that the motivations and justification by both groups were very similar. The main justifications given by both parties were that this land and conquering it was their “god given right” and that the natives who had been occupying the land were the “devil’s creation” or “allies of the devil”. The colonizing of the two Americas took place centuries apart but they both used the same reasoning based in religion to take over the lands. The takeaways given by Christian were 1. History repeated itself with American Colonization and 2. History should be studied by regions.

The book report presented led us to a discussion of different types of colonization and using comparison as  Cañizares- Esguerra did as a historical tool. Comparison can help us to understand the differences in two situations as well as highlighting the similarities. We then turned the conversation to Shoemaker and the motivations of colonizers. Shoemaker came up with many different types of colonizing but we focused on 4 that are most relevant to our class content. We discussed “settler colonialism”, “planter colonialism”, “extractive coloinialism” and “trade colonialism” which will all be defined below in the key terms section.  Professor Holt then prompted us to brainstorm which of these types of colonialism were used in North America. We decided that the colonizing of N. America had used aspects of all four types discussed:

Settler: creation of colonies and pushing the Native Americans out of their land

Planter: the mass production of tabacco and sugar both collected with forced labor of others

Trade: the French were fur trappers in the north, the triangle trade regarding the import of African slaves and restrictions placed on certain goods.

Regarding south America, we decided that the above examples can also apply in addition to the extractive colonialism since the conquistadors took gold and trees in brazil from South America.

We then turned to the readings and discussed “The Requirement” reading by Patricia Seed who is a historian at UC Irvine and a major pioneer in digital history. We determined with a little bit more background provided by Professor Holt that “The Requirement” was an excuse by the Spanish to conquer the native peoples and force them to convert. This was a legal loophole for the Spanish and pushed the blame onto the indigenous peoples if they refused to their “terms”. The language makes it seem like this is a reasonable request to make of the natives and that it is truly up to them whether they agree, though they are threatened by the Spanish if they don’t. This aggressive decree is a further example of the idea of European and in this case Spanish superiority and sets up the idea that only Christians really deserve freedom. The threat to wage war if the native tribes did not obey their orders were seen as almost too harsh by other European powers but the Spanish had used their own personal experience with the Islamic Jihad which had used similar tactics of forceful conversions. We also discussed the comparing of evidence which was explained in Victors and Vanquished and the role that bias may play. When evaluating evidence at this time we need to think carefully about what is real and what may be embellished. Using other sorts of evidence to use such as material objects to get more data and information about the time period it was used in.

Key Terms:

• Settler colonialism: large numbers of settlers claim land and become the majority
• Planter colonialism: a small minority of colonizers institute mass production (raw materials) using African slaves or indentured labor.
• Extractive colonialism: raw material export
• Trade colonialism: mercantile capitalism with raw materials from the colony traded for manufactured goods from Europe.

Links to Related Sources

This Article expands on the discussion surrounding types of colonialism by providing us with the other types given by Shoemaker: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2015/a-typology-of-colonialism

This site gives a Native Perspective of the requirement and connects to some of the points made in class. It especially mentions that the Natives did not understand Spanish and thus were unable to agree or disagree: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/178.html

This site shows ways of looking at bias in primary source documents which is a growing concern now that the natives and the Iberians have met and most of our surviving documents were written by the Spanish: https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/910043/pages/warning-watch-for-bias-in-primary-sources?module_item_id=5869047

Potential Exam Questions:

1. Think of another “type of colonialism” that you believe should be created when looking at the Iberians? what is it? And how do the Iberians use it?
2. What was the primary purpose of “The Requirement”? What Spanish and Christian ideals are clearly shown in the document, provide specific examples?
3. What are some strategies to determine bias in Primary sources? Think of one of the primary sources we have looked at thus far, what bias do they show and how can we deal with this in our evaluation of them?

Class Topic: First Reports

Historical Analysis:

• How does the process of European “discovery” of the Americas unfold? How do Iberian explorers present New World territories to their rulers?
• Historical Communication: How does Meléndez structure her chapter to communicate her argument?
• Dr.Meléndez’s argument: How does material culture shape first impressions?
• Textual Analysis: Columbus’ journal

Dr. Mariselle Meléndez

• Professor of Colonial Spanish American literatures and Cultures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Uses clothing as a “text” to understand colonial identities and power relationships

Writing Strategies:

• Clear statement of argument at the beginning
• Roadmap for chapter (not necessary for short essay)
• Historiography:
  • They Say, I say strategy (page 18 engagement with Walter Mingolo)
• Clearly states links between argument and evidence
• Conclusion that reiterates central argument, explains the “so what?”

Christopher Columbus’

• General misconceptions- people knew the earth was not flat, they just didn’t know the dimensions

German Views of Iberian Dress: Christoph Weiditz (1529)

• emphasizes the colonialist viewpoint in writings
• categories of difference
• emphasis on women in culture: nudity, identity, power
• the role of clothing in identity and power
  • Nudity in Catholicism:
    • Adam and Eve -> innocence
    • Sex (nudity = sexual available)

Overall, the class discussion of the day was focused on Brazil and the Caribbean. This included particular analysis and discussion of 3 primary groups. These groups are the Taino and the Arawack, which are from the Caribbean, and the Tupi, who are native to Brazil. The class focused on two essential questions: 1) How did the natural environment shape the lifestyles of peoples in these areas? And 2) What evidence is available for historical research into Brazil and the Caribbean? We started the discussion with the topic of semi-sedentary lifestyle of the native peoples of Brazil and the Caribbean. They combined hunting and gathering with agriculture which before now was rarely done as hunting and gathering requires movement whereas agriculture usually requires staying in a set place to allow crops to grow. This was a unique way in which the peoples adapted to their environment. We then discussed the population trends of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil. Some students were intrigued by the fact that over time, Indigenous People have gone from composing 100% of Brazils population to less then 1%. It also interested students that there was a drastic decrease of population for coastal indigenous populations whereas indigenous populations in the middle or main area of the country sustained similar population levels for an extended period. Professor Holt made a side note about the current issues in Brazil with disrespect towards Indigenous peoples by the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro. He is trying to take away protections of Indigenous peoples as well as allowing for the environment that is their home to be destroyed. The conversation then shifted to agriculture and how it impacts different parts of the world. We discussed where different agriculture is produced and discussed the importance of manioc (def: A tropical plant from which cassava and tapioca are prepared) in Latin America.

We then shifted focus to an audio slideshow by Elisabeth Rosenthal: “An Ancient Society Faces New Change in Brazil.” The slide show discussed the environment of Brazil, the impacts people are having on Xingu National Park, culture and lifestyle, and how culture and lifestyle are in some ways threatened by ways of modern life. After the audio slideshow, we discussed the ways we thought the slideshow was positive or negative in presentation. We said that the way in which the author presented the slideshow through an us versus them tone was ineffective and a poor presentation style. We also thought the style was story book like and acted like anyone watching was a child. The audio slideshow also lacked interviews or reference to solid sources. Some even argued that the way in which the author presented information contradicted with other information the author stated. Next, we heard a student book presentation on “Go Betweens and the Colonization of Brazil” by Alida Metcalf. A summary on Google Book reviews does a good job of summarizing and defining the keys points in the book when it states “ Alida Metcalf thoroughly investigates the many roles played by go-betweens in the colonization of sixteenth-century Brazil. She finds that many individuals created physical links among Europe, Africa, and Brazil—explorers, traders, settlers, and slaves circulated goods, plants, animals, and diseases. Intercultural liaisons produced mixed-race children. At the cultural level, Jesuit priests and African slaves infused native Brazilian traditions with their own religious practices, while translators became influential go-betweens, negotiating the terms of trade, interaction, and exchange. Most powerful of all, as Metcalf shows, were those go-betweens who interpreted or represented new lands and peoples through writings, maps, religion, and the oral tradition. Metcalf’s convincing demonstration that colonization is always mediated by third parties has relevance far beyond the Brazilian case, even as it opens a revealing new window on the first century of Brazilian history.” After the book presentation, a discussion ensued on the differences in slavery between Europe, the United States, Africa, and Latin America because of points made in the book about slaves. To conclude class, there was a short discussion of cannibalism and how Europeans used it almost as a weapon to blanket all Latin American peoples as crazy and cannibalistic when only a few had ever engaged in cannibalism.

Another Key Term Besides Manioc was Caciques. They ruled over one or more villages and were like a native chief.

I found the following passage from the article on Ancient Antilles called “Art and Iconography of the Ancient Antilles” particularly relevant to class discussion.

It states “While the archaeological record has yielded far more stone and ceramic sculpture than wood, a case can be made for the popularity of wood sculpture in the ancient Antilles. Even ceramics received much of their details when the clay was at the leather-hard stage of drying, when it is most like wood and therefore requires a woodcarving technique (see figure). Between the need for statues, and the construction of canoes and houses (both of which likely had been adorned with sculptural and incised designs), sculptors probably spent more time carving wood than any other material.”

In the Caribbean and Brazil, it is often hard to find a variety of primary sources because many were destroyed by Europeans as well as just by the test of time. Therefore, it is harder to learn the intricate details of this area of the worlds history.

These are some interesting articles that go more in depth on different topics we discussed in class:
1)https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2012/06/what-did-amazon-look-european-contact
This article details the before and after European contact with the Amazon and how the new human contact impacted the environment.
2)https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-agriculture-indigenous/brazil-agriculture-minister-wants-to-open-indigenous-land-to-commercial-farming-idUSKCN1PC25P
This article details the issue of the Brazil President showing extreme disrespect for Indigenous Peoples and the lands they live in.
3)https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/genes-extinct-caribbean-islanders-found-living-people
This article is interesting in the fact that it discusses genes of what was thought to be an extinct Caribbean people found in people today.

Extension Questions:
1)How did the European contact shape the way in which the culture transformed into what it is today?
2)How do we know as much as we do about Brazil and the Caribbean and are all the sources that this information is based on solid sources?
3)What forms of expression developed from these peoples? Did they express themselves through music, for example, and if so, how?

In today’s class, we focused primarily on Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, the Mayan people, and the question of gender in engraved stone tablets. For clarification, professor Holt explained how the Mayan empire peaked from 250-900 A.D. and then collapsed in the 900s. The Aztecs were people from Atzlan, which made up what is now the central and southwestern United States. The Mexica, or Aztecs, were the powerful ethnic group in Mesoamerica at the time when the Europeans entered the picture. We also talked about Tenochtitlan, which Schwartz and Seijas called a “world-class metropolis” (5). Near the end of the class, Katrina gave a presentation on the book Gender and Power in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. She touched on how the author emphasized features in Mesoamerican artwork to enhance her argument. The author argued that European interpretations of these artifacts were incorrect and that the images were far more complicated and had a lot to do with the position of women in society. How did the Spanish conquistadors view Tenochtitlan when they first discovered it? What role did women play in society judging by their presentation on Aztec stone carvings? Was Tenochtitlan the economic center of Mesoamerica? The readings, for the most part, described the complexities of Mesoamerica society in depth. However, I found the statistics to be a bit offputting. In LA&P, Tenochtitlan had a population of 150,000. But in Victors and Vanquished, the population was estimated at 300,000. Which one was accurate I am not sure. Does this possibly refer to 150,000 people living within the city limits, or does it include the surrounding area as well?

Note from KH: There is often a considerable range in calculating historical population figures.  It makes sense if you think about what kinds of governments would value detailed records of individual residents (versus tracking community contributions to the empire, or other things) and also what kinds of surviving evidence we’re drawing on for understanding Tenochtitlan in 1519.  Scientists use different methods for these calculations when we can’t rely on an accurate, detailed population count.  Science magazine has a brief article here about statistical models archeologists can use to estimate population.

Something we talked about at the end of class was The Aztec Stone of The Five Eras. This stone tablet illustrates how advanced Aztec society was, especially regarding astronomy, their interpretations of time, seasonal changes, and their subjecthood to deities. On page 25 and 26, the author refers to the way the stone tablet “points to Tenochtitlan as the spatial center of authority,” and how the Aztecs were intuned with environmental calamities and prosperity. At the center of the turmoil and prosperity was the metropolis, Tenochtitlan.

Nahuatl- the ancient language spoken by the Nahua people in Mexico and El Salvador

Nahua- the largest ethnic group that speaks Nahuatl

Tenochtitlan- the jungle metropolis in Mexico that had a population between 150,000-300,000 inhabitants