HIST F341/H521                                                                                 Prof. Michael Snodgrass

LD 027 (Science Bldg.)                                                                        Office: Ca 503S    278-7761

Fall 2005: T/Th 1:00                                                                             Hours: T 3-5, Th 9-10

                                                                                                            E-mail: misnodgr@iupui.edu

 

                                     LATIN AMERICA: CONQUEST AND EMPIRE

 

This course surveys the history of Spain and Portugal’s colonies in the Americas - the region we call Latin America - from 1492 to 1898.  It introduces students to the nature and legacies of colonialism and empire while sharpening student skills in writing and critical analysis.  We begin with European and Native American societies on the eve of their encounter.  We explore the process of discovery/conquest/settlement from both perspectives and analyze the early social, cultural, and environmental consequences of colonization.  We then study the colonial economy, the causes and effects of African slavery, and the conflicts that developed over land ownership, labor issues, and social relations of class, race, and gender.  We also analyze the ingenious methods by which the Crown and the Church maintained three centuries of political stability in the Americas.  Finally, we ask how people accommodated themselves to imperial rule and why they rebelled against it, concluding the semester with the wars of independence and the creation of new Latin American republics. 

 

Consistent with IUPUI’s Principles of Undergraduate Learning, the course is designed to develop students’ skills of critical and comparative analysis, improve their writing proficiency, and enhance their capacity to organize and express their thoughts.  Please familiarize yourself with the principles at:http://www.iupui.edu/~history/principlesundergradlearning.htm.  Students will sharpen their analytical and communicative skills through a variety of assignments: analyzing historical documents, writing reviews and research papers, engaging in classroom discussions, and preparing for examinations. 

 

Required Readings (at IUPUI bookstore, Indy’s College Bookstore, & on reserve at library):

Jonathan C. Brown, Latin America: A Social History of the Colonial Period (2000)

Inga Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570 (1987)

William Taylor, Drinking, Homicide, and Rebellion in Colonial Mexican Villages (1979)

 

This syllabus, lecture outlines, critical reading questions and other assignments, grades and several ‘Oncourse Readings’ may be found on the Oncourse system.

 

Course requirements and grading (based upon 1,000 total points):

Final grades will be determined by student performance on one research paper (300 points, or 30%), one mid-term exam (200 points, or 20%), two essays (l50 points H 2, or 30%), critical reading reviews (25 points H 4, or l00%), and class participation (100 points, or l0%).  Graduate students enrolled in H521 will be assigned additional readings and write an extensive term paper in lieu of the mid-term examination. 

 

Final grade scores: A (1,000-930),  A- (929-900), B+ (899-880), B (879-830), B- (829-800), C+ (799-780), C (779-730), C- (729-700), D (699-600), F (599 or less).

 

                                                           Term Paper Guidelines

Objectives:

All students will submit a 12-15 page term paper that will be due on the final day of class.  The paper will explore any theme or issue related to the colonial period in Latin American history.  All students will first submit a 1-2 page paper proposal (Sep. 22) that outlines their subject of study and why they chose it.  Each proposal must meet the professor’s approval.  Students will then submit an annotated bibliography (Nov. 1) that outlines their principal sources of evidence.  Those sources will include, at a minimum, four scholarly books, two articles from academic journals, and two primary sources of documentation (for example, government documents, treaties, first-hand accounts).  The annotated bibliography should provide a one-paragraph explanation of each source’s content and its relevance to the student’s paper.  We will discuss research strategies and sources in class.  Students are also encouraged to consult one of the IUPUI Library’s top research specialists, Kristi Palmer (klpalmer@iupui.edu). 

 

Potential themes:

Students can explore research subjects by skimming through the Brown book and its end-of-chapter bibliographies or through IUPUI’s holdings on Latin American history.  You may also wish to consult the top journal in the field, the Hispanic American Historical Review.  Among the themes students may wish to explore would be broad issues like mining, slavery, missionary activities, or women’s role in colonial society.  Within those fields, you will want to narrow your focus to a more specific topic, such as slave rebellions in Brazil or Jesuit missions in Paraguay, or a particular event, like Mexico’s War for Independence. 

 

Guidelines:

Final papers will be 12-15 pages in length, not including the title page and bibliography.  They should be prepared in 12 point font, double-spaced, and employ footnotes to cite all primary and secondary sources.  For the proper preparation of footnotes and bibliographies consult Richard Marius, A Short Guide to Writing About History (on reserve at the IUPUI Library).  Final papers will be graded on a) effective use of both secondary and primary sources (papers that rely too heavily on a single source will be marked down), and b) overall organization, grammar, and spelling.  Students are encouraged to submit a preliminary draft of the paper for comments and suggestions no later than Nov. 29.  Failure to submit the proposal and annotated bibliography on due dates or in accordance with guidelines will be calculated into the final paper grade.

 

Remember...

* You are expected to attend all classes and come prepared to discuss all reading assignments.  Class participation grades reflect active participation in classroom discussions. 

 

* All late assignments will be penalized as follows: one grade (B to C) for assignments not turned in on due date, and two full grades (B to D) for assignments turned in more than one week late.  ASSIGNMENTS MORE THAN TWO WEEKS LATE ARE NOT ACCEPTED.  

 

* Be sure to save all papers on your hard drive and a diskette and to retain graded assignments until final grades are posted.  Check Oncourse to ensure your grades are recorded correctly.

 

* Plagiarism and cheating will be punished in accordance with university policy, as outlined in the Indiana University Academic Handbook (p.123) and the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2000-2002 (p.36).  The following is from the School of Liberal Arts official statement on plagiarism:

 

“Plagiarism is the use of the work of others without properly crediting the actual source of the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, entire articles, music or pictures.  Using other students’ work (with or without their permission) is still plagiarism if you don’t indicate who initially did the work.  Plagiarism, a form of cheating, is a serious offense and will be severely punished.  When an instructor suspects plagiarism, he/she will inform the student of the charge; the student has the right to respond to the allegations.  Students whose work appears to be plagiarized may be asked to produce earlier drafts of work or all the books/articles used in a paper or speech.  Students should, for this reason and as a protection in cases of lost papers, retain rough drafts, notes, computer files and other work products for three weeks after the end of each semester.  The penalties for plagiarism include reprimands, being failed for a particular take-home exam, paper, project or the entire course, disciplinary probation, or dismissal.  Faculty, after consulting with their chair and/or the School of Liberal Arts Dean of Students must notify students in writing of their decision.  Students have the right to appeal such decisions by submitting petitions to the Academic Affairs Committee.  Petitions can be obtained in CA 401.  For further information, see ‘Code of Student Ethics,’ available in CA 401.” 

 

 

 

 

                                      LECTURES AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

 

Aug. 25            Colonialism and empire

 

Aug. 30            Iberia in the Age of Discovery              

 

Sep. 1              Mesoamerica under Aztec Rule

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 1

 

Sep. 6              The Inca Empire

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 2

 

Sep. 8              Conquest and colonization through European eyes

            Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 3

Oncourse reading: The Columbian Quincentenary debate

 

Sep. 13            Civilizing the Indians

Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, Part I: Spaniards (pp.3-l28)

                       

Sep. 15            Conquest and colonization through Indian eyes

                        Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, Part II: Indians (pp.l3l-l92)

 

                                                  ** Essay #1 due today in class **

 

 

Sep. 20            Administering the colonies

Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 4

Sep. 22            Documentary screening: Buried Mirrors - “Conflict of the Gods”

 

                                                ** Term paper proposals due **

 

Sep. 27            Silver and gold

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 9

 

Sep. 29            Food, germs, and the environment

Oncourse readings: Crosby, “Old Plants and Animals in the New World” (Critical reading review #1)

 

Oct. 4              Life in the Spanish American countryside 

Read Taylor, Drinking, Homicide, and Rebellion, pp.l-77, 152-70 (skim pp.77-112) (Critical reading review #2)

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 6

 

Oct. 6              City life in Spanish America and Brazil

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapters 5

                       

Oct. 11            Mid-term Examination

 

Oct. 13            Sugar and slaves

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 7

 

Oct. 18            Film screening: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s The Last Supper (l976)

 

Oct. 20            Africans and African culture in the Caribbean

 

Oct. 25            Slavery and plantation life in Brazil

                        Oncourse reading: Selections from Conrad, Children of God’s Fire: A                                       Documentary History of Black Slavery in Brazil

 

                                                  ** Essay #2 due today in class **

 

Oct. 27            Slavery and its legacies in the Americas

 

Nov. 1             Imperial expansions in North America

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapters 8

 

                                    ** Annotated bibliographies due today **

 

 

Nov. 3             New frontiers in South America

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapters 10

 

Nov. 8             Reforming the colonial system

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, pp. 409-423

 

Nov. 10           Accommodation and resistance to colonial rule

Taylor, Drinking, Homicide, and Rebellion, pp.113-51 (Critical reading review #3)

 

Nov. 15           Latin America in the age of revolution

                        Background reading: Brown, Latin America, pp. 423-437

 

Nov. 17           Liberating South America

Background reading: Brown, Latin America, Chapter 15

 

Nov. 22           Mexican Independence

 

Nov. 29           Legacies of colonialism in Spanish America and Brazil

 

Dec. 1              Abolition and the Struggle for Cuban Independence

 

Dec. 6              The War of l898: the end of colonialism or the dawn of a new empire?

Oncourse reading: Perez, Jr., The War of 1898, pp.108-33 (Critical reading review #4)

 

Dec. 8              Term Papers Due