The U.S. Empire and the Americas
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
New York University
Professor: Marie Cruz Soto
Office: 1 Washington Place Room 615
Office Hours: T 2-4pm/TR 8:30-9:30am by appt.
Contact: m.cruz@nyu.edu/(212) 992-7761
Course: IDSEM-UG 1631/HIST-UA 282
Semester: Spring 2013
Time: TR 9:30-10:45am
Location: 601, 1 Washington Place
“América para los americanos” from El hijo del Ahuizote (Mexico, 09/18/1898)
(La Gráfica Política del 98, CEXECI, 1998)
Course Description:
The workings and even existence of a U.S. Empire have long been cause of controversy.
The debate often revolves around whether the United States is guided by imperial selfinterest, or by the pursuit of freedom. While the controversy has gained strength after
9/11, contemporary discussions on the nature of U.S. imperialism have centered on
rather recent engagements with seemingly distant places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
Empire, it would seem, remains a far-from-home phenomenon. Yet, the U.S. Empire is
born out of and continues to depend upon (post)colonial interactions in the Americas.
This course explores the premise that the U.S. Empire is an American Empire
continuously redefined closer-to-home through, for example, contested borders,
migrations, local politics and cultural practices. This is an American Empire,
furthermore, inseparable from hemispheric experimentations with the meanings of
freedom, democracy and development. The course specifically addresses: How can
Empire be understood as a category of analysis? What distinguishes an American
Empire? And, how are U.S. imperial formations negotiated “at home”? The course
foregrounds the historical relationship between the U.S. and Latin America in order to
question the meanings of home, America and Empire.
The main goals of the course are for students: to familiarize with important scholarship
in the study of the U.S. Empire, to explore multiple manifestations of U.S. imperial
formations, and to understand the relevance of hemispheric interactions in the creation
and evolution of the U.S. Empire.
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Course Requirements:
To successfully complete the course, students are required to attend and participate
actively in class, write ten reactions and two essays and do a class presentation. The
final grade for the course is divided as follows: participation (30%), first essay (30%),
second essay (30%) and class presentation (10%).
The participation grade depends on the careful reading of course texts, attendance, and
active involvement in class discussions. Students are expected to arrive on time to class,
and to contribute on a regular basis to discussions with respectful and informed
comments that engage course texts. In terms of attendance, each student is entitled to
one non-justified absence. Each absence thereafter will result in a one-fifth deduction of
the participation grade.
The participation grade also depends on the writing of ten reactions. These should
identify connections between the readings and topic for a particular week. Reactions are
not summaries but rather critical and creative commentaries. The reactions are to be
posted online at www.manuelqui.com by the Saturday of the week assigned.
The first essay, due on Thursday February 28th, will address the contested meaning of
America. The second essay, due on Tuesday May 7th, will address some of the
particularities of the U.S. as an American Empire. The two essays are to be handed in at
the beginning of class. In addition, digital copies must be submitted in NYU Classes by
the assigned deadlines. Students should visit NYU Classes for detailed instructions
about the writing of these essays.
The class presentation will be based on a text and/or a topic developed by the student
in close dialogue with the professor. Students, furthermore, must address the theme of
the given week in which they are presenting. The grade will depend on the research,
analysis and contextualization of the text and/or topic. The grade will also depend on
the creativity and effectiveness in communicating with class peers.
Deadlines:
Reactions and essays must be submitted within the established deadlines. Late papers
will not be accepted except with valid and preferably written medical excuses.
Incompletes are not an option. If a student has a compelling reason for wanting an
incomplete, the student should talk to the professor before the last day of class.
Accommodations:
Students who require accommodations because of a disability should visit the Henry and
Lucy Moses Center (726 Broadway, 2nd Floor) and talk to the professor during the first
week of class.
Writing:
Writing is an essential part of this course and of academic life in general. Great ideas
can be lost if the writing is not clear, just like readers can be lost if the writing is not
evocative. Students are therefore encouraged to visit the professor during her office
hours and the Gallatin Writing Center (1 Washington Place, Room 423) in order to
discuss the writing process.
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Gallatin Statement on Academic Integrity:
“As a Gallatin student you belong to an interdisciplinary community of artists and
scholars who value honest and open intellectual inquiry. This relationship depends on
mutual respect, responsibility, and integrity. Failure to uphold these values will be
subject to severe sanction, which may include dismissal from the University. Examples
of behaviors that compromise the academic integrity of the Gallatin School include
plagiarism, illicit collaboration, doubling or recycling coursework, and cheating. Please
consult
the
Gallatin
Bulletin
or
Gallatin
website
[www.gallatin.nyu.edu/academics/policies/policy/integrity.html] for a full description
of the academic integrity policy.”
Additional Information:
The use of laptops and/or other electronic devices is not permitted in class.
Appointments for office hours can be made through the following links:
http://goo.gl/u9WkY and http://goo.gl/K9GwY. Students should also note that the
January 31st and the May 9th meetings will take place outside of regular class time.
Course Readings:
Gill, Lesley. The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in
the Americas. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.
Grandin, Greg. Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of
the New Imperialism. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006.
The rest of the readings are either in the coursepack or can be accessed through NYU
Classes. The books and coursepack can be purchased at the NYU Main Bookstore (726
Broadway).
Course Schedule:
WEEK I:
INTRODUCTION
 January 29th and 31st 
Joint-Session with Prof. Hannah Gurman’s “The American Century?”
Class on Thursday January 31st at 12:30-1:45pm Room 527
Readings for January 31st:
Luce, Henry R. “The American Century.” Life Magazine 10:7 (February 17, 1941): 6165. –NYU ClassesKaplan, Amy. “Violent Belongings and the Question of Empire Today: Presidential
Address to the American Studies Association, October 17, 2003.” American
Quarterly 56:1 (March 2004): 1-18. –NYU ClassesStoler, Ann and Carole McGranahan. “Introduction: Refiguring Imperial Terrains.”
Imperial Formations. Eds. Ann Laura Stoler, Carole McGranahan and Peter C.
Perdue. Santa Fe: School for Advanced Research Press, 2007. 3-42. -NYU
Classes-
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WEEK II:
AMERICA
 February 5th and 7th 
Reaction One
In-class playing:
Bates, Katherine Lee and Samuel A. Ward. “America the Beautiful.” 1895/1910.
Readings for February 5th:
de Crevecour, J. Hector St. John. Letters from an American Farmer. 1782. –NYU
ClassesFoner, Eric. “The Meaning of Freedom in the Age of Emancipation.” The Journal of
American History 81:2 (September 1994): 435-460. –NYU ClassesJefferson, Thomas. “Letter to James Madison.” April 27, 1809. –NYU ClassesOnuf, Peter S. “American Exceptionalism and National Identity.” American Political
Thought 1:1 (Spring 2012): 77-100. –NYU Classes“U.S. Declaration of Independence.” July 4, 1776. –NYU ClassesReadings for February 7th:
Frost, Robert. “The Gift Outright.” 1941. –NYU ClassesO’Sullivan, John. “The Great Nation of Futurity.” The United States Democratic
Review 6:23 (November 1839): 426-430. –NYU ClassesTurner, Frederick Jackson. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.”
1893. -NYU ClassesWilliams, William Appleman. “The Frontier Thesis and American Foreign Policy.”
Pacific Historical Review 24:4 (November 1955): 379-395. –NYU ClassesWEEK III:
AMÉRICA(S)
 February 12th and 14th 
Reaction Two
In-class playing:
Blades, Rubén. “Buscando América.” Rubén Blades y Son del Solar…Live! 1990.
Readings for February 12th:
García Márquez, Gabriel. “Nobel Lecture: The Solitude of Latin America.” 1982. –
NYU ClassesFernández Retamar, Roberto. “Caliban: Notes Toward a Discussion of Culture in Our
America.” The Latin American Cultural Studies Reader. Eds. Ana Del Sarto,
Alicia Ríos, and Abril Trigo. Trans. Lynn Garafola, David Arthur McMurray
and Roberto Márquez. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. 83-99. –
CoursepackMartí, José. “Our America” and “The Truth about the United States.” José Martí
Reader: Writings on the Americas. Eds. Deborah Shnookal and Mirta Muñiz.
New York: Ocean Press, 1999. 111-120 and 172-176. –Coursepack-
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Rodó, José Enrique. “Ariel.” Problems in Modern Latin America: A Reader. Eds. John
Charles Chasteen and Joseph S. Tulchin. Wilmington: SR Books, 1995. 185187. –CoursepackReadings for February 14th:
Gleijeses, Piero. “The Limits of Sympathy: The United States and the Independence of
Spanish America.” Journal of Latin American Studies 24:3 (October 1992): 481505. –NYU ClassesGrandin, Greg. “Your Americanism and Mine: Americanism and Anti-Americanism in
the Americas.” American Historical Review 111:4 (October 2006): 1042-1066. NYU ClassesWhitman, Walt. “America.” Leaves of Grass. 1891-1892 Edition. –NYU ClassesWEEK IV:
AMERICA FOR THE AMERICANS
 February 19th and 21st 
Reaction Three
Readings for February 19th:
Bolívar, Simón. “Two Letters in Favor of a Hemispheric Confederation.” Problems in
Modern Latin America: A Reader. Eds. John Charles Chasteen and Joseph S.
Tulchin. Wilmington: SR Books, 1995. 296-298. –CoursepackMahan, Alfred T. The Influence of Sea Power. 1890. –NYU ClassesMcGuinness, Aims. “Sovereignty on the Isthmus: Federalism, U.S. Empire, and the
Struggle for Panama during the California Gold Rush.” The State of
Sovereignty: Territories, Laws, Populations. Eds. Douglas Howland and Luise
S. White. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. 19-34. –CoursepackMonroe, James. “Seventh Annual Message to Congress.” December 2, 1823. –NYU
ClassesSalvatore, Ricardo D. “Imperial Mechanics: South America’s Hemispheric Integration
in the Machine Age.” American Quarterly 58:3 (September 2006): 662-691. –
NYU ClassesReadings for February 21st:
May, Robert E. “Young American Males and Filibustering in the Age of Manifest
Destiny: The United States Army as a Cultural Mirror.” The Journal of
American History 78:3 (December 1991): 857-886. -NYU ClassesRoosevelt, Theodore. “The Strenuous Life.” 1899. –NYU ClassesWEEK V:
BANANA REPUBLICS
 February 26th and 28th 
First Essay Due on
Thursday February 28th
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Readings for February 26th:
Colby, Jason M. “Banana Growing and Negro Management:” Race, Labor, and Jim
Crow Colonialism in Guatemala, 1884-1930.”
Diplomatic History 30:4
(September 2006): 595-621. –NYU ClassesHenry, O. “The Admiral” and “Two Recalls.” Cabbages and Kings. Garden City:
Doubleday, Page & Company, 1922. 130-143 and 293-306. –NYU ClassesNeruda, Pablo. “The United Fruit Co.” Canto General. Trans. Jack Schmitt. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1991. 179. –NYU ClassesReading for February 28th:
Bucheli, Marcelo. “Enforcing Business Contracts in South America: The United Fruit
Company and Colombian Banana Planters in the Twentieth Century.” The
Business History Review 78:2 (Summer 2004): 181-212. –NYU ClassesWEEK VI:
DISCIPLINING THE OTHER
(FINANCES, NEOLIBERALISM AND THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS)
 March 5th and 7th 
Reaction Four
Readings for March 5th:
Roosevelt, Theodore. “The Burdens of Policemen in the Caribbean.” Problems in
Modern Latin America: A Reader. Eds. John Charles Chasteen and Joseph S.
Tulchin. Wilmington: SR Books, 1995. 307-309. -CoursepackRosenberg, Emily S. “Ordering Others: U.S. Financial Advisers in the Early Twentieth
Century.” Haunted by Empire: Geographies of Intimacy in North American
History. Ed. Ann Stoler. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006. 405-424. –
CoursepackReadings for March 7th:
Biglaiser, Glen. “The Internationalization of Chicago’s Economics in Latin America.”
Economic Development and Cultural Change 50:2 (January 2002): 269-286. –
NYU ClassesMarichal, Carlos. “The Finances of Hegemony in Latin America: Debt Negotiation and
the Role of the U.S. Government, 1945-2005.” Empire and Dissent: The United
States and Latin America. Ed. Fred Rosen. Durham: Duke University Press,
2008. 90-116. -CoursepackSalvatore, Ricardo D. “Empire of Knowledge.” NACLA: Report on the Americas 39:2
(September-October 2005): 17-20. -NYU ClassesWilliamson, John. “What Washington Means by Policy Reform.” Latin American
Adjustment: How Much Has Happened? Ed. John Williamson. Institute for
International Economics. 1990. –NYU ClassesWEEK VII:
EMPIRE’S WORKSHOP
 March 12th and 14th 
Reaction Five
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Reading for March 12th and 14th:
Grandin, Greg. Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of
the New Imperialism. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006. –BookWEEK VIII:
DRAWING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EMPIRE
 March 26th and 28th 
Reaction Six
Reading for March 26th:
Burnett, Christina Duffy. “The Edges of Empire and the Limits of Sovereignty:
American Guano Islands.” American Quarterly 57:3 (September 2005): 779-803.
–NYU ClassesReadings for March 28th:
Kaplan, Amy. “Manifest Domesticity.” American Literature 70:3 (September 1998):
581-606. –NYU ClassesKaplan, Amy. “Where is Guantánamo?” American Quarterly 57:3 (September 2005):
831-858. –NYU ClassesWEEK IX:
LOVE, FAMILY AND EMPIRE
 April 2nd and 4th 
Reaction Seven
Reading for April 2nd:
Findlay, Eileen J. “Love in the Tropics: Marriage, Divorce, and the Construction of
Benevolent Colonialism in Puerto Rico, 1898-1910.” Close Encounters of
Empire: Writing the Cultural History of U.S.-Latin American Relations. Eds.
Gilbert M. Joseph, Catherine C. LeGrand, and Ricardo D. Salvatore. Durham:
Duke University Press, 1998. 139-172. –CoursepackReading for April 4th:
Briggs, Laura. “Making “American” Families: Transnational Adoption and U.S. Latin
America Policy.” Haunted by Empire: Geographies of Intimacy in North
American History. Ed. Ann Stoler. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006.
344-365. –NYU ClassesWEEK X:
COLD WAR ENCOUNTERS
 April 9th and 11th 
Reaction Eight
Reading for April 9th:
Joseph, Gilbert M. “Latin America's Long Cold War: A Century of Revolutionary
Process and U.S. Power.”
A Century of Revolution: Insurgent and
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Counterinsurgent Violence During Latin America’s Long Cold War. Eds. Greg
Grandin and Gilbert M. Joseph. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010. 397414. –CoursepackStreeter, Stephen M. “Nation-Building in the Land of Eternal Counter-Insurgency:
Guatemala and the Contradictions of the Alliance for Progress.” Third World
Quarterly 27:1 (2006): 57-68. –NYU ClassesReadings for April 11th:
Gleijeses, Piero. “The View from Havana: Lessons from Cuba’s African Journey, 19591976.” In from the Cold: Latin America’s New Encounter with the Cold War.
Eds. Gilbert M. Joseph and Daniela Spenser. Durham: Duke University Press,
2008. 112-133. –CoursepackHuish, Robert and John M. Kirk. “Cuban Medical Internationalism and the
Development of the Latin American School of Medicine.” Latin American
Perspectives 34:6 (November 2007): 77-92. –NYU ClassesPérez Jr., Louis A. “Fear and Loathing of Fidel Castro: Sources of U.S. Policy toward
Cuba.” Journal of Latin American Studies 34:2 (May 2002): 227-254. –NYU
ClassesWEEK XI:
INTIMATE COLD WAR ENCOUNTERS
 April 16th and 18th 
Film Screening on April 16th and 18th:
Missing. Dir. Costa-Gavras. Universal Pictures, 1982.
WEEK XII:
AMERICAN MILITARIZED KNOWLEDGES
 April 23rd and 25th 
Reaction Nine
Reading for April 23rd and 25th:
Gill, Lesley. The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in
the Americas. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. –BookWEEK XIII:
ZAPATISTAS, IMPERIAL GLOBALITY AND GLOBAL COLONIALITY
 April 30th and May 2nd 
Reaction Ten
Readings for April 30th:
Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional. “First Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle.”
January 1, 1994. -NYU ClassesEjército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional. “Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle.”
June 2005. -NYU Classes-
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Escobar, Arturo. “Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality and
Anti-Globalisation Social Movements.” Third World Quarterly 25:1 (2004):
207-230. –NYU ClassesHarvey, Neil. “Inclusion Through Autonomy: Zapatistas and Dissent.” NACLA:
Report on the Americas 39:2 (September-October 2005): 12-17. –NYU ClassesReading for May 2nd:
Coronil, Fernando. “After Empire: Reflections on Imperialism from the Américas.”
Imperial Formations. Eds. Ann Laura Stoler, Carole McGranahan and Peter C.
Perdue. Santa Fe: School for Advanced Research Press, 2007. 241-271. CoursepackWEEK XIV:
REFLECTIONS ON EMPIRE AND COLONIALITY FROM THE AMÉRICAS
 May 7th and 9th 
Final Essay Due on
Tuesday May 7th
&
Mini-Conference with Prof. Hannah Gurman’s
“The American Century?” Class on Thursday May 9th at 7-9pm