LAH 3132 - THE FORMATION OF LATIN AMERICA - Fall 2009

Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:15 Class meets in: GPA 119

Professor Noble David Cook cookn@fiu.edu tel. 305-348-3966
DM 395 Office hours: T & Th 9:30-10:30, or by appointment
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 (Marshall C. Eakin chapter in text)

1. T 25 Aug Introduction, Course Requirements, Geographical Determinants 1
Th 27 Origins, migrations, culture change 1
2. T 01 Sept Mesoamerica I Olmecs and Mayas 2
Th 03 Mesoamerica II Aztecs 2
3. T 08 Andean America I The Incas 3
Th 10 Iberian Backgrounds Paper assignment 3
4. T 15 Age of Reconnaissance, a la Parry Quiz 1 4
Th 17 The Caribbean in the first generation 5
5. T 22 Columbus and the Caribbean, the first generation 5
Th 24 Conquest of the Aztec World 6
6. T 29 Conquest of the Incas: Quiz 2 Restall 6
Th 01 Oct The political superstructure of Empire 7
7. T 06 Local government, theory and reality 8
Th 08 Colonial lives: marriage and the family 8
8. T 13 Rise and fall of the encomenderos Quiz 3 Cook & Cook
Th 15 The world of the traditional hacienda, forced labor to debt peonage

9. T 20 The mining economy, boom and bust

Th 22 Portuguese Brazil

10. T 27 Plantation society in the Americas Quiz 4 Ferreiro Furtado

Th 29 The spiritual conquest of the Americas 9
11. T 03 Nov Inquisition and religious orthodoxy, life in the convent 9
Th 05 Mestizaje 10
12. T 10 Piracy and warfare over Empire 10
Th 12 Quiz 5 Poole
13. T 17 Reforms of the Spanish Bourbons 11
Th 19 The “Enlightenment” in Latin America 11

1
14. T 24 Uprisings of the eighteenth century: Walker 11
Th 26 Thanksgiving Holiday

15. T 01 Dec Coming of Independence Paper Due 12

Th 03 Crosby - Columbian exchanges: Las Casas

16. TTh 8-10 Final Week of Semester, Modified Class Schedule Quiz 6 13

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 Brazil (Ferreiro Furtado), the impact of Christianity
on the popular mind (Poole), Ecological disasters and Reform (Walker).
Requirements: Students will be assessed on the basis six quizzes (30 minutes, 12% each),
and one 8 page analysis (25 %), and a map quiz (3%) - the specific assignment will be
made on 15 September. 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.
Plagiarsim: Read the Student Manual for University Guidelines. Guidelines are
enforced. Note the below FIU statement regarding academic misconduct:
Florida International University is a community dedicated to generating and imparting
knowledge through excellent teaching and research, the rigorous and respectful exchange
of ideas, and community service. All students should respect the right of others to have
an equitable opportunity to learn and honestly demonstrate the quality of their learning.
Therefore, all students are expected to adhere to a standard of academic conduct, which
demonstrates respect for themselves, their fellow students, and the educational mission of
the University. All students are deemed by the University to understand that if they are
found responsible for academic misconduct, they will be subject to the Academic
Misconduct procedures and sanctions, as outlined in the Student Handbook.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Marshall C. Eakin, The History of Latin America: Collision of Cultures. Palgrave

Macmillan, Trade Paperback, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-4039-8081-6 $19.95 list.

2
Matthew Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004. paperback ISBN 0195176111

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

Noble David Cook with Alexandra Parma Cook, People of the Volcano: Andean
Counterpoint in the Colca Valley. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007. paperback
ISBN 13: 9780822339717

Charles F. Walker, Shaky Colonialism: The 1746 Earthquake – Tsunami in Lima, Peru,
and its Long Aftermath. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. ISBN 13:
9780822341895
Stafford Poole, Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National
Symbol, 1531-1797. Tucson: University of Arizona, 1995. ISBN-13: 9780816516230

Júnia Ferreiro Furtado, Chica da Silva: a Brazilian Slave Woman of the Eighteenth
Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. ISBN 13: 9780521711555

THERE MAY BE REGULAR SHORT READINGS RELATING TO THE LECTURE

TOPICS THAT WILL BE DISTRIBUTED FOR ANALYSIS DURING THE PREVIOUS
MEETING. QUIZES WILL BE BASED ON THESE AS WELL AS LECTURES,
ASSIGNED BOOKS, AND CLASS DISCUSSION.