What was the pro revolution perspective in Saint Domingue

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Kate A.

Lower class white people in Saint Dominique were also tired of the oppression and upper class rule that they faced. They were looking for a true democracy that was not centered around a single ruler. Saint Domingo was completely separate place than France, and should therefore be governed differently. The island should represented by the people who live there. The time has based where slavery is relied upon, and it it is a new day and age. Slaves and mulattos have every right to seek revenge for their horrendous previous treatment.

Class Notes November 8

Posted on November 11, 2017 by Kate A.

Today in Class we looked at the gender and racial hierarchy in Latin America, and how people can move from one position to another within their lifetime.

Before going into our class discussion, Ben spoke about how the Vice President of Venezuela’s National Assembly has sought refuge in the residence of the Chilean ambassador. He is banned from leaving the country due to crimes against him for leading protests against Maduro. Here he hopes to continue to work with the opposition party against President Maduro.

Lecture Notes:

American Anthropology Association
Three key messages when teaching about race
- Race is a recent human invention
- Race is about culture, not biology
- Race and racism are embedded in institutions and everyday life.
Looked at Jose de Acosta as a view of earlier colonial race
- Colonial anxiety of European rule over non European majority taking over.
- Assumption of indigenous unity used to rebell against European rule
  - Indigenous people are more united than the spanish “can all understand each other’s thoughts”
- Back into discourse about civilized versus barbaric outlooks on indigenous people
- People really believe that race is destiny
Spanish are really interested in dividing people up into castes “castas”
- Look at race, skin color and phenotype, class, place of birth, gender
- What it means to be a man what it means to be a woman
  - Woman: virgin till married, under control of husband, father, brother
- Took a look at casta paintings from the 1700’s that are observing the new world and explaining it to people back in europe
  - - Grid art peice that shows the results of different racial mixtures
    - Two Examples:
    - Jose Joaquim, magon, “Mestizo”
      - Shows family of different races wo all share the same status
      - All of these people are literate, mother son, and white man
      - All three have on fancy clothing
    - Andres de Islas “De Espanol e Nagra nace Mulatta”
      - White old guy resisting black woman about to hit him, mixed child holding mothers dress. Family dynamic are very different. Women in kitchen, people from african descent here for slavery. Much lower status in this image. Child dressed the same as the mom, implying that she inherited mother’s status
    - As the colonial order matures, people try to solidify roles and positions and social hierarchy
Next we took a look at convents in colonial Latin America
- Convents: Economically important, socially important
  - Importance of the economic role for convents
    - Katherine burn “colonial habits”
  - Religious prohibition for loaning money for interest
    - Worked by individuals giving land to convent, and they would give you money i return
      - Worked as a low interest loan. Convents are some of the only institutions you can borrow money from in these societies
    - Incredibly influential and controversial through the amount of money and land they owned and controlled
    - Source of hyper literate women who kept sources
    - Social divisions between nuns displayed through types of veils they wear. Not a utilitarian community.
  - Economic benefits for daughter who joins convent
    - Cheaper than dowry
    - Social status: connection to god
    - If she becomes a formal nun, she will not inherit property, which is cheaper for the family
    - Very respectable option that gives family prestige
    - Family network when it comes to controlling loans, access to loans

- Sor Juana
  - Sor: title, (Sister Juana)
  - Pg. 62
  - Beloved to historians and feminists
  - Ideas of gender intersexually
  - How is she performing gender?
  - Attracts a lot of attention for doing things she is not supposed to
  - Wants to dress as a boy and go to a university as a child
    - Shows desire for learning not allowed by society
  - Parents would often leave their daughters unexposed and uneducated in fear of distracting other people’s sons throughout their education
  - Pg. 64: distinction between women being inferior and intellectually inferior
    - “The secrets of nature I have discovered while cooking”
      - Women have a power of observation and making a chemistry experiment in the kitchen are restrained educationally

The People of Venezuela Feel Betrayed As The 2018 Election Takes An Unwanted Turn

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As Venezuela enters a new set of presidential elections, dissatisfaction, protests, and corruption continue to headline news sources worldwide. President Nicolas Meduro became president in 2013 after the the death of former president Hugo Chavez. Since then, Venezuela has experienced great turmoil. In the last four years, the economy has decreased by 25%, and the country is facing serious hyper inflation. Poverty has struck the streets, and people are struggling to feed their families. Violent protests started breaking out in 2014, and have continued into 2017. Still, the people of Venezuela feel muted under Menduro’s rule.

Increasingly, Venezuela’s opposition party has began speaking out and creating gridlock within the government, in order to prevent Meduro from passing measurements through parliament. Meduro responded to this in May 2017 by proposing an alternative assembly that would basically allow him unchecked and infinite power. While the opposition coalition, MUD did their best to fight back, the 2017 constitution assembly was sworn in on August 4th.

Now, going into the 2018 election MUD is going to have an more difficult time winning the votes. The constitution assembly has now created a system where two thirds of the representatives are elected by the municipal government, while only one third is elected by the remaining Venezuelan citizens. During last Sundays election on the 15th, the president won by a ratio of 17 to 5, completely contradicting the predicted outcome of 18 to 5. Venezuela was horrifically shocked by the results, and analysts are really questioning the integrity of the election. Recent evidence states that the government moved around 200 voting stations, in order to make it more difficult for voters to access. They also added the names of opposition candidates who had already lost in the primaries to the ballot.

The people of Venezuela are beginning to feel very desperate, and are even wanting to give up. While they want to fight and stand up for their rights, there is also a sense of reality and practicality that the citizens must consider. They are already facing devastating times, and people must consider their families who must be fed and protected. Protesting has caused very little change, and the Venezuelan people people are tired. People are even questioning whether or not to vote in the future. The system is so corrupt anyway, and voting can display a fake representation of Venezuela’s supposedly Democratic society.

I think that this event really shows how confusing governments in Latin America can still be, and how Western concepts can really confuse their systems of rule. While Venezuela is trying to use the Western Democratic system, people in high places are abusing their powers which has created a very flawed democracy that is doing more harm than good. I also found that like previous historical events, the people of country are the ones who face the most series consequences, and yet have the smallest voice. While they speak out and protest, they are risk their lives and jobs, and can easily be thrown down by people of higher powers.

https://www.ft.com/content/30a0ca04-0e1e-4170-a685-26417ee4fbf4

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/world/americas/venezuela-opposition-maduro-elections.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Famericas&action=click&contentCollection=americas&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront

Wikipedia Critique-Nahuatl Languages

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Kate A.

For my Wikipedia evaluation, I looked at the page on the Nahuatl languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The article began with a concise summary of what the Nahuatl languages were, and then branched off into the history and current status of the language, as well as the different branches and geographical locations that Nahuatl is or was spoken. I thought that the page was well organized. After a couple paragraphs of basic information, there were additional sections for the terminology of Nahuatl’s many varieties, a deeper look into its history, and multiple sections that broke apart learning the language.
I found the article to be unbiased and written with a very neutral tone. Then again the article did not cover a very controversial topic, so it was easier to stay unbiased. I also found that the content on the page was evenly distributed between each section. The vocabulary section could use a little more information, but for the most part every aspect of Nahuatl was thoroughly covered.
The links I checked brought me right to the correct pages. These pages were relevant to the Nahuatl language, and unbiased sources. One link brought me to the “General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples” which laid out the linguistic rights and regulations of indigenous people. There were two links of people’s names within the article that did not have a page set up yet.
To see if this article was up to date, I checked the modern history section, because I thought that would be the most prone to change. Most of the sources were from the early 2000’s. I didn’t see any sources from after 2010. I think this could possibly be an area that could use an update, since indigenous rights and support have changed a lot since the early 2000’s.
The talk page identified the Nahuatl section as one of the best articles featured on Wikipedia, which verified my positive overview of the page. I also found that the page was completed in 2008. The talk page had some edits, but I’m wondering if it could use a little more updating in some of the more current sections of the page.
Overall, this was a very good article that did a great job breaking down all aspect of the Nahuatl language in an unbiased way. The citing was accurate, and in the information was distributed fairly evenly throughout the sections. I think the current history and status of the language could use a little updating, but nothing on the page seemed to be inaccurate.

Introduction

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Kate A.

Hi! My name is Kate Atwell. I am Sophomore from Seattle Washington. I plan on majoring in either Anthropology or Sociology, with a minor in Spanish. At the college, I am a tour guide, part of the Woo Sang a cappella group, a member of Delta Theta Psi, and I recently joined the blue grass group on campus. Fun fact, I also made my own album of original songs this summer, and am hoping to perform my music around the Wooster community this year.

I enrolled in this class partially because it was recommended to me by a history major, but also based off my own personal desire to understand more about the roots of the America’s as whole. In my high school Spanish class, we learned a lot of 20th century Latin American history. I was honestly a little overwhelmed about all the information, and feel that it might make more sense if I could start from the roots of the history and culture. Additionally, I am considering studying abroad preferably in Argentina next year, and feel that having a little historical background would not be a bad thing.

Colonial Latin America

Fall 2017

Author Archives: Kate A.