Author Archives: Jacob S

Discussion Question

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Question:
Why is race a central focus for the Haitian Revolution, and what purpose does it serve?

Answer:
One main reason why race is a central focus for the revolution is because European colonists had ingrained within their colonies the idea that race defines a person’s worth. This became especially relevant to Haiti, for an island whose population primarily consists of enslaved African descendants. This becomes even more clear when it is considered that the French “Code Noir” was a law regarding slavery that was named after a racial feature, meaning the two were virtually interchangeable.

Race served two main purposes in the revolution: rallying all black people behind the idea that their race is being liberated (not just slaves), and to direct hostilities towards white oppressors (as can be seen in the account on pages 91-95). In rallying fellow blacks to belittle whites, they were able to essentially turn the revolution into an equal playing ground for both races, rather than blacks being at a social disadvantage.

Cuban Doctors Against Brazil’s “Programa Mais Médicos”

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Since 2013, Brazil has been pushing for the Programa Mais Médicos (More Doctors Program) to contract doctors from Cuba to work in Brazil. This program has resulted in Brazil sending millions of dollars over to Cuba, and in return Cuba sends thousands of doctors to live and work in Brazil for a few years. Sounds like an “everybody wins” sort of scenario, right? Not exactly.

Unfortunately, the Cuban doctors seem to have “drawn the short straw.” What I mean by saying this is the fact that these doctors are being compared to slave labor. They make very little compared to the amount that Brazil is paying Cuba for their services. According to one Dr. Álvarez and her husband, they were made to leave behind their children in the care of relatives, while earning an income of 2900 Brazilian reais a month (roughly $908 by current U.S. standards), which seems quite comparable to the $30 a month that Cuban doctors receive back home. By their standards, this may seem like a very profitable outcome.

However, according to the agreement between Brazil and Cuba, Brazil pays Cuba $3620 a month per doctor, nearly four times the amount the doctors themselves are getting paid. Despite the U.N.’s endorsement of this project for improving healthcare in Brazil, many doctors see it as an injustice. In fact, a federal judge in Brazil has claimed these contracts to be a form of slave labor. Unfortunately, there are many repercussions that these doctors are being faced with, as Cuban supervisors are sending any doctors who file for a law suit and ultimatum that is they must either return to Cuba within 24 hours, or face exile for up to eight years.

Cuba doctor Álvarez working in Brazil to provide healthcare to impoverished regions of the country

The article portrays the Latin American nations involves as two entities that are working together to improve the livelihood of Brazilian citizens, with little regard to how the Cuban doctors feel they are being treated. There is a small overtone of resentment towards Cuba in this article based on the violation of human rights, and Brazil is seen secondarily to blame for contracting these atrocities. However, it is also portrayed as a delicate issue that cannot be simply answered with whether or not these doctors’ human rights are being attended to, since these doctors are being contracted to provide healthcare to parts of the country that do not have access to it.

In relation to the themes we’ve discussed in class, this event portrays three main points. First, it shows ongoing interactions between different parts of Latin America, and I would challenge the idea of grouping them together as one entity. Second, it touches on the problem of healthcare in Latin America, an issue that has been ongoing ever since first contact. I anticipate this issue being further discussed as we move further into colonization, as providing healthcare to a mass of people in a new environment can be a challenge to the colonists. And third, this article brings into question government corruption and human rights, which has been a part of class discussion almost every day in this class. In this case however, it is about human rights being realized for those who are impoverished, while using virtually slave labor to provide for those rights.

Link for main article (NYTimes)

Link for secondary article (Rio Times)

Class Notes 9/20

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Announcements

  • Movie screening next week. Not required, but all are invited.

LA History and Culture blog post by Chris

“Pope Francis’ Colombian Visit”

Context for the visit:

  • Referendum to pardon the FARC rebels did not pass
  • Despite the lack of support, the pardon was passed as law anyway
  • The suggested pardon was not widely supported due to suffering endured on the part of the rebels

Controversial decision:

  • This move was controversial because the government decided to ignore popular support
  • Pope Francis decided to support this move for peace
  • Colombia government, despite passing the bill, does not uphold their end of the deal
    • Allowances for re-integration into Colombian society

This article mainly reflects the failures of the Colombian government, while not providing much perspective from Colombian citizens. It also provides emphasis on the influence and involvement of Catholicism in South American politics. Included is a link to an interactive webpage detailing the history of the Vatican and South America.

Questions:

  • What was the nature of the conflict between Colombia and FARC?
    • FARC was a Marxist organization with involvement in drug trade
    • The Colombian government wanted to re-use the farm space that was being used to grow drugs
    • FARC was kidnapping political figures for ransom
    • Multiple parties increased the violence of their tactics
    • FARC was one of the most well-funded criminal organizations in the world
  • This referendum was not passed?
    • The majority vote did not support the referendum, but the Colombian government decided to pass it into law regardless
    • A storm that was present on the day of the referendum potentially suppressed voter turnout, leading many to call for a second referendum
  • Why is the Catholic Church making strides in Latin America?
    • Catholicism in Latin America had relatively recent changes reflecting on what the majority of people want
    • After the ’60s, masses were no longer being held in Latin
    • Shifts in the relations between the public and priests occurred
    • The Vatican has also been making moves with social change
    • Compared to evangelical sects, Catholicism is not as conservative as stereotypes claim
      • In accordance with everyday life, the Catholic Church tends to be more liberal
    • Pope Francis has been drawing on his experiences in Latin America
    • The Church has also been involved in mediation in Venezuela
    • Cuba also had some involvement in Colombia alongside the Church
  • Comments about “dirty wars”
    • Huge death tolls
    • Not everybody will necessarily be happy with peace

Questions about the Paper

  • How do you want us to get the citation info for the primary sources?
    • The info is available for the web sources
    • Ask the writing center or the Purdue OWL for help on citations
    • The photocopy source doesn’t come with info, so a link has been provided
  • Do you want us to cite throughout the paper?
    • Yes, and be sure to use footnotes
  • When citing journals, is it necessary to include the dates?
    • Yes, including citations builds credibility as an author
    • When using a quote, be sure to contextualize the quote and explain why you used it
      • Usually, you want to paraphrase
  • Zotero is very useful for citations
    • It saves you time
    • Be sure to invest in learning how to use it
    • There are videos available online
  • Be sure to pick one primary and one secondary source
    • You are allowed to use two secondary sources
    • Be sure to engage in an argument, not just state facts
  • How do we cite a letter?
    • Author, title, reprinted in…
  • Secondary sources can be refuted, you don’t have to agree with them
  • Make sure the paper is short and focused
    • Each paragraph should be organized and have a topic sentence

Primary source analysis

Professor Holt divided us into three groups to focus on the three different perspectives involved in the primary sources that we had read for this class. The three perspectives were Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz, and the Florentine Codex. We discussed the similarities and differences between the sources and determined the factors that contributed to the contextualization of the perspectives of these sources.

Hernán Cortés:

The letter was written to Carlos V. Cortés was trying to emphasize the nature and usefulness of the new world. He describes how the natives disfigured their bodies with piercings. He also compared the architecture to the Moors, showing his perspective of other cultures as being grouped together. He criticized the human sacrifices that the natives took part in and declared that these should be removed from their practices immediately, focusing on how the Spanish will change everything. Similar to Columbus’ letter that we have read in class previously, Cortés had a lot of focus on the body.

The perspective involved how Cortés was trying to be persuasive to a monarch. Unlike how when Columbus saw innocence among the natives, Cortés saw savagery. He saw it as the Spanish’s obligation to convert the natives to Catholicism. Also it was noteworthy that Columbus and Cortés were talking about different peoples. Focus on how the new world can provide assets to Spain, he focused on the “gold, God, and glory.”

Bernal Díaz:

Díaz was a soldier that served under Cortés. The source focuses on the interactions between Cortés and the Nahua people. He called his source “The True History of Conquest.” He wrote it to try and right Cortés’ wrongs from what he had said about the conquest of the new world. By the time of publication, the reputation of the new world was already heavily embedded in Europe.

There is still some overlying bias in Díaz’s account, although much less compared to Cortés. He has a much more balanced approach, and includes more details in his account. However, he still makes some cultural assumptions, understanding that the natives are “savages” and sees the need for no further explanation.

Florentine Codex:

The Florentine Codex (named after the fact that it is being archived in Florence) was an indigenous account of the Spanish post-conquest. It was written by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún who was a Franciscan friar. He learned the indigenous languages and recorded a collaborated account, leading to some still present bias tied to mediation.

The Codex displayed the perspective that they saw the Spanish as godly, but the natives were trying to scare the Spanish away. However, the Spanish did not leave, which led to much concern on the natives’ parts, showing a perspective of “we’re nothing to them.” (Ants among giants).

Bernardino still had his bias as a missionary. It is worth understanding what people were willing to tell him. Cortés was detailed as a divine figure in the Codex. There was a lot of emphasis on the interest in the new technologies, such as the iron armor and weapons. There was also some focus on the curliness of the Spaniards’ hair and beards, as well as the different colors.

Think about:
How do the Spaniards return their hospitality? How to the Spaniards fight?

Cocoa Bean

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The wikipedia article I chose to analyze is the cocoa bean. For the most part, everything appears to be on topic. If there is one thing that stands out from the rest of the article, it would be the section on child slavery. Although not irrelevant, it appears to be less focused on the main topic of the article itself, and shifts tones slightly. This section also appears to be the only section with a somewhat biased tone. Although it initially appears neutral, there is a clear emphasis on articles that point out the controversy with the issue, meanwhile still not trying to sound blatantly persuasive. On the same topic of child slavery, this section appears to have only the perspective of those that may view the issue negatively (although this is somewhat unsurprising).

Overall, the references appear to be functional. All the information seems to be well up to date. The most recent edit was this past August. The discussions occurring on the talk page appear to be a mixture of wondering how the article could be improved and asking for general knowledge on the topic of cocoa. The article has been listed as B-class, though it had previously been rated as good. It is also part of three wiki projects: Food and drink, Africa, and plants.

Introduction

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My name is Jacob. I am a Junior and history major from Illinois. I am most interested in learning about the silver trade in Latin America, as well as how silver functioned as a resource for the native populations in comparison with the Europeans.

This topic mainly interests me as my general area of interest is East Asia, and during the late 18th and 19th centuries, silver trade was a major part of commerce in that part of the world, and I am curious as to how the colonization of Latin America contributed to that.