INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA
History 8, Course Syllabus
UCSB Fall 2009
Professor: Cecilia Méndez G.
Office: HSSB 4227, Phone messages: x 2991
Email: mendez@history.ucsb.edu
Office Hours: T-Th 5-6 pm & by appointment
Teaching Assistants’ emails & office hours
Leah Fernandez, or leahfer@gmail.com T 1- 3 pm
Ty Smith:tysmith@umail.ucsb.edu T-Th 2-3 pm
Zachary Mckiernan zmckiernan@umail.ucsb.edu
Course meets in HFH 1104 on Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30 to 4:45
Course Web Page: http://www.history.ucsb.edu/courses/course.php?course_id=1209
Professor’s Web page: http://www.history.ucsb.edu/people/person.php?account_id=42
Course Description
This course examines the history of the part of the Western hemisphere known as “Latin
America” from the pre-Columbian era to the present. The history of more than thirty modern nations and
the half billion people comprising Latin America cannot possibly be covered in the short span of ten
weeks. Therefore, many regions and countries will remain uncovered. I know this will disappoint some––
myself included. But this will be inevitable, given curricular demands that are beyond my control.
The course will concentrate on the regions of North, Center and South America colonized by
Spain, because Spain controlled the largest portion of the American continent for three centuries.
However, Spain was not the only European power to invade and colonize the region. The areas colonized
by the Portuguese (today Brazil), the French (today Haiti and French Guiana), the British (Guyana, West
Indies, Belize), and the Dutch (Suriname), were Spanish is not spoken, are also part of “Latin America”.
Although there will be no time do delve into their histories in class I encourage you to read about them in
your textbook and other books your teaching assistants or I can recommend if you are interested.
The first part of the course (weeks 1 through 5) highlights the main social and political features of
the late pre-Columbian civilizations and follows their transformations under Spanish rule. Our inroads
into the colonial history of Latin America (sixteen through early nineteenth centuries) will emphasize
social and political developments in the Andean region; the area known as “Mesoamerica” (today Mexico
and part of Central America) will remain our most important comparative referent. The second part of
the course (weeks 6 to 10) deals with “modern” Latin America, and covers the nineteenth through
twenty-first centuries. We will observe the way in which ex-Spanish colonies struggled to find their way
into modern nations. Here our attention shifts to Mexico in North America, to Cuba in the Caribbean,
and to Chile in the southern cone of South America. The emphasis is on social history, politics and
revolutions. We will focus on violent as much as on peaceful ways to achieve social change. Key notions
in this second part of the course include nationalism, socialism, democracy, dictatorship, U.S.
intervention, neoliberalism, ethnicity, and globalization.
This course entails heavy reading and writing, as well as and mandatory attendance to lectures
and discussion sections. In addition to two term-papers and one final exam, you will be asked to write
short (one page) bi-weekly papers, due in your sections, responding to prompts about the weekly
readings. Please do not be misled by the length of a short paper. A well written one-page essay can take a
few hours. Please calculate dedicating this course a study time of at least 10 hours per week, that is, in
addition, to attending lectures and sections. If you think you cannot take on such a load, this class may
not be for you, particularly if you have high expectations regarding your grade.
REQUIRED READINGS
- Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, (Bedford/St Martin’s Press, 2010)
- Edwin Williamson, The Penguin History of Latin America (Penguin Books 1992).
- Karen Spalding, Huarochirí, An Andean Society Under Inca and Spanish Rule (Stanford U. Press 1984)
- Peter Winn, Weavers of the Revolution (Oxford University Press, 1986).
- A Reader of articles and documents available from Associated Students, University Center, Room 1523
- Documents in PDF format to be downloaded free of charge from the course web page (no password
required) http://www.history.ucsb.edu/courses/course.php?course_id=1209 and from the library’s
electronic reserve services (ERES) with the following password: volume.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Discussion sections (based on a one page bi-weekly paper, attendance & participation)
- Midterm paper due in your teaching assistant mailbox on
- Second paper due in class on
Final Exam:.
Other Important Rules
a) You fail the discussion section if you have more than three absences.
b) Any student who fails the discussion section fails the course.
c) You fail the course if you get an F in the final exam or if you fail to show up to the exam.
d) Attendance to lectures is required and will be factored in your final grade.
30 %
20 %
25 %
25 %
The Midterm Paper is based on the book Huarochirí, An Andean Society Under Inca and Spanish Rule by Karen
Spalding, and other relevant materials corresponding to the first part of the course. Length: no less than
1000 and no more than 1100 words discounting footnotes, references, name, date, and title.
The Second Paper is based on the book Weavers of Revolution by Peter Winn and other relevant reading
materials from the second part of the course. Length: the same as the midterm paper.
All papers are due typed and in hard copies. Late papers and papers by email will not be accepted.
COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS
I. PRE-COLUMBIAN AND COLONIAL PERIODS
Week 1
Introduction
Thurs Sept. 24th
Mapping “Latin America”
Required Readings: Peter Winn, “A View From the South” (download from course web page).
Week 2
Tues Sept.29th
Thurs Oct. 1
Ancient Civilizations (pre – 1520s)
Mesoamerica: the Aztecs (1420s-1519)
South America: The Incas (1430s-1532)
Required Readings: Rampolla, A Pocket Guide chaps. 1-3;; The Penguin History, pp. 37-54; “Indigenous
Society” (selection of documents on the Aztecs by Gruzinski) on Reader, and on line Bernabé Cobo,
excerpts from History of the Inca Empire (Reader); Huarochirí: intro, and chaps. 1 & 3.
Recommended Reading: Gary Urton, “Quipu: Knotting Account in the Inka Empire” (Reader).
Week 3
European Invasion (1492- 1572)
Tues Oct. 6th
European Invasion / The Fall of the Aztecs (1519-1520)
Thurs Oct 8th
Fall of the Inca Empire (1532)
Required Readings: Rampolla, A pocket guide, chapts 4, 6 & 7; The Penguin History pp. The Penguin
History, pp. 3-36 & 55-76; Olivia Harris, “The Coming of the White People” (Reader), Huarochirí, chap. 4.
Week 4
Colonial Societies – The Early Period (1530s- 1700)
Tues Oct 13th
The Early Colonial System: The Toledan Reforms
th
Thurs Oct 15
Kurakas, Evangelization, and Religion
Required Readings: The Penguin History, pp. 77- 115; Introduction to Guamán Poma by David Fye;
Guamán Poma de Ayala’s “Appeal Concerning Priests”, “Author’s Letter”, and “Rulers of Peru”; “New
Laws of the Indies” (all in Reader); Huarochirí, chapters 7 and 8.
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Recommended Reading: The Penguin History, pp. 116-161.
Week 5
The Age of Andean Insurrection (1750s – 1780s)
Tues Oct 20th
The Bourbon Reforms
Required Readings The Penguin History, pp. 195-209; Alberto Flores Galindo, “The Rebellion of Túpac
Amaru”; Melchor de Paz, “What is an Indian?”; José Antonio de Areche, “All Must Die!”; “Letters of
Insurrection” (all in Reader); Huarochirí, chapter 9 & conclusions.
Th Oct 22nd
The Túpac Amaru Rebellion (1780-81)
MIDTERM PAPER is due today by 4:45 pm in your TA’s mailbox
FILM SCREENING 7:00 pm “TUPAC AMARU” (Spanish only), place TBA.
II. THE NATIONAL PERIOD
Week 6
Independence (1808 – 1825)
Tues Oct. 27th
Independence of South America
Thurs Oct 29th
Independence of New Spain
Required Readings: Penguin History, pp. 210-232; J. Rodríguez, excerpts from “The Independence of
Spanish America” ” JM Morelos, “Sentiments of the Nation”; Simón Bolívar, “An American’s convictions
(i.e. The Jamaica Letter)” (excerpt); “The Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy,, 1812” (excerpts).
-- Get started with Peter Winn, Weavers of Revolution, chapters 1 - 4, in preparation for paper # 2.
Week 7
Caudillismo and the Building of National States (1800s)
Tues Nov. 3rd
Caudillismo and the Post-Independence Era
th
Thurs Nov. 5
Export Economies and & “The Liberal Era”
Required Readings The Penguin History, pp. 233-284; Peter Winn, “The Perils of Progress” (Reader).
Continue with Weavers of Revolution, chapters 5-11, in preparation for paper # 2.
Week 8
Porfiriato and the Mexican Revolution (1876-1920)
Tues Nov. 10th
The Rise and Fall of Porfirio Díaz (1876-1911)
Thurs Nov. 12th
The Mexican Revolution and its Legacy (1910-1920 & beyond)
Required Readings The Penguin History, pp. 378-409; John Womack (editor), “The Plan de Ayala” and
“The Agrarian Law”. Continue reading Weavers of Revolution, chapters 12-16 in preparation for paper # 2.
FILM SCREENING: 7:00 PM “THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION”, place TBA
Week 9
Independence, Revolution & Socialism: Cuba and Chile (1860s-1973)
Tues Nov. 17th
Cuba’s War of Independence and U.S. Imperialism (1860s-1903)
Thu Nov. 19
Democratic Socialism in Chile (1970-1973)
Required Readings: The Penguin History, 322-327, 485-510; “The Platt Amendment”; Ada Ferrer, Insurgent
Cuba, (excerpts)”; José Martí, “Our America” (excerpts); Finish reading Weavers of Revolution, chapters 1718 & epilogue.
Week 10
Latin America in the Neoliberal Era: From Class to Ethnicity 1970s on...
Tues Nov. 24th
PAPER # 2 due in class. Bolivia: The Rise of an Indigenous President
th
Thurs Nov. 26
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, NO CLASS
Required Readings: Max Castro, “Cuba, the Continuing Crisis”, The Cuban Revolution Reader, chaps. 10
and 11 (Reader)
Week 11
From Socialist to Indigenous Revolutions? Bolivia 1959-2010
Tue Dec 1
Non-Classroom Instruction due to budget cuts
Th Dec 3rd .
Non-Classroom Instruction due to budget cuts
FILM SCREENING 7 pm “COCALERO”
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Required Readings, all due on Tuesday: The Penguin History, pp. pp. 349-377; 436-458;
William Finnegan, “Leasing the Rain”; Alma Guillermoprieto, “A New Bolivia” in The New York Review
of Books, vol. 53, No 13 · August 10, 2006 (all in Reader).
Note: There are no regular lectures held by the History Department this week in protest for UC budget
cuts. You should however continue attending your sections, and doing your readings and assignments
as usual. Sections will be held as usual. All materials and subjects covered this week will be considered in
the Final Exam. More specific instructions about this week’s assignments will be distributed separately.
FINAL EXAMINATION: FRIDAY DECEMBER 11TH 4- 7 pm.
NOTE: This syllabus is subject to modifications. Shall you miss any class it is your responsibility to catch
up with any information provided in your absence. I will be glad to assist you during my office hours. If
you send me an email, please allow at least 3 days for a response. I may not respond to email messages
that are written in a disrespectful or too casual a tone, or if the answer for your question is provided in
the syllabus. Please keep in mind that female professors should be addressed in equal terms as male professors; that
is, as “Professor” not as “Ms.” or “Mrs.” If you prefer Spanish or Portuguese, “Profesora” is a good option.
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