Author Archives: fred

Slave revolution blog post

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What were the varying levels of treatment of captured whites in insurgent camps at the start of slave revolution in Haiti?

 

In the Camps of the Insurgents (1791) primary source document of Gros, a detailed account of his time spent as a prisoner held by rebel slaves. He explains, the whites that had been captured were chained and marched away from their burning houses and were executed two-by-two every twenty-four hours by the orders of Jeannot, a high-ranking insurgency leader. However, Jean-Francois, a general in chief with greater humility, was tired of the countless cruelties inflicted under the leadership of Jeannot, and had the man executed by firing squad. Jean-Francois visited the traumatized group of soldiers and set them free and vowed them safety. Despite Francois’ good will, the men were again thrown in chains until another man came to their aid and complained to central camp commander, which led to their release again. They were then escorted to an insurgent headquarters and kindly welcomed and fed by a lieutenant Jean-Louis who was proud of his civility. Louis would intimidate other chiefs toward peace, threatening them with all his might if they did not stop the terrible atrocities being inflicted upon whites. This passage shows the humility that existed in this time of violence and revolt. Many insurrection leaders sought a peaceful solution to the conflict that was bringing so much death and destruction to Haiti.

Latin America in the news

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A team of underwater archeologists believe they have found a cannonball from a Spanish ship called the “San Francisco” that sank off the coast of Japan in 1609.[1] The Spanish merchant vessel was believed to be transporting valuable trading goods from the Philippines to Mexico that sank when a storm drove the boat into reefs off Chiba province.[2] Dr Jun Kimura from Tokai University has been leading a team of marine archeologists who have been searching for the San Francisco in waters off Iwawada in Chiba prefecture.[3] The cannonball was discovered by Ian McCann, an Australian researcher at the University of New England, during a deep dive around 130 feet below the ocean surface.[4] Dr Kimura told the BBC “We were in dark, murky waters, Ian just saw an unusual shape on the sandy bed- he recovered it but then we had to go back to the surface as our air had nearly run out.” The team of archeologists and the experts they consulted were “almost certain” it was a cannonball from the San Francisco because it was like cannonballs found in other Spanish trading ships in the Philippines.[5] However, they will be carrying out a chemical analysis to confirm this.

McCann told the BBC: “A cannonball may not sound like much but it indicates the general vicinity where the vessel went down. It is the only Spanish Manila galleon that has not been plundered by treasure hunters,” he also said the trading vessels “carried fabulously valuable cargo… by today’s value the cargo may have had a value of around $80m.” This project is the first scientific mission to search for the San Francisco shipwreck and its funded by the Japanese government.[6] A piece of timber was also found in the area and believed to be related to the shipwreck and further expeditions have been planned to be conducted in the area in early 2018.[7]

The San Francisco shipwreck was of “historical importance because it impacted the relationship between Spain, the Philippines, Mexico and Japan,” said Dr Kimura. The ship had been carrying goods from the Philippines to Mexico, which were both Spanish colonies at the time. Aboard the ship was the governor of the Philippines Don Rodrigo de Vivero Velasco.[8] Mr Velasco, who survived the ships sinking, detailed the account in a book, writing: “the Ship was getting destroyed in pieces among some cliffs on the head of Japan… all of us survivors were over the riggings and ropes, because the galleon was getting broken piece by piece.” Hundreds of people survived the shipwreck, and were treated well, thanks to Velasco’s good relations with the Japanese.[9] They eventually successfully sailed back to Mexico, with several Japanese representatives, on the first western-style ship ever built in Japan.[10] “They were the first Japanese ever to cross the pacific and the Spanish king highly appreciated what Japan had done for the survivors, so diplomatic exchanges between Japan and Spain started,” said Dr Kimura. This article pertains to our class themes about the linkage and colonization of the New world from the Old. Discovering shipwrecks provide a unique insight into the different cultural and economic relations that were going on at the time. The shipwreck of the San Francisco happened in 1609, as the Spanish empire was rapidly expanding and establishing new trade routes around the world. If the San Francisco ship wreckage was found it would provide a rare glimpse into the colonial economic framework of the time. It was seafaring voyages such as this one that ultimetly shaped and defined the world as we know it today.

 

 

[1] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[2] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[3] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[4] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[5]“San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[6] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[7] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[8] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[9] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

[10] “San Francisco shipwreck: Divers find cannonball clue.” BBC News. November 13, 2017. Accessed November 14, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41965080.

 

Class Notes 11/6/17

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Class notes 11/6/17

Upload Wikipedia project memo if haven’t already

Visual audio slide show- 4 to 5-minute project. Be super precise and concise. Find the most important things for the audience to know about colonial Latin American history.

Try to develop a full script for feedback (due Friday). Include images and script, develop argument, primary source analysis, histography

As you find good images make sure you’re keeping track by citing them

For audio recording- can use imovie, recording area in the library, audacity online, flipgram ? on phones (can use freesound for different sound effects). Quality of sound of your recording is important

Can use any format if you can export it and share it on YouTube

Writing center is awesome for these types of projects

Try not to wear windbreaker type jackets or noisy clothes when recording

Plantation slavery

  • More Africans coming over the Atlantic than Europeans before 1800s. Large volume of slaves
  • Intensification of the process of slavery of economic purposes
  • Transportation, provisions, purchase price were main costs of slavery
  • Slavery existed in Africa before contact. However, weren’t dehumanized and had better living conditions- more paths to freedom
  • Economic demands caused high volumes of slaves exported from Africa to the new world
  • Transatlantic slavery database has a ton of information. Shows Atlantic slave trade overtime
  • investors in the enterprise of slavery provides financial records
  • Some people involved who realize the true horrors will turn anti-slavery and give firsthand accounts
  • It’s hard to do genealogy of slaves because the records aren’t very good
  • Its difficult to tell ethnic and language groups because slaves are often gathered up by warring tribes all over Africa and sold out of common ports out of western-central Africa
  • Hati shows the instability of slave labor and the violence that comes from it
  • Brazil and Caribbean largest importers of slaves mainly due to sugar plantations
  • sugar transforms slavery- larger scale, more profits
  • sugar is intense crop large mortality rate, industrial accidents, malnutrition, disease
  • to have colonial rule of a small minority over a large majority involves massive coercion. very ridged hierarchical society
  • benevolent coercion. People are made promises that if you behave you and your family will get benefits
  • historical agency- ability to keep their identities, culture
  • a lot of apologies for slavery arguing that people were better off under slavery
  • long term domestic partnerships where women remain enslaved but their children may become free. Causes wealthy mixed population where in some cases the children own their mothers
  • some women purchase their freedom through prostitution
  • legal status, race, gender form a complex racial hierarchy

wiki critique

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I chose to evaluate the Wikipedia article on Inca society because this article is rated start-class on wiki quality scale. This article seemed to have many problems and inconsistencies. Firstly, this article lacked a balance-of-coverage of the many important aspects of Inca society. Although the article was broken down into clear segment headings, there was little information in some areas and an information overload in other areas. The author(s) had large paragraphs on some subjects and just a few sentences on others. The whole article only has four sources and some large sections had no references whatsoever. I tried to view one of the sources and it seems to be a faulty citation of nothing. The author(s) also uses vague and superfluous terminology to describe certain aspects of Incan society.

Introduction

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Hello I am Fred. I am a second-year student here with an undecided major of some combination of history and political science. I’m from West Virginia and I enjoy seeing new places. A few summers ago I traveled to Ecuador and the Amazon rainforest and was exposed to the intriguing Latin American culture in the flesh. In this class I hope to expand on my understanding of this culture through the study of the continents history as a whole.  I am most excited to learn about the dynamic clashes and interactions between European explorers with the native peoples.