HIST 109: Latin American History
The Conquest and Colonization of Spanish America
Fall 2006
Mr. Volk
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00-9:50 AM (King 337)
Office: Rice 309
Office Phone: 58522
Email: Steven.Volk@oberlin.edu
Office Hours: Mon 1:30-2:30; Tues 3:00-4:00;
Wed 11:00-Noon
ACCESSING THE COURSE: Course materials can be found on the Blackboard system. This electronic bulletin board will post all the outlines for the course lectures, the syllabus, exams and paper assignments, and other materials useful for the course. You must register to get into the system, and I will provide information on how to do this and how to use the system in the first week of classes. In the meantime, check out the on-line information on accessing Blackboard]. Once you are registered, you enter via a password, and then can locate daily outlines, assignments or other useful information. It is important that everyone registers for the CourseInfo Blackboard system as it provides me with an easy way to email the class.
Mictlantecuhtli, c.1480, Aztec. Fired clay, stucco and paint, 176 x 80 x 50 cm. Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico City, CONACULTA-INAH. Photo Michel Zabe
The purpose of History 109 is to introduce students to the major forces and events which have shaped current-day Latin America and the Caribbean. This semester's course will concentrate on the pre-Columbian background of the Americas, the conquest period, and the three centuries of Spanish and (to a much more limited extent) Portuguese colonial rule. The lectures will follow both chronological and topical paths. The two key areas of examination will be central Mexico, the location of a number of highly structured pre-Columbian societies and later the seat of Spanish power in northern Latin America (the Viceroyalty of New Spain), and the central Andes, home of the Incas (among others), and locus of Spanish power in southern Latin America (the Viceroyalty of Peru). Our most general concern will be to understand that while the concept of “conquest” may have intimations of political permanence and social stability, in many respects the colonial space remained a highly contested territory. By focusing on various controversies in the historiography of the Americas, we will attempt to gain an historical perspective on the complex question of colonialism: how societies and cultures are shaped because of and despite the power inequalities of various actors involved.
In general (although not always: check your syllabus!), Mondays and Wednesdays of each week will be devoted to lectures. On Fridays we will usually divide into smaller discussion groups each of which will meet for one hour. Even though Fridays often will be dedicated to small-group discussions, students are encouraged to participate actively during other class sessions as well.
ACCESSING TEXTS AND READING
You can access the course texts in a variety of ways: (1) Required texts are on sale at the bookstore (or can be purchased on-line); (2) you can find all the texts plus the xeroxed articles on reserve in the library; the texts can also be obtained through OHIO LINK; (3) you can access all the Xeroxed articles on Electronic Reserve. Finally, some articles are available in full-text editions via JSTOR, an impressive electronic collection of major history journals. To access materials via Electronic Reserve (ERes), once you access the ERes home page (via the URL above), go to History 109 and click on it. When it asks for a password, enter: hist109 (all lower case). Then just click on the article you want and wait for it to open. To access JSTOR and on-line articles, you will need to go the the electronic version of the syllabus and click on the appropriate link. Please let me know if you are having any difficulties accessing any materials.
ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING POLICY
There are four written assignments in the course as well as weekly readings: two short (3-5 page) papers; one take-home midterm examination, and an in-class final examination. Excessive absence from the class or discussion sections will be considered when determining your final grade. This semester, I am adopting a new policy regarding late assignments based on an understanding (and a hope) and it is you who are ultimately responsible for your education. All assignments are due on the date noted; that is your responsibility. If you turn in an assignment late, I will grade it normally, but you will not receive any written comments from me -- which means that the assignment will lose some of its value as a learning opportunity. Two final points: you CANNOT pass the course unless you turn in ALL the assignments, and the Final Examination must be taken at the assigned time (except for those cases where College policy allows it to be moved, i.e., more than two exams scheduled on the same day, etc.).
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Papers: 20% each
Mid-term Exam: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
THE HONOR CODE
Oberlin College is on the Honor Code. Information on what this means (e.g. cheating, plagiarism, fabrication) and your responsibilities as students can be found at the Honor Code site. You must sign the honor code on all written assignments.
FINAL NOTE: If you are having problems with the readings, the lectures, or just want to discuss further any aspect of the course (from content to class dynamics), I strongly encourage you to see me during office hours or to make an appointment. Please don’t wait until late in the semester to express these concerns.
Books Recommended for Purchase:
Mark A. Burkholder & Lyman Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 5th ed. (New York: Oxford), 2004.
Inga Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in the Yucatán, 1517-1570, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge), 2003.
Matthew Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest (NY: Oxford), 2004.
Irene Silverblatt, Modern Inquisitions. Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Durham: Duke), 2004.
The Water God, Tlaloc in Codex Ixtlilxochitl;
Mexican,16th century; European paper, polychrome and metal leaf; 12 1/4 x 8 1/4 in.
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
SYLLABUS
Sept. 6, 8: Introduction and European Background
Seymour Phillips, "The Outer World of the European Middle Ages," in Stuart B. Schwartz, ed., Implicit Understandings (NY and Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994), pp. 23-63. [ERes and regular reserve]
John Thornton, "The Birth of an Atlantic World," in Benjamin, Hall and Rutherford, eds., The Atlantic World in the Age of Empire, pp. 18-29. [ERes and regular reserve]
Patricia Seed, "'A New Sky and New Stars:' Arabic and Hebrew Science, Portuguese Seamanship and the Discovery of America," in Ceremonies of Possession in Europe's Conquest of the New World, 1492-1640 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 100-148. [ERes and regular reserve]
Mark A. Burkholder & Lyman Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 5th ed. (New York: Oxford), 2004. (Hereafter CLA): 23-33.
Siete Partidas: Laws on Jews, 1265.
Sept. 11, 13, 15: Andean Background
Gordon Brotherston, "Tahauantinsuyu," Book of the Fourth World. Reading the Native Americans Through Their Literature (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 193-211. [ERes and regular reserve]
Steve Stern, "Introduction," and "Pre-Columbian Landscapes," from Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest. Huamanga to 1640 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982), (xii-26). [ERes and regular reserve]
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: pp. 18-23.
Sabine MacCormack, Religion in the Andes: Vision and Imagination in Early Colonial Peru (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), pp. 98-137. [ERes and regular reserve]
Stirrup-spout jar, Mochica style
(northern Peru). Height 27 cm. Circa 600-400 B.C.E.
Museo Arquelogico, Lima, Peru.
First Paper
due on September 18 (at the start of class)
Sept. 18, 20, 22: Mesoamerican Background
Inga Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in the Yucatán, 1517-1570, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge, 2003), Part II (131-207).
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: pp. 1-18.
Sept. 25, 27, 29: The Early Encounter: European Intellectual Orientation to the "New World"
Christopher Columbus Log (1492): Excerpts in English. Focus on period from October 11 to end.
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: pp. 33-40.
Antonio Montesinos, "Advent Sermon" (excerpts in Course Documents).
The Relación of Fray Ramón Pane (c. 1494-1496 in Hispaniola), 14 pgs.
Peter Hulme, "Caribs and Arawaks," in Colonial Encounters: Europe and the Native Caribbean 1492-1797 (London and New York: Routledge, 1986), pp. 45-87. [ERes and regular reserve]
Palacios Rubios, "The Requirement," (Requerimiento).
Spanish fight their way out of
headquarters in Tenochtitlán, from El Lienza de Tlaxcala (Tlaxcalan)
(Notice "La Malinche" and Cortes' Tlaxcalan allies in the center)
Oct. 4, 6: Encounter II: The Conquest of the Native Empires (Mexico, Peru) [NOTE: No class Monday, Oct. 2]
Matthew Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest (NY: Oxford), 2004.
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: Chapter 2 (pp. 44-80).
October 9, 11, 13: Setting up for the "Long Haul"
Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests, Part I: pp. 3-128.
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: Chapter 3 (pp. 83-108).
Midterm Due on October 13 (at the start of class)
Oct. 16-20: FALL BREAK
Oct. 23, 25, 27: The Imposition of Colonialism
Irene Silverblatt, Modern Inquisitions. Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Durham: Duke, 2004), pp. 3-139.
Letter from Lope de Aguirre, rebel, to King Philip of Spain, 1561
Suzanne Austin Alchon, "New World Epidemics and European Colonialism," and "Appendix: The Demographic Debate," in A Pest in the Land: New World Epidemics in a Global Perspective (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003), pp. 109-177. [ERes and regular reserve].
Oct. 30, Nov. 1, 3: Labor and the Colonial System
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA, Chapters 4-5 (pp. 111-179).
Steve J. Stern, "The Political Economy of Colonialism," and "The Political Economy of Dependence," in Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest. Huamanga to 1640 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982), pp. 80-113 and 138-157. [ERes and regular reserve].
Boyer and Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives: "Felipe Edimboro Sues for Manumission, Don Francisco Xavier Sanchez Contests (Florida, 1794)," pp. 249-268. [ERes and regular reserve].
Guaman Poma de Ayala, "The Punishments Delivered by the Corregidor de Minas" (1615)
Nov. 6, 8, 10: The Church and the Ideological Systems of the Spanish System
Silverblatt, Modern Inquisitions, pp. 143-185.
Sabine MacCormack, "The Great Divide: Andean Religion in Theory and Practice, 1621-1653," in Religion in the Andes: Vision and Imagination in Early Colonial Peru (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), pp. 383-433. [ERes and regular reserve]
Third Assignment Due: Nov. 13 (at the start of class)
Nov. 13, 15, 17, 19, 22: Social Basis of Organization: Gender, Race, Caste, Class
Silverblatt, Modern Inquisitions, pp. 189-226.
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: Chapter 6-7 (pp. 182-233).
Boyer and Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives, Chapter 6: "Affairs of the Courtroom: Fernando de Medina Confesses to Killing His Wife (Charcas, 1595)," pp. 54-76. [ERes and regular reserve].
Boyer and Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives, Chapter 10: "Wife of My Soul and Heart, and all My Solace: Annulment Suit Between Diego Andrés de Arenas and Ysabel Allay Suyo (Huanuco, Peru, 1618)," pp. 130-140. [ERes and regular reserve].
Boyer and Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives, Chapter 19: "Permission to Marry: 18th Century Matrimonial Files (Montevideo 1786)," pp. 236-248. [ERes and regular reserve].
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, "Beauteous Intelligence," from The Sceptre of Saint Joseph
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, excerpts from "On Saint Catherine..." from Hunger's Brides
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, brief excerpt from "La Carta Atenagórica"
"Casta" Painting - Mexico, 18th Century ("A Spaniard and Indian Create a Mestizo")
Nov. 27, 29, Dec. 1, 4, 6, 8: Late Colonial Changes: Bourbon Reorganization and the Process of Late Colonial Rebellion
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: Chapter 9 (pp. 280-337).
Sergio Serulnikov, "Disputed Images of Colonialism: Spanish Rule and Indian Subversion in Northern Potosí, 1777-1780," Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 76:2 (1996), pp. 189-226 . Also available in Course Documents as a pdf download.
Dec. 11, 13: The Coming of Independence
Burkholder and Johnson, CLA: Chapter 10 (pp. 338-390).
Reading period, Dec. 15-17
Final Examination: Monday, December 18: 7:00-9:00 PM
