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The impact of colonialism on Latin America
Colonial america literary analysis
The impact of colonialism on Latin America
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The Andes had a legacy of resistance that was unseen in other Spanish occupied place during the colonial period. There were rebellions of various kinds as a continued resistance to conquest. In the “Letters of Insurrection”, an anthology of letters written amongst the indigenous Andean people, between January and March 1781 in what is now known as Bolivia, a statement is made about the power of community-based rebellion. The Letters of Insurrection displays effects of colonization and how the “lesser-known” revolutionaries that lived in reducción towns played a role in weakening colonial powers and creating a place of identification for indigenous people. The Age of Resistance is named for the period in which the native Andean people methodically …show more content…
rose up against the Spanish colonial powers. The oppression that the native people faced while under colonial rule acted as a trigger to drive the people to fight for the return to their pre-colonial lifestyle. The rebellions led by Tomás Katari, Thupac Amaru II, Tupac Katari and Juan Santos Atahualpa were probably the most significant and well-known rebellions during the age of resistance. These rebellions paved the way for the emergence of modern countries and radically threatened the colonial authorities. Despite the prominence of these rebellions “most action during this time of rebellion…took place under the leadership of people whose names are largely lost in history, people who were leaders within their own towns” (Letters of Insurrection). The letters of insurrection offer picture of the age of rebellion from the point of view of the usually unheard of Andean people involved in the resistance during this time. The reducciónes towns in Andean society played an important role in the Age of Resistance. They had a major role in structuring Andean identity in the age of colonization. Although the towns were originally created to “civilize” the Andean people while converting them from their indigenous religions to Christianity, the people never completely lost their identity. As a result the Andean people had a multitude of uprisings during the eighteenth century (Burkholder and Johnson, 333). The colonial order was excessively imposing and the Andeans took opportunities to challenge the order and fight for their original way of life. It was very important that Andean identity was kept alive through the towns because the sense of identity was arguably the main factor in strengthening their motivation for resistance. In addition, the causes of the rebellions in the Andean region ranged from famine and disease to local power struggles and taxes. In 1777, Tomás Katari, an Aymara leader in upper Peru, led one of the most violent rebellions in the region, which challenged the legitimacy of the Spanish rule (Lecture, December 1, 2015). This rebellion allowed the indigenous people to have a significant influence on the colonial system and it demonstrates the significance of the presence of the military in the Andes. Like the Spaniards they were able to utilize violence as a means to an end. Violence and militarization was a suitable way to demonstrate their discontent with Spanish rule. In one letter, Nicolás Catari and the communities call on regional towns to halt the movement of Spanish troops. This letter displays the organization of the Andean people in a combined effort to stop soldiers from passing through their communities. The letters served as a way to spread messages quickly and efficiently to other communities to offer warning and develop a similar strategy for defeating those who appeared to be there for the sole purpose of controlling and destroying them. Another letter was written to the Cabildo of Colpacaba calling for assistance due to the imminent arrival of troops that may wipe out the people (Letters of Insurrection). The way in which he asks for assistance indicates that there was some form of organization of troops among the Andean people that would have been able to be dispatched. The people within the reducción towns had advanced military skills that aided their notable legacy of resistance. It offers context for well-known rebellions such as the one led by Juan Santos Atahualpa. Atahualpa led an army of native people in battle against the Spanish authorities. For years the Spanish were constantly defeated by Atahualpa and this posed a major problem for the Spanish. Spanish forced were never able to regain full control until the 1780s after Atahualpa had already died of unknown causes. This revolution was the beginning of many that would eventually aid in the decline of the power of the Spanish empire. The rebellions that were the most threatening to colonial powers occurred after 1777. The year 1781 marked the peak of the wave of rebellions when New Granada made demands for communal lands and no taxes. The demands were not simply about taxes and land but for upward mobility as well. During this time, the second wave of Bourbon reform was sweeping through the colonies as the Bourbon Dynasty tried to modernize Latin America and Spain. Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, a kuraka who renamed himself as the non-Hispanicized Thupac Amaru II, led an uprising through parts of Peru and Bolivia (Lecture, December 1, 2015). Thupac Amaru was an ideal leader as he represented an anti-Spanish position and brought about an anti-colonial legacy of resistance. His name change only served to further legitimize his leadership and the rebellion. There would be several cases of sporadic outbreaks of revolts even after he was captured and defeated. This rebellion has a significant role in bringing together and building a large anti-Spanish group of indigenous people, slaves, mestizos, and free blacks (Lecture, December 1, 2015). The original conquest brought with it a lasting impact of the lives of various groups of people. Although the encomienda system had long since been abolished, most of the indigenous people worked for very little pay mining or working in textile mills and were heavily taxed. The Bourbon reforms had a significant role in the conflict and unrest that resulted in the Andes as it affected all parts of the colonial Andean society (Lecture, December 3, 2015). In addition, the letters reveal literacy to be a powerful part in the role of the reducción towns and in resistance during the age of rebellion in the Andes.
One of the letters, which was a circular letter to the rebel communities, went across two provinces and different communities and was signed by a local representative of each (Letters of Insurrection). This letter displayed how important literacy was for resistance. The letters served as a way for the people to communicate among the reducción towns in order to produce cohesive forms of rebellions and protect themselves from the growing fears of the Spaniards as the potential for rebellion became more widespread. These letters reveal how the rebellions were able to weaken the Spanish empire and they display how they aided the destabilization of the Spanish government and the faith the people had in it. They also offer the indigenous view of the functions of colonial Andean society. The native Andean society created a structure in these reducción towns that had an immense role in constructing the opposition to colonial rule. The Andean communities were able to maintain their own traditions and community organization while they adopted the structures thrust upon them by the colonial
society. The Letters of Insurrection illustrates the historical experience of the Andean people during the Age of Resistance and how the shifting political tides and social structures led to lower-level impacts that radically reorganized the colonial powers. The letters offer a more complex view of the long-term impacts of colonization and the destabilization of the Spanish empire. They reveal the impacts of race, class and political organization during the Bourbon rule of colonial Andean society.
Teja, Jesus F. De La. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguin. Austin: State House Press, 1991.
Miguel Melendez’s book, “We Took the Streets” provides the reader with an insightful account into the activities of the Young Lords movement established in the latter years of the 1960s and remained active up until the early seventies. The book’s, which is essentially Melendez’s memoir, a recollection of the events, activities, and achievements of the Young Lords. The author effectively presents to the reader a fascinating account of the formation of the Young Lords which was a group of college students from Puerto Rico who came together in a bid to fight for some of the basic rights. As Melendez sums it up, “You either claim your history or lose authority over your future” (Melendez 23). The quote is in itself indicative of the book’s overall
Did you know that the average gender wage gap in America, as of 2015, was
Through the study of the Peruvian society using articles like “The “Problem of the Indian...” and the Problem of the Land” by Jose Carlos Mariátegui and the Peruvian film La Boca del Lobo directed by Francisco Lombardi, it is learned that the identity of Peru is expressed through the Spanish descendants that live in cities or urban areas of Peru. In his essay, Mariátegui expresses that the creation of modern Peru was due to the tenure system in Peru and its Indigenous population. With the analyzation of La Boca del Lobo we will describe the native identity in Peru due to the Spanish treatment of Indians, power in the tenure system of Peru, the Indian Problem expressed by Mariátegui, and the implementation of Benedict Andersons “Imagined Communities”.
...en once the rebellion took place. A courageous society takes all responsibility from its back whenever a major level goes down. As Garcia Marquez suggests, this determines a stabilized level of power where distinctions are to be created again to be taken to a macrocosm, and prove that rules, even in the highest level of hierarchy may be mistaken or not proper to the generation or culture that the society is living in.
In South America, Native Americans had rebelled against Spanish rule as early as the 1700s. These rebellions had limited results, however it was not until 1800s that discontent among the Creoles sparked a widespread drive for independence. Educated Creoles like Simo¢n Bolivar applauded the French and American Revolutions. He dreamed of winning independence for his country. When Napoleon occupied Spain, Simo¢n returned to his South America and led an uprising that established a republic in his native Venezuela. But his newly found republic quickly toppled by conservative forces. Bolivar then got a daring idea; he would march his forces across the Andes and attack the Spanish at Bogotá. He managed to free Caracas then moved into Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru to do the same.
In this report I will give a brief overview of the history, economy and culture of Bolivia. Bolivia was one of the first countries in the Spanish Empire to attempt a break from Spain, but it was one of the last to succeed. The Spanish suppressed the first critical rebellion in May 1809. Bolivia declared its independence from Spain on August 6, 1825, and took the name Bolivia in honor of South American independence leader Simón Bolívar. In 1826 a congress adopted a constitution drafted by Bolívar. It vested supreme authority in a president, who was chosen for a life term.
It was in the mid eighteenth century when the idea of independence began in Ecuador. Ideas of Enlightenment began to spread throughout Europe and slowly leaked into parts of Ecuador. The Enlightenment embodied ideas of nationalism, individuality, equality and most importantly freedom. During this time the Spanish economy was also falling apart. With all this going on it seemed like the perfect time to fight for independence. However, no action was made until the Criollos expressed their displeasure with the current regime. The Criollos were people of pure spanish descent, but were born in the “new world”. They began to hate all the people who came directly from Spain because of all the privilege they received, so in 1809 they began to fight for independence.
"Spanish Civil War." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd Ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 42-44. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
In 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla made a choice that transformed the route of Mexican history. The catholic priest, Hidalgo, demanded the arrest of native Spaniards in Dolores. He then rang the church bell like he normally does to call the Indians for mass. Hidalgo gave a message to the Indians and mestizos to fight back against the despised gachopines (native Spaniards) who had abused and oppressed Mexicans. The Mexican revolution had been ongoing since Napoleon's invasion in Spain however, Hidalgo's passionate declaration was a rapid, unplanned decision. He advised the Mexicans to take back the lands that were robbed from the Mexican people. Hidalgo’s call for these people to revolt was a sweeping change from the initial revolution plot planned by the criollos (Mexican-born Spaniards).
One common theme throughout the course of this particular dialogue is the agreement of our overall mistrust of the government and politicians. I recall someone mentioned that all politicians lie whether it is intentionally or not and more often than not they say what would get them elected into office rather than speak the truth. You seemed very shocked at the overwhelming support of the lack of trust we have in our government, and proposed the question of why we have no faith in the government. At the time, this question was actually very challenging for me to answer and on one really had a definite answer as to why they particularly did not trust the government. Still to this day, this question is rather difficult, but I am glad you proposed
Peru had achieved independence from Spain through the influence of held beliefs and concepts from foreign regions, as well as minor political events, and lastly with the guidance of revolutionary leaders, Jose de San Martin and Simon Bolivar. In 1780, Peruvians came to hold a strong belief in the concept of liberalism as the enlightenment made its way around the world. Additionally, a decade later Peruvian intellectuals and politicians were influenced by what was going on in other parts of the world. In particular, The French Revolution and successful war in the North American colonies put ideas such as “the rights of being able to self govern, merits of nationalism and the desire to do things differently” within the minds of oppressed Peruvians. Despite these beliefs and concepts, political events in Europe also played an essential role in provoking Peru towards independence. In 1808, King Ferdinand VII was discrowned due to Napoleonic invasion in Spain. Thus, Spain temporarily had no control over the colonies in the New World. Two years later, Morales Duares was announced president. With this a new liberal constitution was also created, which affected both Spain and the colonies. In regards to this revised document, discussion, unrest and open rebellions took place in 1812. Although there were changes like these occurring in Europe that affected the Peruvians, liberators such as General Jose de Sa...
For this reason America fights desperately, and seldom has desperation failed to achieve victory”. He also describes the overthrown of King Ferdinand VII by Bonaparte as sings of retribution for the crimes committed by Spain against the great Indian empires as those of Montezuma, Atahualpa and so forth. Also, as proof that God would aid Spanish America to achieve independence. Moreover, Bolivar gives the correspondent a response on what he thinks about the whole liberation movement. He also admits that “It is even more difficult to foresee the future fate of the New World, to set down its political principles, or to prophesy what manner of government it will adopt”. However, he gives and insight on what he thinks may be the end result. He gives many examples such us: “Their sublime example is proof to those fighting in Chile that a people who love independence will eventually achieve it”. Regarding New Granada, General Murillo would be defeated in Cartagena. Mexico will be free, in Peru “the fact remains that it is not tranquil, nor is it capable of restraining the torrent that threatens most of its provinces”. Venezuela suffer devastation because of the war and the earthquake but remains strong on their fight
Omar S. Valerio-Jiménez’ novel River of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Grande Borderlands, depicts the villa del norte settlements which examines, “violence resulting from multiple conquest, of resistance and accommodations to state power, and of changing ethnic and political identities” (Valereo-Jiménez 1). Jiménez documents the regions history to the Civil War examining state formation, ethnic and nation building. The Rio Grande is a fascinating area that had been influenced by many opposing powers the Spanish and independent Mexico. Culminating to the Anglo-American expansion that lead to colonial nation building and well as ethnic identity.
[ 3 ]. Proceso de Comunidades Negras del Ecuador, Propuesta para la creacion de una Comarca Territorial de Negros en la provincia de Esmeraldas (Quito: RisperGRAF, 1999), 5.