Colonial Panama Essay

     Latin American Independence was the drive for independence from Spain and France by the Latin American people. There were many contributing factors that ultimately led to the uprising of Latin American colonies. Europe's strong hold on the economic and political life of Latin America, was creating friction between the Latin Colonies and the European nations. Eventually, this would become enough for the Latin American people and the drive for independence from France and Spain would begin.

They helped keep the area that they were living in running up to par and even the Africans that were militiamen were there to keep the cities safe. “Free mulattoes dominated trades such as shoemaking and tailoring in St. Augustine” (page 89) Juan Bautista Collins gives a good example on how black entrepreneurs could dominate. Collins started out just trading from butter to cattle and horses to slaves in various places in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The Africans in Spanish Florida worked while they lived there, they were not given any breaks but the work that they did either being a cobbler or a fisherman they still gave a great contribution to the group of people living around

Gomez magnifies the untold history of the African people throughout the book. The initial three chapters of this work are referred to as “Old World Dimensions” bring Africa’s independence, strength, and significance to the forefront. The remaining five chapters examines what he refers to as the “New World Realities”. In the beginning of the book he explains the grounds and power Africans possessed in the early Eastern (Mediterranean) world. Gomez stressed two key matters throughout the book. He makes prominent that the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century and the transatlantic slave trade that followed, unfortunately resulting in African Diaspora, was but the tip of the iceberg of who the people and their story. Africa and its citizens did, in fact, have a strong history prior the European’s arrival. Gomez turns to acknowledge Africa(ns)

Chapters three and four in Wolf Tracks, argues that despite the cultural elites dismiss the black influence on Panama and ignores its significance, they still relate the work to represent Panamanian culture, all while the black society attempts to shatter the false allegations that they do not exist in the idea of mestizaje. African art takes on a theatrical form in the shape of the red devil buses that contradict the old traditions of the ideas of mestizaje and order. The images illustrated in Chapter three, confirm the notion that the black influence is taking charge and trying to break down barriers by forcing everyone to experience and interact with the Afro-Caribbean culture.

Charles Beatty-Medina specializes in Latin American History and did extensive research in Latin America. He completed his doctoral dissertation is 2002, and taught at Harvard University 2001-2003. Currently, Dr. Charles Beatty-Medina teaches courses on African experiences in the Americas, the Atlantic World, Colonial Latin America,

of Blacks – their enslavement and freedom but it has not as yet been focused that this subject has far greater impact in Central and Latin America, thus the greater impact of blacks in Central and Latin America would be the main theme or argument of this paper. This book, Afro-Latin America by George Reid, is the first attempt to focus on this side of the African Diaspora. With remarkable skill George Reid Andrews has woven the history of people who came from Africa to South America – broadly speaking. He traces their path from slavery to freedom and how this in turn left its stamp on the politics, economics and

“The Slave Ship: A Human History” written by Marcus Rediker describes the horrifying experiences of Africans, and captains, and ship crewmen on their journey through the Middle Passage, the water way in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas. The use of slaves to cultivate crops in the Caribbean and America offered a great economy for the European countries by providing “free” labor and provided immense wealth for the Europeans. Rediker describes the slave migration by saying, “There exists no account of the mechanism for history’s greatest forced migration, which was in many ways the key to an entire phase of globalization” (10). African enslavement to the Americas is the most prominent reason for a complete shift in the

Cuba is an island located in the Caribbean Sea. The island is part of what is known as the Caribbean, due to its location in the Caribbean Sea and the islands located in the same vicinity. Islands like Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands border close by. The country is known for a vast amount of reasons. Cuba is full of beautiful landscapes, plentiful resources that are often exports (sugar cane and cigars) and a rich history, which dates back as far as 1492.

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Portuguese pushed into the Atlantic World in search of laborers and luxury goods, both of which they found in West Africa (AW 54). Initially these “adventurers”, as they were called, would simply kidnap people for labor from the coasts (AW 58). However, after

Throughout this chapter I will be talking about the differences of the plantation slave systems that took place in three different parts of the Americas. I will start by looking at the North of the Americas; the Southern states of the United States, I will then work my way towards the south by looking into slavery in Cuba and finally taking a look at slave systems in Brazil. These slave systems would be closely analysed through the time period from the 17th century to the 19th century and will be compared on the basis of economy according to their geography.

The Geography of Panama and the Panama Canal The Panama Canal is one of the greatest works of engineering and modern achievements of mankind. An all-water passage through the continental divide of the Panama region had been suggested since early Spanish colonial times of the 16th century. Today a canal that was cut through the Isthmus of Panama is a reality. It's presence has greatly affected Panama in many ways, politically, economically, and socially.

Central America Central America, just south of Mexico and North of Panama, consists of just six countries; Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Of those six, all share a distinct common history except for Belize. Belize for one is incredibly small, and while Spanish is the official language of other Central American countries, in Belize English is spoken. So throughout this paper as I carelessly say 'Central American' I am not including Belize whose history and development was far different than the others. Although Central America is located close to the United States in relation to the Eastern Hemisphere, our ways of life are indescribably different.

The American victory over the Spanish Empire in the War of 1898 signified a new shift in American history because the United States emerged as a new world power and acquired a significant amount of overseas territory. Despite the makings of a potential imperialistic state, Americans would deny the empire-building identity mainly due to the bloody conflict in the Philippines coupled with contradictions to the U.S. national narrative of self-determination and anti-colonialism.

The conventional narrative accounting for the demographic diversity of the Caribbean asserts that after the ‘discovery’ of the islands by Columbus, disease and maltreatment by Spaniards decimated the Indigenous populations. The assumed extinction of these Indigenous populations necessitated the securing of a new supply of manual labour capable of surviving in the tropics and working the newly established plantations and mines. This supply started with European migrants at first, but soon turned to West African slaves being imported into the colonies, and later from indentured servants imported from China and India. This narrative distorts a far more complex demographic evolution, and tends to overstate the power and agency of colonizing peoples from Europe, while framing the various ‘subordinate’ non-European peoples as either non-existent, or utterly lacking in agency of their own. This conventional narrative illustrates that the Caribbean exists in the North American public mindset as a vacation paradise populated by the descendants of the African slave trade and wealthy elites from around the world. And while this caricature is not wholly inaccurate, it does not come close to appreciating the existing cultural diversity found throughout the Caribbean, nor does it recognize the degree of cultural and demographic continuity from the pre-Columbian era. This paper will consider the various factors leading to the ethnic diversity evident throughout the region. In so doing,

    As described by Michael A. Gomez in “Reversing Sail”, the conditions of slavery in Haiti were degrading. In Saint Domingue, the increase in demand for sugarcane and indigo production increased a need for African slaves. So many slaves were needed, that between 1680 and 1776, 700,000 Africans were brought to