The Amistad was a Spanish ship built in Baltimore for the purpose of transporting slaves. For three years, it sailed the high seas delivering its cargo to various locations. But in August of 1838, a scandalous injustice was uncovered after the ship was seized by an American vessel, the USS Washington, a coast guard ship under the command of Lt. Thomas R. Gedney. Lt. Gedney and his crew towed the Amistad into a New England harbor in Connecticut where soon many controversies amounted and drama would unfold.
By far, Garcia Marquez's most acclaimed work is Cien Anos de Soledad or One Hundred Years of Solitude. As Regina Janes asserts, "his fellow novelists recognized in the novel a brilliant evocation of many of their own concerns: a 'total novel' that treated Latin America socially, historically, politically, mythically, and epically, that was at once accessible and intricate, lifelike and self-consciously, self-referentially fictive." <4> In it, the totality of Latin American society and history is expressed. Upon first reading, the novel appears to relate a regional history of the town of Macondo and the many generations of Buendias that inhabit it. This local
A Guatemalan native, a male graduate student that I work with in my research group at the University told this story. He came from the countryside, living in a small village back home. According to him, the story of La Llorona, involving a weeping woman, arose sometime in the 1700s and became well known both at school and home. Some claimed to have actually seen the weeping woman. Some disregard it as unscientific and implausible. No one is sure of the exact origin of this urban legend. This story was told to me and another graduate student in our research group while sitting in lab waiting for the experiment results. The story began as we started sharing our own background and the culture of our own countries when the storyteller
Don’t Eat the Bear: A Spanish adventurer named Gaspar De Portola in 1769 passed through a region what is now Santa Barbara. In the near by sand dunes he found a lake where he crossed passed with an “oso flaco”, a skinny bear. They were dying of hunger and ate the skinny bear not knowing it was poisoned.
Through the voice of Palo Alto, a mesquite tree, Elena Zamora O’Shea relates the story of one Spanish-Mexican family’s history, spanning over two hundred years, in South Texas, the area encompassing between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. As the narration of the Garcia’s family history progresses through the different generations, becoming more Mexican-American, or Tejano, peoples and things indigenous gradually grow faint. In her account of South Texas history, Elena devalues the importance and impact of Indians, placing a greater precedence on the Spanish settlers.
In conclusion, both “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “Amistad” are important stories that thoughtfully comment on the slavery issue. “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” points out the harsh conditions on the slave ships. The story of “Amistad”, African slaves and the trials they had to go through highlights the injustice of slavery. As Adams said “The natural state of mankind is instead-and I know this is a
In the 19th century there a two floored schooner named La Amistad, which is Spanish for “Friendship”. This schooner was built in the United States of American and was used by Cuba. In July 1839 there was a slave revolt led by captives from Sierra Leone. La Amistad was transporting these people to use as slave labor in Cuba. A man by the name of Cinque creatively used a nail to unlock his chains, and then his fellow captives. They were able to take control of the ship after having to kill the captain and other crew members that wouldn’t submit to their rule. They forcibly ordered the remaining crew to sail them back to Africa. The captives were outsmarted by the captives whom had control over the schooner’s directions. The remaining Spanish crew stir the ship to the coast of Long Island. The Mende people were arrested and imprisoned in Connecticut, were they waited during the court proceedings. Now is when the controversy began. The Spanish and there government ordered the U.S to return the slaves and there schooner as property. At the time in the U.S. slave trade was illegal so the U.S. governemnt refused to send back the Africans because technically there were free and not property. The court case United States v. Amistad in 1941 gained much popularity due to the subject matter of ownership and jurisdiction.
The selected work is "Golfe Juan," an oil-on-canvas painted by French artist Raoul Dufy in 1927. The painting measures 33" X 40" and is currently housed at the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum. In the painting, a single tree is rooted on a foreground terrace with a view of a seaside village that extends out onto a peninsula.
“Aguantando” means holding on. In the very first paragraph we see how important it is for the narrator, Yunior, to hold on to his father’s memory. Yunior lives with his mother (Mami), grandfather (Abuelo) and brother (Rafa). They live in a house where anything of value, including furniture, food, clothing and even Mami’s Bible is stained from a leaky roof. As a Hispanic male, believe me when I tell you there is nothing more sacred than Mami’s Bible in that home. Yet it is clear how important Papi’s pictures are because they’re always in a plastic sandwich bag to keep them dry. It’s also clear that Papi leaving was the
On Sundays after Mass- every single Sunday, Latinos gathered on parks to play soccer and have carne asada something that is very traditional in Mexican families my family could be an example of that. These parks were built with the money taken from the Japanese which speaking of now a day’s use these complexes too and this is where the two cultures met.
Spain during the 16th century has been described as a time of oppression, a time of exploitation of the subordinate class. For example, in the text of The Life of Lazarillo De Tormes a gluttonist priest offers Lazarillo scraps of an Eucharist bread, that was nibbled by mice. The priest tells Lazaro to take the bread, stating “There, eat that. The mouse is a clean animal.” This shows the how the higher class sees the lower class, it shows how they believe in offerings coming from them should be taken as a gift, even if a literal rodent has tampered with it. Most who could live during this this time usually were those who held high levels of intelligence and were also devious. Due to this, Lazarillo, being a man who holds the fore told
"La Malinche." Slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, mother of the first "Mexican." her very name still stirs up controversy. Many Mexicans continue to revile the woman called Doña Marina by the Spaniards and La Malinche by the Aztecs, labeling her a traitor and harlot for her role as the alter-ego of Cortes as he conquered Mexico.
Some five hundred years ago, ships began transporting millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. This massive population movement helped create the African Diaspora in the New World. Many did not survive the horrible ocean journey. Enslaved Africans represented many different peoples, each with distinct cultures, religions, and languages. Most originated from the coast or the interior of West Africa, between present-day Senegal and Angola. Other enslaved peoples originally came from Madagascar and Tanzania in East Africa
What an eye-opening film by Steven Spielberg! The movie, La Amistad, was based on historical events. Blacks from West Africa were captured and sold into slavery. They were put on a boat called the Tecora and later transferred to the clipper called La Amistad. Spielberg did a beautiful job in accurately recreating the events that lead to the historical court hearings of the imprisoned blacks. The hearings began at the state level. Then it was taken to the Supreme Court. Questions about slavery, equality, and freedom, sprung forth during the Amistad case. Not only was this case a milestone for the abolitionist movement, it also questioned the writings of the Declaration of Independence. Where all men created equal, like the constitution
One of the great architects in time was Andrea Palladio, who was made famous for his magnificent Villas built in Italy in the fifteen hundreds. To do so he drew from the Greek and Roman’s architecture, studying many of their finest works, to create his masterful villas. This process would develop into a style of architecture, which became known as Palladianism. This style has inspired buildings which have dominated the landscape for the last four hundred years. These buildings include: English castles, American public buildings, Swiss railroad stations, Spanish libraries, Tuscan villas and Canadian hotels. Many of these buildings are considered to be the great buildings of the world.