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Week 13: Towards an Uncertain Future

Hard to believe we have reached the final week. I have enjoyed this course and learning about my history in a formal academic setting.  This week we are looking at the future of Latin America. The video speaks about the “left turns” and is optimistic, however, nowadays this optimism feels misplaced. In 2016 under aContinue reading “Week 13: Towards an Uncertain Future”

Posted in Blogs, Week 13 | Tagged with climate change, colombia, Ecuador, extraction, indigenous

Week 6 – Citizenship and Rights in the New Republics

Though slavery is not widely accepted throughout the Americas, the ideology behind it still exists. It exists in the way…

Posted in Blogs, Week 6 | Tagged with Abolition of slavery, equal rights, Europeans, history, indigenous, racism, rights

The meeting of two worlds

 Though I have never formally learnt about Christopher Columbus in school, in my mind he had always been portrayed as heroic – possibly I assumed this because of the countries and provinces which are named after him, possibly also because of the fact that he must have been an intelligent individual and highly skilled navigator. Since moving to Canada and learning about American history I am aware of the devastating impact of cultural myopia and colonialism, though I still never held Columbus personally accountable. Reading Columbus’s personal memoir was very strange for me; I found it shocking how brief some of his daily accounts were. Many people who experience historical events of huge difficulty and significance seem to have written detailed thoughtful accounts of their life and plans, for example Anne Frank, Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela, whereas this text struck me as more of a report – the prologue implies it was presumably a report to the monarchy of Spain. I had assumed that he wrote to process his thoughts and emotions, but it seems this is not the case. It makes me question – did Columbus have so much faith that he would eventually make it back to Spain to hand over the account? Did he leave instructions for what was to happen to it after his death, or make more than one copy?

Despite the structural style, Columbus described many of his surroundings and experiences in a lyrical, poetic way – as mentioned in the lecture this week. Hauntingly, I found a certain purity in his words – despite the insensitive language sometimes used to describe people he encounters, he is undoubtedly in awe of what he finds, “no man could look at [the fish] without amazement and delight, the colours are so beautiful”. The villain character he is so often made out to be does not line up with the naivety of his words when discovering this new land – and from his perspective just doing his job. He wrote, “They captured [the Native American] but told him they meant him no harm”.

The other assigned reading shows a similar history from a vastly different perspective. I found it uncomfortable to read, though it is more like what I was expecting when learning about colonialism in a class on Latin American studies. It is difficult to consider this piece alongside Columbus’s account. After mentioning how the Inca believed the newcomer to be a “lord in his kingdom” one phrase which stuck out to me was “…the soldiers began to kill Indians like ants”. This notion is supported by the assigned student video “The Meeting of the Two Worlds II” – which discusses the horrific abuse of the native people, and also the after effects of their invasion; 90% of Native Americans were killed from contact with Europeans – largely through disease. I’d like to learn more about how far there was miscommunication between the indigenous people and the explorers, and how far, perhaps, Columbus’s account is untruthful or unreliable?

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with colonialism, Columbus, Inca, indigenous

The meeting of two worlds

 Though I have never formally learnt about Christopher Columbus in school, in my mind he had always been portrayed as heroic – possibly I assumed this because of the countries and provinces which are named after him, possibly also because of the fact that he must have been an intelligent individual and highly skilled navigator. Since moving to Canada and learning about American history I am aware of the devastating impact of cultural myopia and colonialism, though I still never held Columbus personally accountable. Reading Columbus’s personal memoir was very strange for me; I found it shocking how brief some of his daily accounts were. Many people who experience historical events of huge difficulty and significance seem to have written detailed thoughtful accounts of their life and plans, for example Anne Frank, Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela, whereas this text struck me as more of a report – the prologue implies it was presumably a report to the monarchy of Spain. I had assumed that he wrote to process his thoughts and emotions, but it seems this is not the case. It makes me question – did Columbus have so much faith that he would eventually make it back to Spain to hand over the account? Did he leave instructions for what was to happen to it after his death, or make more than one copy?

Despite the structural style, Columbus described many of his surroundings and experiences in a lyrical, poetic way – as mentioned in the lecture this week. Hauntingly, I found a certain purity in his words – despite the insensitive language sometimes used to describe people he encounters, he is undoubtedly in awe of what he finds, “no man could look at [the fish] without amazement and delight, the colours are so beautiful”. The villain character he is so often made out to be does not line up with the naivety of his words when discovering this new land – and from his perspective just doing his job. He wrote, “They captured [the Native American] but told him they meant him no harm”.

The other assigned reading shows a similar history from a vastly different perspective. I found it uncomfortable to read, though it is more like what I was expecting when learning about colonialism in a class on Latin American studies. It is difficult to consider this piece alongside Columbus’s account. After mentioning how the Inca believed the newcomer to be a “lord in his kingdom” one phrase which stuck out to me was “…the soldiers began to kill Indians like ants”. This notion is supported by the assigned student video “The Meeting of the Two Worlds II” – which discusses the horrific abuse of the native people, and also the after effects of their invasion; 90% of Native Americans were killed from contact with Europeans – largely through disease. I’d like to learn more about how far there was miscommunication between the indigenous people and the explorers, and how far, perhaps, Columbus’s account is untruthful or unreliable?

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with colonialism, Columbus, Inca, indigenous

The Meeting of Two Worlds

This week, in this class and in another I was reading about Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the America’s, It worked out really well for myself as I also had to read a letter by Columbus in another class but it was written in 1493, in February, months after he had originally arrived. NowContinue reading “The Meeting of Two Worlds”

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with Christopher Columbus, indigenous, spanish

Reflections Week 4: Do our principles withstand harsh realities?

This week, we are examining the video lectured provided by Professor Beasley-Murray for Week 4, entitled “Independence Narratives, Past and Present”. To begin, one thing that I found of particular interest to me was the fact that, as mentioned early on, modern times were considered to have begun, or at least in European terms, with […]

Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Equality, Freedom, human rights, independence, indigenous, Power and Wealth, revolution, US Involvement

Week 13 – Towards an Uncertain Future

Max Cameron is so positive this week! I feel like he was delivering his interview responses with a small smile and a twinkle in his eye. Though we definitely have to be cautious that we don’t paint the future with … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Week 13 | Tagged with buen vivir, Chávez, economy, indigenous, left turns, redistributive politics, rights, social programs

Week 8 – Signs of Crisis

Diaz’s proclamation, in 1908, that he would not run for the presidency opened the floodgates for countless marginalized groups to speak out against modernization. Groups that had for decades been silenced, displaced, repressed, and forced to work for the capitalist … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Week 8 | Tagged with Capitalism, indigenous, Mexican Revolution, modernity, Porfirio Díaz, revolution, Zapata

Short Research Assignment

Group: The Export Boom as Modernity Symbolism, solitude and modernity: science and scientists in Porfirian Mexico Author: Natalia Priego Priego, Natalia. (2008). Symbolism, solitude and modernity: science and scientists in porfirian Mexico. História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, 15(2), 473-485. https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-59702008000200016   Natalia Priego begins by … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Week 11 | Tagged with crisis of representation, elites, final video project, identity, indigenous, modernity, Porfirio Díaz, Research Assignment, video project

The Mulattos of Colonial Era New Spain

In his essay, “‘Mulata, hija de negro y india’: Afro-Indigenous Mulatos in Early Colonial Mexico”, Robert C. Schwallar explores the characteristics and evolution of the Afro-Indigenous mulatto population during the Colonial Era of New Spain. The term ‘mulatto’ typically conjures the idea of “an individual born to one African and one European parent” (889). This […]

Posted in Blogs | Tagged with African, Afro-indigenous, Colonial Era, indigenous, Mulatto, New Spain, Short Research and Writing Assignment, slave

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