LALS 1

Roughly how long was the colonization period? a. Colonization is still going on in Latin America. b. 100 years—it was a short process. c. 300 years—all Latin American countries were independent by 1810. d. 300 years—most Latin American countries were independent by 1825.

300 years—most Latin American countries were independent by 1825.

In 2013, the Roman Catholic Church elected the first Latin American pope. What country is he from? a. Brazil b. Mexico c. Argentina d. Peru

Argentina

Who was Bartolomé de las Casas? Why was he important to the indigenous people?

Bartolomé de las Casas was a Spaniard who came to America in 1502. Like many others, he was a fortune seeker who received an encomienda in the Caribbean. For twelve years he lived off his encomienda watching indigenous people perish because of exploitation and disease. In 1514, he joined a group of Dominican friars and started fighting for indigenous rights and against the abuses they were suffering. During the 1520s and 1530s, he published several statements denouncing the treatment the indigenous people received from the Spanish. He also promoted the idea that indigenous people were humans and, as such, enjoyed rights. Finally, and partly in response to las Casas' pronouncements, the pope issued a proclamation under the name of the New Laws in 1537. This proclamation was issued by the Spanish Crown five years later. The New Laws first limited and later prohibited the use of encomiendas. It also declared that the indigenous people were human beings and needed to be treated as such. Las Casas was in great part responsible for the existence of the New Laws.

How did some indigenous groups maintain their native language and original customs in Spanish America? a. Because they fought the Spaniards during the conquest. b. Because they lived far from the Spanish settlements during the colonial period. c. Because the Spanish were very fond of certain groups of natives. d. Because they converted to Catholicism early on.

Because they lived far from the Spanish settlements during the colonial period.

Most African slaves traveled to which of the following countries? a. Cuba b. Costa Rica c. Guatemala d. Brazil

Brazil

What is the religion that is most commonly practiced in Latin America? a. Protestantism b. Atheism c. Judaism d. Catholicism

Catholicism

Simón Bolívar fought to liberate several countries in Latin America. Which of the following countries were liberated by Bolívar? a. Mexico and Peru b. Argentina and Paraguay c. Colombia and Venezuela d. Argentina and Mexico

Colombia and Venezuela

If the Spanish and Portuguese colonial system was a brutal one in which native Americans and peoples of African descent were oppressed, why did colonialism last for so long?

Considering the Spanish and the Portuguese Crowns' limited resources to maintain power in the colonies, it might come as a surprise that European control lasted for so long. Europeans did not have a large military force, nor were they a majority in terms of population, yet they managed to remain in power for over three centuries. Historians use the term "hegemony" to explain how colonial control worked in reality. Chasteen defines hegemony as a type of domination in which no violence is involved. Hegemony consists of making the people at the bottom consent to their own inferiority. In this sense, people of different statuses participated on their own subjugation. Religion and patriarchy offer two great examples to illustrate this point. Religion explains how hegemony functioned during the colonial period. Enslaved Africans and indigenous peoples accepted the Catholic truth. By doing so, they acknowledged their status as newcomers to the faith and agreed to their inferior place in relation to the Spaniards. The history of the "true church" could only be written by the Spaniard. Yet, by joining the Catholic faith, those at the bottom of the ladder became protected Christians and part of the empire. At the same time, Iberian colonizers accepted some of the customs and traditions that the non-Europeans brought with them (transculturation). Patriarchy, the general principle that fathers rule, provides another example of a system of control that facilitated Iberian rule in the Americas for so long during the colonial period. Chasteen explains how "patriarchy structured all colonial institutions." This structure functioned at all levels of society—it started with the father ruling his family in the home and ended with the Holy Father in Rome. The life of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a nun who joined a convent in Mexico, illustrates how this principle worked on the ground. From a young age, Sor Juana defied the male structure of the church and society. Even when her scientific interests and writings were unnatural for a woman, Sor Juana managed to become an important intellectual figure. By doing so she threatened the patriarchal structure of the empire. When asked to stop her nonreligious activities, she ended up consenting by giving up her library and laboratory.

Which two colonies did not declare their independence during the 1800s? a. Cuba and Puerto Rico b. Cuba and Dominican Republic c. Puerto Rico and Uruguay d. Argentina and Brazil

Cuba and Puerto Rico

Why is it important to understand the relationship between the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the history of conquest in the Americas? a. The Moors managed to fight their battles on both continents. b. During the Conquest of the New World, the Iberians copied some of the successful strategies they used in the reconquest of the peninsula. c. After conquering the Americas, many Iberian groups helped with the reconquest. d. The Iberian Peninsula and the Americas were discovered simultaneously by the Europeans.

During the Conquest of the New World, the Iberians copied some of the successful strategies they used in the reconquest of the peninsula.

Which three countries in Latin America are characterized by a large population of indigenous people? a. Guatemala, Bolivia, and Peru b. Guatemala, Chile, and Bolivia c. Ecuador, Argentina, and Uruguay d. Ecuador, Brazil, and Argentina

Guatemala, Bolivia, and Peru

Which country did slaves take control of after independence? a. Mexico b. Haiti c. Venezuela d. Cuba

Haiti

Neoliberalism a. Proved to be very successful for the Latin American people of all social classes. b. Has rarely produced equitable prosperity in the region. c. Empowered indigenous groups. d. Empowered people of African descent.

Has rarely produced equitable prosperity in the region.

Most of the rewards received by the Spanish colonists for their conquests consisted of a. Gold and silver. b. Vast extensions of land. c. Indian workers entrusted to them for labor. d. Public offices, a source of great power and prestige.

Indian workers entrusted to them for labor.

How did cultural hegemony function? a. It prevented the creation of new Latin American cultures. b. It forced people to convert to Catholicism. c. It stripped the less powerful of all bargaining power. d. It made dominance seem natural and inevitable.

It made dominance seem natural and inevitable.

Two political ideologies took center stage in the history of Latin America. First, classic liberalism emerged in the nineteenth century. Nationalism, a later invention, emerged in response to the first. In which ways have liberalism and nationalism alternated in ascendancy during the past 150 years?

Liberalism, meaning limited government and economic laissez-faire, and nationalism, which is based on the idea that nations should rule themselves, have alternated in ascendancy during the past 150 years. Each ideology favors its own ideas when it comes to the ways in which the government should behave given specific circumstances. While liberalism favors progress, nationalism tends to argue for traditions. Another difference between the two stems from the fact that liberalism tends to favor universal principles and tries to find and follow models from other countries. To the contrary, nationalists tend to look inward, searching to promote national uniqueness. Liberalism and its principles reigned during the nineteenth century. It promoted free trade, modernization, and the importation of foreign models. Nationalism emerged later on, at the beginning of the twentieth century. This new ideology challenged classic liberalism by promoting all that was national and unique about each country. It particularly attacked free trade. According to the nationalists, economic laissez faire, a universal model promoted by the US and Europe, tended to benefit the rich and produced more inequality. Throughout the history of the region, the opposing forces of liberalism and nationalism have each helped shape the identities of individual nations and of the continent as a whole.

Which of the following areas was considered a fringe of the Spanish Empire during the colonization period? (Note that country names did not exist during that time period.) a. Brazil b. Paraguay c. Mexico d. Peru

Paraguay

Mestizo children were a. Mostly illegitimate offspring of Indian fathers and Spanish mothers. b. Treated similarly to Spaniards if they had Spanish siblings. c. Unable to inherit much from their Spanish fathers. d. An insignificant and small group from early on.

Unable to inherit much from their Spanish fathers.

Napoleon's invasion of Portugal was the result of a. Portugal's refusal to close its ports and declare war on England. b. Portugal's refusal to close its ports and declare war on Spain. c. Portugal's refusal to stop trading with the Netherlands. d. Portugal's refusal to stop trading with Spain.

Portugal's refusal to close its ports and declare war on England.

Discuss the causes of the independence movements in order to pinpoint the reason for the collapse of Spanish and Portuguese rule in most of Latin America.

Some external and internal causes can be identified as the force behind the movements for independence in Latin America. One significant external influence was the English and the French revolutions in Europe, which provided the ideological context for the Latin American rebellions. The Napoleonic Wars, while taking place far from the New World, also triggered the wars of independence. Still, other events happening within Latin America can also be identified as causes of the independence movements. Arguably, the growing idea of belonging to an American shared identity and the long-standing rivalry between the Creoles and the Peninsulars are the most salient ones. The French Revolution and the English Revolution had a great impact on Latin America. Both of these revolutions sparked new ideologies that promoted liberation while challenging the idea of the monarchy based on divine right. The leaders of the French Revolution proclaimed notions like "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." At the same time, they promoted the idea of political sovereignty, which the Creoles in Latin American soon embraced as their own. Subsequently, during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), Napoleon invaded Portugal and Spain. In Spain, Napoleon replaced the rightful king with one of his choosing. In Portugal, the Crown decided to move to Brazil right before Napoleon attacked the capital city. People in Latin America swore allegiance to the deposed king. This elicited a strong reaction from those living in the New World. While some events in Europe triggered the wars of independence, other more-local occurrences promoted change within the Americas. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Creoles, native-born whites, had had a rivalry with the Peninsulars for a long time. Over the years, specifically by the late seventeenth century, the Creoles had grown resentful of the Peninsulars. In simple terms, the Peninsulars usually got the best offices. This meant that they would also receive better pay and had more power over the Creoles. Yet, Creoles trying to rule themselves needed to get "the people" behind their cause. To do so they glorified the American identity in their discourse. They used nativism, the notion that they all shared the same birthplace, as a rhetorical appeal to win the wars. It is impossible to pinpoint only one cause for the wars of independence. The colonial regime, while brutal, was stable. The collapse of the empire was not foreseen by many. On the one hand, the events in Europe destabilized colonial rule. On the other hand, the rivalry between the Creoles and the Peninsulars, on top of the idea that all Americans should rule for themselves, started what we know today as the wars of independence.

Upon reaching Hispaniola in the early 1490s, Columbus and his partners did which of the following? a. Promptly organized expeditions to Mexico and Peru b. Spent more than a decade dealing exclusively with the local Taino/Arawak people c. Spent a few years dealing exclusively with the Tupínambá people in today's Brazil d. Organized the conquest of the Caribbean empire

Spent more than a decade dealing exclusively with the local Taino/Arawak people

How did the conquest of Brazil differ from the conquest of Spanish America?

The Portuguese colonization of Brazil and the Spanish colonization of the New World varied widely. While the Portuguese faced non-sedentary indigenous groups like the Tupis, the Spanish encountered empires built by the same indigenous people they aimed to subjugate. The Spanish first focused on destroying the Inca and Aztec empires in order to take them over as their own centers of imperial power. Much to the contrary, the Tupis were forest dwellers that inhabited the rain forest of Brazil and did not have much to offer to the Portuguese by means of labor or goods. The Portuguese did not pay much attention to Brazil until the French showed interest, and as a result, in the 1530s, the king of Portugal sent settlers to populate the coast. The relationship that each group of indigenous people, the Inca and Aztecs on the one side and the Tupi on the other, established with the land they inhabited determined their capacity to work for the conquerors. While the Tupi of Brazil moved periodically because of their semisedentary nature, the fully sedentary groups within the newly designated Spanish colonies stayed in one place. For the Portuguese, the Tupi proved to be incompatible with their need for a fixed labor force. They resorted to enslaving the Tupi to extract labor and destroyed their society. Much to the contrary, the Aztecs and Incas became a good source of free labor for the Spanish conquerors. After defeating the local indigenous powers, the Spanish started to colonize the region. This was a gradual process that required layers of domination built on top of the same indigenous communities. The Crown usually rewarded the conquerors with people they could use for their own benefit; this was called an encomienda. The large amount of indigenous people that lived in central Mexico and the Andes worked and paid tribute to the Spanish. To sum up, while the Tupi were destroyed by disease and slavery, many Incas and Aztecs survived the conquest mainly because of their sedentary nature.

Which of the following statements best describes the main purpose behind the independence movements in Latin America? a. The leaders of the independence movements wanted a more egalitarian society where all, including people of African descent and indigenous people, could rule. b. The leaders of the independence movements wanted to become independent from Spain but did not want to change the social hierarchies in place. c. The leaders of the independence movements searched for a society with a more respectful monarchy and greater freedom for all. d. The leaders of the independence movements envisioned a society without a strong central government.

The leaders of the independence movements wanted to become independent from Spain but did not want to change the social hierarchies in place.

Compare the differences between the cities and the rural areas in Latin America during the colonial period.

The life of colonial subjects and colonizers varied depending on where they lived. While most Spanish and Portuguese worked and lived within small cities, the majority of non-Europeans lived in the rural areas. Ideally, the cities represented European-style life and culture. They were supposed to be mostly white, but in reality they provide a perfect example of how mestizaje functioned in the colonial period. When many indigenous people and free blacks lost their communal ties, they moved to the urban spaces. By doing so they ended up building housing on the outskirts of the colonial cities. Some of these would eventually become shantytowns we see today. Most urban settings ended up being a mixture of whites, mestizos, indigenous people, and blacks. Still, most whites ended up socializing with whites, and the same happened within black and indigenous groups. On the contrary, in most rural spaces, remoteness and lower population rates encouraged inhabitants to end up sharing values and customs. Indigenous people and those of African descent living outside cities preserved more of their customs than those who mingled in the cities. Enslaved Africans also had different experiences depending on whether they lived in the cities or the rural areas. Urban enslaved Africans enjoyed more freedom than those living in the rural areas. For instance, enslaved Africans and freed blacks were able to socialize with people from the same parts of Africa, join social support groups, and even earn some money of their own. Most of the governance and administration existed in the cities where the greater majority of colonial institutions functioned. In Spanish America, the layout of the cities resembled those of Spain in order to show imperial power. The cities were organized and followed orders from the crown. The layout of the city was not as important for the Portuguese. This basically responded to the fact that sugar, Brazil's principal export, was agricultural. In both cases, the city represented the physical space where power resided.

Why did the Spanish conquerors already have a "crusading mentality" upon arriving to America? a. They lived in a rugged and mountainous land. b. Iberia had served as a bridge between Europe and Africa. c. The prolonged Christian reconquest of Iberia shaped their attitudes. d. They became involved in intense overseas exploration.

The prolonged Christian reconquest of Iberia shaped their attitudes.

Besides his strategy and weaponry, as well as knowledge of his adversaries, what else helped Hernán Cortés defeat the Aztecs? a. The Aztecs believed they were gods. b. The smallpox virus c. Moctezuma d. The Incas

The smallpox virus

The main difference between the sedentary, semisedentary, and nonsedentary indigenous groups that inhabited the Americas before the Europeans arrived was a. The way they adapted to their land. b. How they organized their empires. c. The role that women played within their social groups. d. Their social divisions.

The way they adapted to their land.

What happened to the many men of color who participated in the wars of independence? a. They lost their freedom and continued to work on farms. b. They were paid large amounts of money and granted workers. c. They became honored war heroes. d. They were not allowed to fight in the wars.

They became honored war heroes.

What happened to the women that participated in the wars of independence? a. They became powerful symbols. b. We do not know anything about them. c. Most of them died in battle. d. People were, and continue to be, indifferent to them.

They became powerful symbols.

What did the Inca, Aztec, and Maya have in common? a. They all spoke the same language. b. They worshipped the same gods. c. They fought against the Spanish in similar ways. d. They had sustainable forms of agriculture.

They had sustainable forms of agriculture.

Provide a brief history of the United States' understanding of Latin America in the past century.

Until recently, US scholars have regarded Latin America as racially, culturally, and environmentally determined for failure. In the 1930s, studies focusing on race and culture assumed the region could not escape its doomed destiny. According to this analysis, Latin American racial mixtures and lack of self-discipline drove the region away from the type of economic activities that make countries prosper. This view of the region changed between 1940 and 1960. During this period, US historians of Latin America argued that the region's "failure" laid in its backward mentalities and traditional social structures. Latin American countries needed to modernize if they wanted to join the developed nations of the world. The view of the region radically changed by the 1960s when a group of Latin American scholars came up with the theory called dependency theory. Instead of pinning the blame on Latin America itself, this group of intellectuals searched for explanations outside their borders. They theorized that it was the region's position as a subordinate player within the global economy that explained its so-called failure. Latin America's peripheral position in relation to industrialized countries proved its lack of modernization. This theory lost momentum after the Cold War. Today, US analysis of Latin America relates to its own interests. US scholars focusing on the region tend to see Latin America as a justifiable point of comparison to better understand the United States' history, present, and future.

Who would you identify as the main leaders behind the independence movements in Spanish America? How did they manage to get "the people" behind their cause?

With the exception of Haiti, the wars of independence were led by the Creoles, white men born in the Americas. The Creoles mainly wanted to rule for themselves and did not care much about social equality. Creoles from different parts of the New World managed to get people behind them in varying ways. While Mexican and Peruvian Creoles feared losing control over the large amount of indigenous people and tried to keep them at a distance, Creoles in Argentina and Venezuela needed to lure indigenous people into their ranks. In the fringe areas, the Creoles alone were just not enough to win independence. Besides all possible tactical differences, the strategy all Creoles used was nativism. This principle translated into the glorification of the American identity. To bring people into their cause, Creoles needed to provide the others—meaning Indigenous people and people of African descent, as well as people of mixed blood—with a sense of a shared purpose. Their birthplace was the common denominator that united them. The "American cause" seemed to evoke the necessary emotions and have enough rhetorical appeal to make the non-whites join the cause of independence.

What was the "royal fifth"? a. a ceremony to worship the king b. the name of the royal fleet that crossed the Atlantic c. a 20% tax on mining, and the prime source of colonial revenue d. the name of the viceroyalty established in the New World by the Spaniards

a 20% tax on mining, and the prime source of colonial revenue

During the colonial period the church was so powerful because it a. controlled all educational institutions. b. exercised hegemony among the entire population. c. was very wealthy. d. all of the above

all of the above

Through climbing the social ladder, it became possible for people of lower status to do which of the following? a. marry partners of lighter skin b. purchase "whiteness" paying for a special exemption c. serve in the army and the militia to increase one's honor d. all of the above

all of the above

The Bourbon and Pombaline reforms were implemented to a. increase taxes. b. give the locals important administration offices. c. loosen military control over the colonies. d. increase investments to revamp the mining business.

increase taxes.

Which are the two political ideologies that, according to Chasteen, have dominated Latin American history for the past five centuries? a. liberalism and neoliberalism b. liberalism and socialism c. nationalism and socialism d. liberalism and nationalism

liberalism and nationalism

The continuity and growth of a more global economic system during the colonial period was basically supported by two commodities. Which commodities were they? a. gold and silver b. silver and sugar c. gold and sugar d. gold and other crops

silver and sugar

After 300 years of colonization, by the end of the 1800s, and prior to the wars of independence a. the caste and slavery systems remained strong. b. the caste system had disappeared. c. the caste and slavery systems were almost invisible. d. slavery was abolished.

the caste and slavery systems remained strong.

What is the term that historians use when referring to the new Latin American cultures that resulted from the give-and-take of all those living on the same soil? a. acculturation b. transculturation c. mixed-cultures d. European-like cultures

transculturation