LAH 3132(U01) - THE FORMATION OF LATIN AMERICA - Spring 2009

Professor Noble David Cook cookn@fiu.edu tel. 305-348-3966

DM 395 Office hours: T, Th 11:00-12:00, or by appointment
Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 Class meets in: GPA 121

An examination of Latin America in the colonial period, focusing on conquest, the

struggle for justice, Indian relations, the landed estate, urban functions, family and
gender, labor, and socioeconomic organization, from the 15th through 18th centuries.

Week Theme Readings (Burkholder & Johnson chapter in text)

1. T 6 Jan Introduction, Course Requirements, Geographical Determinants 1
Th 8 Origins, migrations, culture change 1
2. T 13 Mesoamerica I Olmecs and Mayas 1
Th 15 Mesoamerica II Aztecs 1
3. T 20 Andean America I The Incas 1
Th 22 Iberian Backgrounds Paper assignment
4. T 27 Quiz 1 Age of Reconnaissance, a la Parry 1
Th 29 The Caribbean in the first generation 2
5. T 3 Feb Columbus and the Caribbean, the first generation 2
Th 5 Conquest of the Aztec World 2
6. T 10 Conquest of the Incas: Quiz 2 Restall 2
Th 12 The political superstructure of Empire 3
7. T 17 Local government, theory and reality 3
Th 19 The struggle for justice and the Black Legend 3
8. T 24 Rise and fall of the encomenderos Quiz 3 Las Casas 4
Th 26 The world of the traditional hacienda, forced labor to debt peonage 4

9. T 3 March Colonial lives: society, marriage and the family 7

Th 5 The mining economy: boom and bust 7

10. T 10 Plantation society in the Americas Quiz 4 Cook & Cook 5

Th 12 The spiritual conquest of the Americas 5
SPRING BREAK 16-21 March

11. T 24 Inquisition and religious orthodoxy, life in the convent 6

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 Th 26 Borders: Florida, northern Mexico, Chile and Paraguay 8

12. T 31 Women and the Inquisition

Th 2 April Crosby - Columbian exchanges Quiz 5 Few
13. T 7 Paper due Piracy and warfare over Empire 9
Th 9 Bourbon Reforms 9

14. T 14 Uprisings of the eighteenth century 10

Th 16 Coming of Independence extra quiz? 10

15. 20-25 Final Week of Semester, Paper & Grades returned

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a thorough understanding of the
basic issues of colonial Latin American History through lectures coupled with discussion
of readings. The stress may vary slightly from semester to semester. Here emphasis is
given to the individual and society, as they relate collectively and discretely to the issues
of conquest, Indian relations, the landed estate, urban functions, labor, religion, and
socioeconomic organization. Lectures and readings will cover sequentially the first
foundations, the religious subjugation, native society and resistance, marriage and family,
the plantation complex and the institution of slavery, and Bourbon life and culture. The
lectures and readings will cover sequentially the first foundations (Amerindian, Iberian,
African), the nature and process of conquest and settlement (Restall), the nature and
meaning of the Black Legend (Las Casas), colonial society and the nature of the economy
(Cook & Cook), women, slavery and the Inquisition in the alter colonial period (Few).
Requirements: Students will be assessed on the basis five quizzes (30 minutes, 15%
each), and one 8 page analysis (25 %) - the specific assignment will be made on 22
January. Regular classroom participation is expected, and will count in the final course
grade, in a borderline situation. Any student with a question involving attendance and
discussion should consult the instructor at the beginning of the semester.
Statement on academic honesty: Students are urged to cooperate with each other, in
study groups. They are also encouraged to use the web to search for sources and new
information. But the study work that is turned in should be the sole work of that student.
Any source that is incorporated into the written work must be properly cited. Any
sequence of six words in the same order as appearing in the original source must be
within quotation marks [“text of quotation“], and the source must be properly cited. This
obviously includes any internet source as well as any source published in the traditional
print format. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism, and will be dealt with according to
the guidelines of the FIU Student Student Manual for University Guidelines Handbook.
You must read that Handbook to avoid unpleasantness and potential loss of the semester’s
work, or suspension from the University, or more.

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REQUIRED TEXTS: (all were used last semester, and inexpensive used copies should
be readily available)

Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson, Colonial Latin America. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2004. Students may use 4th-6th editions. paperback ISBN 0195156850
Matthew Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004. paperback ISBN 0195176111
Alexandra Parma Cook and Noble David Cook, Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance. A
Case of Transatlantic Bigamy. Durham: Duke University Press, 1992. paperback ISBN
0822312220
Martha Few, Women Who Live Evil Lives: Gender, Religion, and the Politics of Power in
Colonial Guatemala, 1650-1750 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002). Paperback
ISBN-10: 0292725493 ISBN-13: 978-0292725492
Bartolomé de las Casas, Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies and Related Texts.
Edited by Franklin Knight, Hackett Publishing Company, 2003. paperback ISBN
0872206254

PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Due in class on April 7, 2009

Based on ALL the readings of the semester, write a critical essay (8 pages, or 2,400-3,200
words) about one of the following:
1. The nature and changing role of women in the colonial period, in which you
discuss how class and caste influenced societal expectations and the condition of
women.
2. The “Black Legend,” its formation, nature, and lasting influence on the view of
the Spanish treatment of Amerindians and the religious heterodox.
3. The attempt by the Church and Crown to establish and maintain order and
stability in society, and its relation to the longevity of the Spanish Empire in
America.

You may use other sources to enhance your analysis. All sources, the books for class and
any other, must be corrected cited.

Study essay questions for quiz 1.

a. What are the principal achievements of the native peoples of the Americas in
terms of the domestication of plants and animals.

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b. What are the principal characteristics and achievements of the Maya?
c. What are the principal characteristics and achievements of the Aztec?
d. What are the principal characteristics and achievements of the Inca?
e. Discuss the impact of the Spain’s “reconquista” on the first “conquistadores” of
the New World.