Latin America Midterm

Question 1

Mesoamerica

Answer 1

Middle America region, most information comes from Archeological sites. Mayan Empire PreClassic (1500- 1 AD Olmecs) Classical (1 AD 1000. [Maya 300-900 AD] [Tehotihuacan 200-750]) Post-Classical (1000-1519 [Toltecs 900-1200] [Aztecs 1324-1519])

Question 2

Incas

Answer 2

1230-1525. Spoke Quechua. Located in the Andean region. Created a system of terraces and irrigation. Agriculture surplus necessary to finance armies. Built networks of roads. Began planned economies, had census.

Question 3

Pachacuti

Answer 3

Was THE Inca, or Inca Emperor

Question 4

Expansion of Inca
empire

Answer 4

Stick and Carrot approach (threat and reward)
Stick- Army that relied on logistics, warehouses distributed around, used llamas to carry supplies and people. Cocoa leaves used to give energy. Logistical support→greatest advantage
Carrot- Became advantageous to become part of empire. Membership of empire meant protection (Pax Incaica). Access to goods from the entire empire

Question 5

Olmecs

Answer 5

From the Gulf coast. Olmec means “people from land of rubber trees(Name not their own, was given afterwards) Archeological evidence (Big heads, settlements, burials, mounds) Evidence of heirarch, drainage system, earthern platforms. Distinct artistc style) Many cultural traits observed in Mesoamerica started with Olmecs (Calendars → the same to be used by Mayas. Writing → Evidence of glyphs, late in their period. Religion → Importance of Jaguars, nahules, shamans, the plumed serpent, the ball game)

Question 6

Tehotihuacan

Answer 6

“City of the Gods” in Nahuatl. Urban culture, population 200,000 (Cities had apartment compounds. Drinking water). Worshipped the Feather Serpent. Human sacrifice. Existed from 100-750 AD.

Question 7

Aztecs

Answer 7

Spanish sources, Native informants. Part of the Post- Classical Mesoamerican period.

Question 8

Maya Writing

Answer 8

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Question 9

Treaty of Tordesillas

Answer 9

It was signed on 1494 Jun 7th to claim the land in Tordesillas. Christopher Columbus was working on commission and he made a deal with the queen of Spain. The letter was translated and sent around Europe. Spain got Pope Alexander VI to write a papal Bull declaring that land 100 leagues west of the Azores Islands belonged to Spain. After Portugal complained, the Pope decided to give all land 310 leagues west of Cape Verde to Spain.

Question 10

Requerimiento

Answer 10

Written declaration of 1513 was a written declaration of sovereignty and war, read by Spanish military forces to assert their sovereignty (a dominating control ) over the Americas. Read out loud in Spanish so the natives didn’t understand what was being told to them. Justifies their conquest over the Latin Americans because the Spanish were papal ancestors and therefore have papal power. If the Natives didn’t follow Spanish rule, then invade the country, make everyone slaces, and take away their possessions.

Question 11

Hernán Cortés

Answer 11

Cortes (1485-1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in the 16th c. The governor of Cuba selected cortes to conquer Mexico. He went to Mexico with 550 people and conquered an empire of 25 mil. (MYTH) He was really a catalyst for rebellion of oppressed people. He had a son with Marina Malinche

Question 12

Marina Malinche

Answer 12

She was born in Mexico and sent into slavery in 1519. She was given to Cortes. She could speak Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya (learned from slavery) So Cortes could eventually communated with natives, as she and Aguilar became his interpreters. She was a crucial role of Spanish success during the Spanish-Mexico war. She bore Cortes’s son. Cortes arranged her to marry a high-ranking Spaniard, which family was associated with his and gave her an encomienda. Spaniard→(Spanish)→ Agular →(Yucatec Maya) Malinche → (Nahuatl)→ Natives

Question 13

Columbian exchange

Answer 13

The Colombian exchange was a widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human population; and disease in 1492. The exchange was between North America & Europe to make a profit. It was necessary to organize an economic system for production trade.. It was bound to incorporate the new possibilities. The introduction of wheat, livestock cows, sheep, horses, goats, male, and donkeys. Introduction of New technology cultivation techniques, the plow. Downside it caused the destruction of native crops by cattle. Upside: it was more productive and provided a new source of protein.

Question 14

Organization of the Spanish Empire (See Irigoin)

Answer 14

Spain a composite state, patchwork of kingdoms. Diff parts of the kingdom kept some political and administrative structure. Historic freedoms. Monarch not the ultimate ruler

Question 15

Situados (see Irigoin)

Answer 15

Funds transferred between different parts of the empire and administered by private individuals and spent within local economies. Revenues were drawn out of New Spain/Mexico as situados. Inter-caja transfers. Were an expression of the centralizing nature of the Bourbon dtate that could force Mexico to finance the defense of the Caribbean. Merchants use situados to reimburse themselves for loans and to finance trade

Question 16

Demographic Collapse

Answer 16

Natives were sick, over worked. Huge population decline that the encomienda system no longer worked. There were also morality concerns about treating natives so harshly

Question 17

Encomienda (Monteiro)

Answer 17

Recruitment relied on alliances bw Spanish and Indigenous leaders. Social institution as a labor regime. Broader sets of rights and responsibilities in exchange for conversion and protection of Indians. Origin in royal Grants → rewards to conquistadors. In exchange, natives converted to Christianity

Question 18

Repartimiento (Monteiro)

Answer 18

Mandatory Labor Drafts. Based on complicated Nauhtl systems. Systems already in place before Spain came, Spanish adapted Native systems. New systems became necessary bc natives getting sick and moral issues

Question 19

Slavery (Monteiro)

Answer 19

Slavery cheaper, running out of natives. Took African Slaves (Seen as investments). Form of social distinction. Peculiar moral issues, racism

Question 20

Borrowing

Answer 20

Language
Spanish cultural traits could be used to their advantage (Writing, 1550-Nahuatl literacy producing writings). Nauhatl language borrowed words for new concepts (Plants, animals, tools). Andes literacy was used for self defense. Political Concepts. Popular sovereignty. Community lived night to advance interest for common good

Question 21

Adaption

Answer 21

Initially urban lift and agriculture were maintained as much as possible
Language, culture, social organization

All institutions were transformed. Tribute and labor demands higher than pre-conquest times. Corporate life (Caciques, new roles. Maintained their position. Became vital intermediaries [Stronger ties to Spanish. Took advantage of that role]. Some acquired European animals. Dressed like Spaniards. Mixed Spanish and Indian traits

Question 22

Resistance

Answer 22

Who/What: Resistance was one of the ways native Americans responded to Spanish colonization.
When: 17th and 18th centuries
Where: Latin America
Why/How: Native Americans were allowed to use legal services (whole of the Judicial System). They used the appeal system (amparo) to contest their treatment in court and to request revisions in the tribute rolls. Example of how native Americans did not just passively accept Spanish colonization

Question 23

Rebellion

Answer 23

Who/What: Another was native Americans reacted to Spanish colonization
When: Began mostly in the mid-18th century
Where: Latin America (Andean region)
Why/How: rebelled with armies big and small (some up to 80,000). Sought to better the lives of native Americans in respects to labor policies/fair treatment. Another example of how native Americans did not just passively accept Spanish colonization.

Question 24

Tupac Amaru Rebellion

Answer 24

Who/What: Rebellion lead by Tupac Amaru II

When: 178

Where: Andean region

Why/How: Shook viceroyalty with a rebel army of 80,000. Goal was to eliminate forced labor and implement modern governing policies that served the community as a whole, not just certain individuals (did NOT seek to restore Inca Empire). In 1781, Tupac Amaru II was arrested and tortured to be made an example of by Spanish-Americans.

Question 25

Bourbon reforms

Answer 25

Who/What: Bourbon dynasty took over Spain and implemented a number of government policy changes
When: mid-18th century
Where: Created in Spain but greatly affected America.
Why/How: The reforms increased pressure on labor and taxation, also focusing on a more “hands on” governing style. Spanish monarchy split up viceroyalties of Peru and New Spain into 4 new smaller viceroyalties (Peru –> New Granada + La Plata) with more subdivisions of government within each new viceroyalty. Also implemented a number of economic reforms. Lowered tariffs and abolished the 2 fleet system in 1778, creating 13 Spanish ports. Returns from America increased but so did tensions in colonies with more competition and need for cheap labor.

Question 26

Intendentes

Answer 26

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Question 27

Napoleonic invasion of Spain

Answer 27

Who/What: Napoleon invaded Spain
When: Early 19th century after the French Revolution in 1789
Where: Spain
Why/How: Napoleon snuck into Spain under peaceful pretenses and then invaded it from the inside, kidnapping the king and the prince and appointing his brother Joseph new king of Spain. Spain went into a state of sever political turmoil after the Bourbon dynasty was overthrown. The invasion was a catalyst for government reforms and eventually the emancipation of Latin America. It caused Spanish-Americans to question their loyalty to their mother country, lead to increased American participation in government (once Juntas were formed) and to the reformulation of Spanish-America’s connection with Spain. It sparked an increase in internal political turmoil due to disagreements in allegiances and how to proceed in governing the colonies.

Question 28

Spanish Americans’ idea of government

Answer 28

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Question 29

Juntas

Answer 29

Junta Suprema- provinces in the Peninsula joined together on September 25,1808 to form national defense known as the Junta Suprema Central Gubernativa del Reino to wage a war of liberation

Junta Central- Represantatives from the Spanish colonies in spain. It crowned a national assembly with cortes as the head and invited delegates.

Juntas- Some Spanish Americans who refused to accept the Spanish government. Mini groups who disapproved of Spanish government. Cortes disproved of these juntas.

Who/What: Representatives/government officials who governed in the name of the king.
When: Juntas began to form in the beginning of the 19th century after the Napoleonic Invasion. Junta Suprema created in 1808.
Where: Mostly in Spain. Regions of Latin America also appointed their own Juntas to make local government decisions.
Why/How: Showed Spanish desire to be disaffiliated with Joseph Bonaparte (refused to recognize him as king). It was the first step to looking at government in a new light and triggered shifts to modern policies in all areas of governing.

Question 30

Cadiz 
Constitution

Answer 30

Who/What: Constitution drafted by the Junta Central
When: 1812
Where: Spain
Why/How: The Cadiz Constitution was inspired by the US Constitution. The Junta Central drafted it in 1812. It established how serious people were about a shift in government policies and is also a good example of how much Spanish-America participated in government.

Question 31

The Myth of Exceptional Men

Answer 31

The belief that the Spanish Conquest was enabled by certain outstanding individuals such as Christopher Columbus, Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro and their personal courage and innovative strategies. Restall shows that instead, the techniques of conquest and colonization used by the early Spanish explorers had been developed throughout at least a century of colonial expansion by Spain and Portugal and were in fact mostly standard procedure.

Question 32

The Myth of the King’s Army

Answer 32

The belief that the Spanish conquest was undertaken at the behest of the King of Spain and that the conquistadors were Spanish soldiers. Restall claims that in fact the conquistadors didn’t necessarily see themselves as Spanish but rather identified as Andalusians, Castilians, Aragonese, Basque, Portuguese, Galician, and even Genoese, Flemish, Greek and Pardo (half-black).

Question 33

The Myth of the White Conquistador

Answer 33

The belief that the Spanish conquest was accomplished by a small number of white Spaniards. Restall claims that much of the actual military operations were undertaken by the local allies of the Conquistadors, outnumbering the actual Spanish forces by many hundreds to one.

Question 34

The Myth of Completion

Answer 34

The belief that all of the Americas was under Spanish control within a few years after the initial contact. Restall claims that contrary to this belief pockets of indigenous peoples living without having been conquered subsisted for several centuries after the conquest - and arguably to this day. For example Tayasal, the last independent city of the Maya, did not fall under Spanish sway until 1697. In other areas of Latin America, Spanish control was never complete and rebellions were continuous. He shows that the colonization of the Americas did not happen as one fell swoop, but rather as a historical process starting centuries before the magic years of 1492 and 1521 and ending several centuries after.

Question 35

The Myth of (Mis)Communication

Answer 35

The beliefs that the Spaniards and natives had perfect communication and that each group understood the other’s words, or alternatively that many of the crucial events of the conquest were a result of the two groups misunderstanding each other’s intentions. Restall claims how communication between the groups was in fact very difficult.

Question 36

The Myth of Native Desolation

Answer 36

The belief that the indigenous peoples of the Americas resigned to their fate included themselves in the new European order and ceased to exist as ethnicities. He also argues that many of the indigenous peoples never felt “conquered” but rather that they had formed a partnership with a new power to both of their advantage.

Question 37

The Myth of Superiority

Answer 37

The belief that the success of the Spanish conquest was due to either the supposed technological superiority of the Spaniards or a kind of inherent cultural superiority — and that Spanish victory was therefore inevitable. Restall claims that such technological advantages as handguns, cannons, steel armor, horses and dogs weren’t of great consequence in the actual fighting since they were all in short supply, and that the Aztecs were not daunted by this new technology for long. He also refutes the notion that the Indians’ lack of alphabetic writing constituted a major drawback.