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Week 9: Commerce, Coercion and America’s empire
Posted by: Adrian Gonzalez
Firstly, I want to say that the most interesting part from the lecture at least in my opinion was the important influence that the United States of America had in many countries from Latin American. I think their influence started because they want to control everything, not only the economic aspects but also political and […] read full post >>
Week Nine – Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week’s readings look at the United States influence within Latin America and the effects that is has on the people living within the region. The U.S. has a long history of imperialism that is often overlooked because the ideas it imposes, such as democracy and capitalism, are widely seen as positive. One cannot think… Continue reading Week Nine – Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire read full post >>
Week 9: Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: melissa prado
So far this has been my favorite chapter of all the syllabus. I believe it is because it talks not ony about things I learned during my high school history, but also because it introduces us the reasons why Latin America is so influenced today by the US culture and economically dependent of it. While […] read full post >>
Week 9: Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: feedwordpress
So far this has been my favorite chapter of all the syllabus. I believe it is because it talks not ony about things I learned during my high school history, but also because it introduces us the reasons why Latin America is so influenced today by the US culture and economically dependent of it. While […] read full post >>
Week 9 – Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week’s documents seem to include the same theme which would be the hegemony of the United States within Latin America. The first document by Augusto Sandino’s was his Political Manifesto which was a declaration of war upon the United States. He speaks on how he is an artisan repeatedly and how he is proud […] read full post >>
Week 9: Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: feedwordpress
The last few readings have been about the economic boom and the problems it associated with. In this week we continue on that theme. I found particularly the parts about the banana industry in Latin America quite interesting. A main company who produced bananas in Latin America is called the United Fruit Company (UFCO). The … Continue reading Week 9: Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire read full post >>
Week 9: Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: feedwordpress
After reading the title for this chapter I immediately thought of an American dominated Latin America. However, I was surprised to find that “…just as the Untied States consumed the region [Latin America] … so too did Latin America consume the United States.” (page 182) You could even go as far as to say that Latin American culture was forever changed due to the influence of the United States in the same manner as the colonial rule of Europe. Business men from the North brought along all aspects of their...read more read full post >>
Week 8: Signs of Crisis in a Gilded Age
Posted by: feedwordpress
The previous week we had looked at the export boom, in which Latin Americas export became a mass production. Producing good for the world to consume, such as coffee and tobacco. This week we see the problem that come with exploiting a countries resources with no means of protecting the people interests. They seemed to only … Continue reading Week 8: Signs of Crisis in a Gilded Age read full post >>
Week 8: Did Zapata Look Uncomfortable to You?
Posted by: feedwordpress
For this week's reading I actually found the text to be a lot more intriguing than the articles, I think it situated the theme of this class in a context I could better understand. One of the more memorable lines Dawson writes in the chapter was that “Latin Americans lived in a fragmentary world, one person's boom was another person's crisis.” A lot of our in class discussions always revolve around arguing if the ends justify the means, if one person’s boom is worth another person’s crisis, if we can overlook the brutality of tyrants by measuring their overall progress (President Diaz comes to mind when I write this). I disagree with any ends justify the means discourse, so I say no, but I’m curious to what you think. Do you disagree or agree?
One of the really interesting things from the text i read was Dawson's take on the photographs of the Zapistas eating at Sanborns, and Villa and Zapata in Mexico City. If you look in the Sanborns one, there's a man dressed in a three piece tuxedo suit staring directly at the back of the soldiers and he looks soooo uncomfortable — it’s really something else. In the beginning, I did disagree with Dawson’s proposed theory that the Zapistas and Zapata look uncomfortable to be there but the more I thought about it, it does make sense. I’ve met real country people and they’ve always seemed uncomfortable to be in the city, it’s not their home. They don’t really relate to what city folk think about or the customs or their fashion. Although it seems like a large presumption to make about a photo taken from over a century ago, I think it’s a rational one. The rural and peasant class never went to the city, and I know they were gawked at, stared at, probably even had expletives yelled at them while they seized Mexico city. So yes, I think Zapata and the Zapistas may have been uncomfortable there. And Dawson draws up a good theory that the way the peasantry occupied the city (through force, terror and violence) served as a reminder they did not belong there. If you belong to something you shouldn’t have to force yourself on it. They’re people who have been on the margins looking in, and once they’re finally in they realize they still aren’t in it. But i'm not sure, did Zapata look uncomfortable to you?
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Commerce, Coercion, and America’s Empire
Posted by: feedwordpress
I was aware of the extent of American influence over Latin American countries (especially in Central America and northern South America) but never really thought about the collaboration that existed to develop vaccines and treatment of tropical diseases. I found American and Latin American scientific collaboration really interesting particularly because the vaccines they developed were […] read full post >>
