The articles “Rescued From Their Invisibility: The Afro-Puerto Ricans of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century San Mateo de Cangrejos, Puerto Rico”, “Contested Mestizos, Alleged Mulattos: Racial Identity and Caste Hierarchy in Eighteenth Century Patzcuaro, Mexico”, “Slave Morality and Reproduction on Jesuit Haciendas in Colonial Peru”, and “Human Capital and Other Determinants of the Price Life Cycle of a Slave: Peru and La Plata in the Eighteenth Century” all deal with the topic of changes in populations and its effects on various societies. Analysis on this overall topic included, racial identity, experiences of slaves and runaways, and slave statistics. Even though these works help in learning more about the history, experiences and struggles of African populations in Latin America, they do not reveal the entire history. They only have scratched half of the surface, in what is a continuous pursuit by scholars to uncover more information. David Stark and Aaron Althouse focus on African experiences in Puerto Rico, primarily in Congrejos. Stark discussed how African runaway slaves made their way into various parts of Puerto Rico to be free. Unlike men, who were willing to risk their lives to travel to Congrejos, Puerto Rico, many women did not desire to go. Many of them were worried about “leaving behind or having to care for young children and/or aged kin” (Stark 567). Despite their worries, women still went, because of the poor diet and terrible treatment of their former
In America today, there is a large and diverse African-American population. Within this population, there are several ethnic groups. The other ethnic group similar to Afro-Americans is Dominicans. Not only are they both minorities, but they also look similar as well. Both Dominicans and Afro-Americans are originally from Africa, but their slave masters separated them into two different cultures. African-Americans was African slaves of Americans, and Dominicans were African slaves of the Spanish. Hevesi of the New York Times says, "Dominican and Afro-Americans culture was formed from one ethnicity, Africans" (Hevesi 86). As a person of these two ethnic groups, I have two perceptions of my dual ethnicity. Among Afro-Americans’ and
On 7 June 1969, hundreds of Puerto Ricans gathered in Spanish Harlem, New York City to protest the arrest of Juan" Fi" Ortiz for a series of falsified crimes.[2] As a crowd gathered outside the People 's Church in El Barrio, Felipe Luciano addressed those assembled asserting that, " We will not allow the brutalization of our community to go on without a response. For every Puerto Rican that is brutalized, there will be retaliation."[3]Luciano 's statements were not ignored, and as the crowd filtered into the streets their shouts of Despierta, Boricua. Defiende lo tuyo filled the air.
Matthew Restall, a Professor of Latin American History, Women’s Studies, and Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He also serves the Director of the university’s Latin Studies. Throughout “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest,” he discusses many false truths that have been passed down through history. For instance, he discusses, “The Myth of Exceptional Men.” “The Myth of Spanish Army,” and “The Myth of Completion.” For the sake of time, I will discuss three myths that correlate with class lectures and serve as the topic of this paper, “The Myth of Exceptional Men,” “The Myth of the King’s Army,” and the “Myth of the White Conquistador.” It should be noted that Restall speaks to his audience assuring us that his “...his purpose is not to degenerate this technique of historical writing completely...Nor do I mean to create a narrative in which individual action is utterly subordinated to the larger structural forces and causes of social change.” (4). He states that his intentions are to react to more than just the works of Columbus, Pizzaro, and Cortez.
Between the 1500s and 1800s the Spanish controlled vast amounts of lands in the Americas. Their sovereignty extended from the southern tip of South America all the way up to the coast of California, along with various Islands in the Caribbean. Throughout the reign of the Spanish, racial diversity among the population impacted social stability. The elite’s determination to maintain power and lower classes’ aim for upward social mobility were constant struggles during Spanish rule. Since class was determined based on ethnicity, social stability was directly correlated with racial diversity.
Throughout the 16th century, as there was a demographic collapse of the indigenous population, there was now a new demand for slave labor in Latin America. In Brazil, the Portuguese needed a large workforce to cultivate sugar plantations. As a result, numerous slaves from Africa were imported to work on large plantation fields. In various plantations, rural slaves experienced harsh working and living conditions. Few slaves had a high life expectancy. Robert Edgar Conrad in “Children of God’s Fire,” shares some primary sources that dealt with the types of environments and conditions many slaves faced and encountered in Brazil. The sources also gave insight into the regulations and economics/business of the slave trade. Conrad states that rural Brazil was “a hell for blacks” (Conrad 54). Many slaves dealt with extremely harsh conditions just to keep the European market in Latin American growing and profitable. This paper will analyze how rural slaves lived and worked on Brazilian sugar plantations.
For decades, the history of Latin America has been shrouded in a cover of Spanish glory and myth that misleads and complicates the views of historians everywhere. Myths such as the relationship between natives and conquistadors, and the individuality of the conquistadors themselves stand as only a few examples of how this history may have become broken and distorted. However, in Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest Matthew Restall goes to great lengths to dispel these myths and provide a more accurate history of Latin American, in a readable and enjoyable book.
Hartford is the home to the highest percentage (27%) of Puerto Ricans in the country (Cruz, 5). Nonetheless, Puerto Ricans still face myriad challenges with respect to the integration and acceptance of their culture in Hartford. Although the PR community is only two generations old, Puerto Ricans have managed to both organize and mobilize in this relatively short time (Cruz, 2). Puerto Ricans have focused closely on their ethnic identity because they viewed their incorporation into the political sphere occurring only by means of asserting their difference (Cruz, 10). They have made their mark on politics in Hartford through demographic growth, development of leadership in the community, and their
One of the primary aspects of colonial Spanish life that is depicted in many Casta paintings, and represents signifiant racial tensions at the time, is the depiction of mixed race, or mixed nationality people, who are present, or the subjects of many Casta paintings. Although the Casta system, and the Casta paintings that depict this system encompass a wide and deeply complex racial hierarchy, there are some significant racial distinctions that are prominent in many Casta paintings. Some of the main racial and national distinctions seen in many Casta paintings are, Criollos (Mainly Spanish, or other Europeans who were born in America), Mestizos (A person with one Native American parents and one European parent), Mulatos (A person with one African parent and one European parent), and Negros (African). Although these terms would often be considered to be highly offensive in modern day America, they are culturally relevant, as they were commonly used at the time of the Casta system. This essay will explore the depictions of these four groups of people in Casta paintings, and how these paintings help to illuminate the racial tensions, hierarchies, and cultural changes occurring in Hispanic America during the 17th century.
Myths of Harmony by Marixa Lasso is a harrowing account of racial tension and deceit in the Age of Revolution in Colombia. The main theme of the book is that racial harmony is a myth that was cultivated during Colombia’s fight for independence (9). The author states that the lower classes were not any better off after the Revolution than before (4). The culture was known for caciquismo (patron-client relations) and fraudulent elections. These claimed racial equality, but in reality discriminated against certain races (4). Lasso discusses the role of the pardos - free Africans - community as a whole and their role in the political landscape. Racial identities were formed during the Age of Revolution by the struggles of the time period (152). The colonial wars during the Age of Revolution shaped the racial identities of numerous nations. Through racial visionaries, these nations chose a racial identity.
As I read Marilyn Halter’s book, Between Race and Ethnicity: Cape Verdean American Immigrants 1860-1965, I was able to develop a clear perspective of the Cape Verdean’s American voyage as well as their social and economic triumph. Prior to reading this book, I had no knowledge of the Cape Verdean people, unless they are very similar to the “Brazilians”. Marilyn intentions for her book was to address the social construction of Cape Verdean racial and ethnic identity and how the trials they experience while margining into American society. Cape Verdeans, a mix raced people group of Portuguese and African decent, struggled to attain and maintain their social identity in America, all while enduring isolation and ridicule from both Whites and Black in the new world. After reading this Halters book and her narrative depiction of the Cape Verdeans experience migrating to America. Just as many American immigrants during early 19th and 20th century, they were in search of an opportunity toward social mobility and sustainability while departing from the racial boundaries in their country. Though as soon as they arrived, the American society stressed the Cape Verdeans to choose to identified as white or Black? Little to their knowledge, their journey in search of prosperity immediately immersed them into the vulgar, racial divide between black and white Americans.
From Reséndez’s foundation of European enslavement and its far-reaching impact on Native American populations, Reséndez examined racial components in the southwest. It is impossible to separate racial tension from the study of Indian slavery. Christopher Columbus’s journals as contemporary letters show the Spanish perception of
Another large component of Puerto Ricanness is Race. All of the different cultures that have throughout history combined to form Puerto Rico effect their nationality, history, lifestyles, traditions, music, and foods.
Escaped Africn American slave, reform, abolsotionist, orator and writer Fredrick Douglas once said “Without a struggle, there can be no progress”. Fighitng for the equailty for slaves was Douglas greatest struggle that transform into a life changing vicotry for many Africn Americans. Like Fredrick Douglas, Esmerlda Santigo touching autobiographic called When I was Puerto Rican, elborates on the stuggles of the Santigo family in Pueto Rico but also their process and assimlation in the Uinted States. Through the eyes of Esmerlda, the reader is taken on a journey of family, conflct, lanuage boundaries, assmilation, dreams and sacfrice, which everyone can relate to in their lives.
To begin, although both articles explore slavery and its steps towards abolition in Puerto Rico they utilize different methodologies and present diverging causes and effects for its eradication in the 19th century. Iguina’s piece examines slavery from a social perspective by revealing the experiences of slaves on the sugar plantation La Esperanza, whereas Nowara analyzes slavery through rather economic and political lenses. Freedom in the Making argues that the driving
What was Puerto Rico like under Spanish rule, and how important is that rule to the formation of the Puerto Rican people today? To answer these questions, we must take a look at the history of the Spanish and their colonization of the island of Puerto Rico.