Latin American History I

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to Spanish (and to a lesser extent, Portuguese) territories in the Americas from the pre-Colombian era through early independence. Students will explore the multiple impacts of European conquest and trace the development of these colonial societies during a long, complex, and often violent period of social, economic, and cultural transformation. Particular attention will be paid to understanding the creation of new multi-ethnic societies, and how the interchange of goods, people, and ideas following the invasion and conquest of the American continent fundamentally altered both Latin America and the world. Being the principal colonial heartlands, Mexico and Peru will be the primary focus; but developments in these regions will be compared with those in Brazil, the Caribbean, the Southern Cone, and the Northern Andes.