Reference no: EM133409836

The main idea of the course is to challenge the notions of history and the language that is used to put it together. In the case of Latin America, we will confront the concepts of discovery and invention. In the process of examination of this great moment in history, we will hear of "The Discovery of The New World" in terms that describe it as an adventure of unheard proportions, as an ongoing war, as an enterprise, as a religious mission or Crusade... Any interpretation will be subjected to language and its uses.

What we have come to know as America is the result of a series of events, confrontations, trades, invasions, alliances and betrayals that took place mainly in Europe. As for The New World, it is no secret that this "discovered" land was inhabited by natives that later on were called Indians and considered savages. They were called Indians due to a misconception, since Christopher Columbus and his people were convinced that they had arrived in India. The discoverers later realized their mistake but the name stayed to a point that all European nations used it to describe their own acquired territories in The Americas.

The inhabitants of these "new" lands were considered to be savages because their culture and customs were different. But the natives were nothing but savages; they were organized from simple tribes of gatherers (like the Tainos and Caribes in the Islands of the Caribbean Sea) to elaborated and complex civilizations (like the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans in Terra Firma)

It is fair to say that America is the result of the interaction between Europeans, natives and later other races and cultures, which is why I am more inclined to refer to this event in world history as an encounter of cultures. A civilization is not an isolated asteroid but a constellation; a series of objects, both tangible and intangible, that keep affecting each other.

Thanks to the chronicles and codices we will see how natives saw themselves and how they were described, invented or discovered by the Europeans. We will also analyze the reasons that motivated Spain to fund Christopher Columbus crazy proposal; how Columbus got a hold of these navigation maps and why was Great Britain, the French and the Dutch, the main colonizers and not Spain, who came first into this enterprise of conquest and colonization.

Culture in The Americas is tied to the exploitation of the new lands and its people (religious, economic, military); the creation of a new, mixed race (creoles, mestizos), and the tensions between the Americans and their colonizers. These tensions will (de)generate into a series of wars: of emancipation, independence, slave liberation, colonies domination. These violent movements will influence the creation of the different nations and states (the division of the continent) and their distinctive cultural aspects.

It is impossible to understand the independence movements in Latin America without considering the separation of United States from the British Empire. The Declaration of Independence of the US colonies was a strong example that was followed on some way by the colonies under the Spanish rule. Unfortunately, most Latin American governments will apply the constitutions for the benefit of certain class, usually the military or the bourgeoisie, and while these sectors will enjoy all the benefits, a huge part of the population was left with nothing. These inequalities would sparks revolutions in the search for a more democratic way to share the wealth.

Different schools of thought have Columbus as an adventurer, others as a murderer or dictator. What do you have to say about it?