Darien Wellman
Topics in Latin American History
Dr. Nadel
October 5, 2015
Davis, Darien J. Beyond Slavery: The Multilayered Legacy of Africans in Latin America and The Caribbean. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007. In the book Beyond Slavery: The Multilayered Legacy of Africans in Latin America and The Caribbean, editor Darien Davis, primarily examines the history of Africans in Latin America between the 1700s and the 1800s.The four readings, deal with “independence, freedom, and national identity and emphasize the place and role of freed and enslaved blacks in the revolutionary wars of independence, republicanism, and the periods of national consolidation” (Davis, 3). The work also aid in the continuing discussion of African experiences in Latin America. The writers in the discussion include David Geggus, Camilla Townsend, Ricardo Salvatore, and Dario Euraque. In the first chapter, Geggus discusses the Haitian Revolution and how its success impacted both Africans and their Caribbean nations.
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The two groups try to evangelize the Tolupan Indians and bring their values, and government into the town. By 1801, the populations shifts from mulattoes to Spaniards and ladinos becoming dominant. With this change, come racial prejudices against both Indians and mulattoes. These prejudices, along with the denial of their right to vote, eventually lead to what many historians believe were the disappearance of the black Honduran during the rise of the mestizaje population. It leads to a cultural citizenship that is devoid of any blackness. However, there is a change in power when Olanchito becomes subject under mulattos and pardos, through multiplicity. Because of this, Indians leave or become laborers. There were Indians who became enslaved and were subject to hard labor and abuses by non-Indians. Also, the mulattoes and pardos have Indians baptized, which is apart of the civilizing
Since the 1880?s, when European nations colonized Africa, Europe had almost complete control over the continent, but this changed during the 1950?s and 60?s. By 1958, ten African countries had gained their independence, and sixteen more joined the list in 1960 alone. Although these nations? gain of independence demonstrates the ability of blacks to overpower their white oppressors, Baldwin argues ?The word ?independence? in Africa and the word ?integration? here are almost equally meaningless; that is, Europe has not yet left Africa, and black men here are not yet free? (336). While black people had been legally free in the United States since 1863, two decades before the European colonization of Africa, they were still not truly free, almost a century later.
Chapter six of “Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora” is entitled “Asserting the Right to Be”. This chapter explores the rebellion of enslaved Africans and their descendants. It stresses that fact resistance against slavery and oppression have been present from the very beginning of the slavery and it has grown and evolved over time. One point in particular that the chapter discusses is the rise in the number of slave revolts in the early 1500’s. Another important topic that is discussed is the fact that people of African descent not only had to fight against slavery but they also had to fight the concept that an african ancestry was a mark of inferiority.
The history of Africans in Mexico is an oft-neglected facet of the cultural complexities of that country. In 1519, Hernando Cortes brought 6 African slaves with him to Mexico; these individuals served the conquest as personal servants, carriers, and laborers.[1] In the years to come, slavery would become a critical component of the colonial economy with approximately 2,000 slaves arriving each year 1580-1650; it is estimated that a total of 200,000 Africans were brought to Mexico during the colonial period.[2] Given this large number of slaves, the lengthy period of their importation, and the inevitable mixing of races, which took place throughout the colony, the historical and cultural significance of bozales, criollos, mulattoes, and zambos is far-reaching. The colonial period provides an excellent starting place for an examination of the significance of these groups not only because the institution of African slavery was introduced to New Spain at that time, but also because the regular influx of native Africans combined with the close attention paid to color-based castas in official records allows historians to trace the influence of African culture more readily during that period.
Within Aline Helg’s book titled, Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912, she includes many historical events that serve as a foundation for her arguments in order to emphasize the "black struggle for equality" starting in the late 19th century and according to her, still transpiring today. These events are, the formation of the first black independent political party called the, Partido Independiente de Color (146), the United States’ role during intervention and the black struggle to overcome the system of racial hierarchies that had developed in Cuba. Blacks had to fight for equality while simultaneously being, "…accused of racism and antinationalism". (145) According to Helg, this placed an undue burden on the black groups that were organizing to demand their "rightful share" because it made divided the goals of their plight into many different facets, thus yielding a lack of unity necessary for their success. During the United States’ intervention, Cuban nationalism as a whole was threatened which also served to downplay the importance of demands being made by the Partido’s leader, Estenoz. The United States displayed a greater concern on the affirmation of its power as an international police, rather than allying its resources to help the indignant and discriminated Afro-Cubans. All of these circumstances illustrate the extremities of the political and social institutions that the Afro-Cubans attempted to defeat but could not. They also exemplify the perpetuation of the black struggle, and how it affected and continues to affect the lives of Afro-Cubans in present-day Cuba.
Chambers, Glenn A. . "From Slavery to Servitude: The African and Asian Struggle for Freedom in Latin America and the Caribbean." Herbert S. Klein and Ben Vinson III. 36.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
The National Archives | Exhibitions & Learning online | Black presence | Africa and the Caribbean. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2014, from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/africa_caribbean/africa_trade.htm
The peninsulares were people who were born in Spain and migrated to the colonies which tended to be the wealthiest. Then came the Creoles (pure Spanish blood that were born in America), the mestizos (mixed with Spanish and Indian ancestry), the mulattos (mixed African and Spanish blood) and free blacks, the Indians, and at the bottom were the slaves (African descents). Also, the lower classes cause an uprising which frightened the Creoles because they feared that they would lose “property, control of the land, and their lives” (Modern World History), so they wanted to lead the fight for independence as well as support
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
many of them could prosper in their servitude and work their way to freedom where they had “legal near-equality”, this indicated that status as a slave could change even though race could not. As evidence, Berlin gave the example of “Antonio a Negro” who not only secured his own freedom but that of his posterity, who went on to profit and eventually possess slaves themselves (Berlin, p.38) and the fact that in the enclaves which creoles initially inhabited “Both Europeans and Africans held slaves…” (Berlin, p.26). However Berlin state...
When we assess the evils of slavery, we typically think of the North American slaves plight. We think of the beatings, murders, hangings and mistreatment of the Southern slave. But what about the slaves of Latin America? Who hears their cries of woe because of their evil slave masters? Is their treatment the same of their brethren under slave rule in North America? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to look into the lives of both North and Latin American slaves. For our purposes, we will utilize two slave narratives. One account will come from the North American slave, Frederick Douglass, and his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The other account will come from the narrative Autobiography of a Slave by the Cuban slave Juan Francisco Manzano. In analyzing these two slave narratives, we will compare the childhood, slave communities, slave/master relations, and literature of both Douglass and Manzano. By taking a comparative look at Frederick Douglass and Juan Francisco Manzano we will be able to hear the voices of the slaves and understand their plight.
Northup, Solomon, Sue L. Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon. Twelve years a slave. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Print.
Evidence of African roots are identifiable throughout Brazil. Brazil is the second most populated country of Blacks. Many different tones from mulatto to caboclo to black are present with culture that has flourished since African slaves first arrived to the country. The slaves that came to South America, brought their religion, gods, and music along with them, giving Brazil a cultural identity and a place among other nations. The profits of African slavery have allowed Brazil to gain capital and build a government based mainly on sugar exports. Although Brazil was the first to claim themselves free of racism, throughout history they often put slaves in even worse conditions than the US. Easy accessibility to import African slaves, meant that
The San Domingo revolution led to the abolition of slavery, independence of Haiti from France and the proclamation of a black republic. However, unlike many historians, CLR James in his work, The Black Jacobins, does not depict the struggle for independence as merely a slave revolt which happened to come after the French Revolution. He goes beyond providing only a recount of historical events and offers an intimate look at those who primarily precipitated the fall of French rule, namely the black slaves themselves. In doing so, James offers a perspective of black history which empowers the black people, for they are shown to actually have done something, and not merely be the subject of actions and attitudes of others.
Reflecting back on the statement historian Jaime E. Rodriguez gave on the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that the eagerness to get rid of slaves