1
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
History Department
History 500 - COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA
Prof. Julyana Peard
Spring 2014 – T- Th. 12.35 – 13.50, Room: Bus 116
Office hours: T-Th: 11 – 12.30, and by appointment
Science 223
jpeard@sfsu.edu
The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the history of colonial Latin
America from around 1492 through the European conquest, the creation of new empires,
and the subsequent fall of the latter in the first two decades of the 19th century. The
course explores the connections of past and present in the Latin American world. A
central theme is the way in which resilient native cultures molded, mediated and refracted
this new world, creating a hybrid colonial order that was neither fully Iberian nor
indigenous. The course will consist of lectures, discussions, and a few films. We will not
have time to see all the films listed here, but I have included the number of each film so
you can view them on your own in the Library.
Please come to class having done the required readings.
This course fulfills the requirement for GE Segment III cluster entitled, Latin America:
Society and Culture (provided you complete all the cluster requirements).
There are five required books, and an electronic Reader through iLearn.
1. Kenneth J. Andrien, Andean Worlds: Indigenous History, Culture, and
Consciousness under Spanish Rule, 1532-1825 (This book explores the ways in
which Iberian and Andean cultures and societies intertwined.)
2. David Carrasco, Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth, (Hackett
Publishing, 1998)
3. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, The Conquest of New Spain (A primary source for the
conquest of the Aztecs.)
4. Franklin Knight & Andrew Hurley, eds., An Account much Abbreviated of the
Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de las Casas (primary source on “critical”
wing of early colonial Church)
5. Mathew Restall & Kris Lane, Latin America in Colonial Times (This is the ‘text
book’ of the course, and all your basic information is here.)
For further reading and for bibliography, the following journals may be helpful:
Hispanic American Historical Review
Latin American Research Review
Journal of Latin American Studies
Colonial Latin American Review
And the following general surveys of Colonial Latin America:
Benjamin Keen. A History of Latin America Volume I
J. Lockhart & S. Schwartz. Early Latin America
Lyle N. McAlister, Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492-1700
Peter Bakewell, A History of Latin America.
Mark Burkholder & Lyman Johnson, Colonial Latin America
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
2
1.
2.
3.
4.
In-class midterm:
Final exam
Two papers (each worth 15%):
Class attendance and participation.
Due dates:
Paper # 1:
Paper # 2:
Midterm:
Final:
30%
30%
30%
10%
Thursday, March 6
Thursday, May 1
Tuesday, April 8
Thursday, May 22, 10:45-1:15
Examination Policies: The examinations will be given only on days and times
stated above. Consideration for a make-up examination will be given only if the
student presents a written excuse from a physician, counselor, or sports team coach.
NO early exams.
Incompletes: This means you have completed at least 75% of the course. I strongly
discourage taking an incomplete. If, for a very compelling reason, I approve an
incomplete, you will have to fill out an incomplete grade petition available in the
History Department Office. Once you are granted an Incomplete, if you do not make
up all of the required assignments, your grade will result in an F.
SYLLABUS
I. ON THE EVE OF ENCOUNTER OR BACKGROUNDS
Week 1: Jan 28-30
-Introduction to course
-Restall & Lane, Chap 1, “Native America,”
Week 2: Feb 4-6
Native America:
-Carrasco, Chaps 1-7
-Andrien, Chap 2
Film: “Out of the Past: Realms” (86096); Film: “Incas” (88199)
Week 3: Feb 11-13
Iberia:
-Restall & Lane, Chap 2, “Castile and Portugal”
-i-Learn: “Iberia,” pp. 39-58 in Peter Bakewell, A History of Latin
America.
Africa:
-Restall and Lane, Chap 3: “Atlantic Africa”
Film: “Columbus’ World” (84853)
II. THE LONG CONQUEST and THE IMPRINT OF THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY
Week 4: Feb18-20
First approaches:
3
-Restall and Lane, Chap 4: “Iberian Imperial Dawn”
-i-Learn: “Columbus and Others,” “Experiment in the Caribbean,” pp. 5987 in Peter Bakewell, A History of Latin America.
Week 5: Feb 25-27
Vision of the Victors:
-Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Conquest of New Spain, Read to the end of
“Stay in Mexico”
Film: “Buried Mirror: Conflict of the Gods” (84305)
Week 6: Mar 4-6
Myth of completion
-Restall & Lane, Chap 5, “Native American Empires” Chap 6, “Chain
Conquest,” and Chap 7, “Incomplete Conquest”
Film: Great Inca Rebellion
Hand in Paper # 1
Week 7: Mar 11-13
Vision of the Vanquished:
-i-Learn: Schwartz, ed., primary source excerpts from Florentine Codex
-i-Learn: Kartunnen, Frances, “Rethinking Malinche,” in Susan
Schroeder, et. Al., Indian Women of Early Mexico. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1997, pp. 291-312
-Carrasco, Chap 8, “The Two Tongues”
Week 8: Mar 18-20
Assimilating, resisting, and emergence of hybrid cultures:
-Andrien, Chap 5
-i-Learn: Rolena Adorno, “Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala” in Colonial
Latin America: The Human Tradition, pp. 140-163
-Carrasco, Chap 9, “The Long Event of Aztec Culture”
Spring Break – Mar 24 – Mar 29
Week 9: Apr 1-3
Biological consequences:
-i-Learn: “The Columbian Exchange” (read this chapter and then read at
least one of the following, which are also on i-Learn):
“A Pest in the Land;” “Born to Die”
-Film: “The Columbian Exchange” (84858)
Make sure you have the guide questions for the midterm
Week 10: Apr 8
Midterm exam
Thu 10 Lecture on encomienda
III.
THE COLONIAL MIDDLE PERIOD AND GOVERNING
Week 11: Apr 15-17
Institutions of empire:
4
-Restall & Lane, Chap 8, “Native communities”
-Andrien, Chap 3, “The Colonial State” pp. 41-56
Economy: Land and village
-i-Learn: “Excerpts on the Hacienda,” A. Knight, Mexico: Colonial Era,
pp. 28-31, 72-102, 150-172
-i-Learn: primary sources (bring to class): “Indian forced labor in
Guatemala,” “Indian forced labor in Peru.”
Week 12: Apr 22-24
Economy: Silver and imperial linkages:
-Andrien, Chap 4, pp. 73-95
-i-Learn: “Mining,” P. Bakewell in Colonial Spanish America, ed., Leslie
Bethell, pp. 203-249
Colonial church and conversion:
-Restall & Lane, Chap 10, “Religious Renaissance,”
and Chap 11, “Defining Deviancy”
-Andrien, Chap 6, “Religious Conversion and Imposition of Orthodoxy”
-i-Learn: “Spiritual Conquest” in A. Knight, Mexico: Colonial Era, pp.
31-52
Week 13: Apr 29-May 1
Colonial church (cont.)
-Bartolomé de las Casas, An Account much Abbreviated of the Destruction
of the Indies, pp.1-88, and (useful) Introduction
Caste and class:
-Restall & Lane, Chap 9, “Black Communities;”
and Chap 12, “Daily Life”
-Film: “Buried Mirror: Age of Gold” (84306)
Hand in Paper # 2
V. MATURE COLONIES and DISINTEGRATION
Week 14: May 6-8
The Seventeenth Century Depression; Eighteenth Century reorientations
-Restall & Lane, Chap 13, “War and Reform”
-Andrien, Chap 4, pp. 56-71; 95-102
Week 15: May 13-15
Colonial rebellions and legacies:
-Restall & Lane, Chap 14, “Late-Colonial Life;” and 15, “Independence”
-Andrien, Chap 7
Collect guide questions for final
Final Examination: Thursday, May 22, 10:45-1:15