Friday, December 23, 2011
Saturday, November 27, 2010
When Worlds Collide
An amazing documentary by Ruben Martinez that tells the story of the conquista not so much as the conquering of the Native Americans but more of an account of how European and Native American cultures interacted with one another, both positive and negative.
What makes this documentary the more interesting is the way in which it challenges the traditional narrative of European superiority to Native culture by demonstrating how Natives for all accounts and purposes invented corn and found a way to create the rich crimson color from the cochinilla bug. It discusses how the Natives used their genius to build around nature using nature as opposed to the traditional tearing down of nature to build up on nature. Given that Natives also did not have certain animals native to the New World that brought about certain diseases, the idea is posed in the documentary that perhaps the Natives had a more healthy diet and a longer life span than the Europeans on average.
It leaves us with a lot to think about...
A++
What makes this documentary the more interesting is the way in which it challenges the traditional narrative of European superiority to Native culture by demonstrating how Natives for all accounts and purposes invented corn and found a way to create the rich crimson color from the cochinilla bug. It discusses how the Natives used their genius to build around nature using nature as opposed to the traditional tearing down of nature to build up on nature. Given that Natives also did not have certain animals native to the New World that brought about certain diseases, the idea is posed in the documentary that perhaps the Natives had a more healthy diet and a longer life span than the Europeans on average.
It leaves us with a lot to think about...
A++
Why the social hierarchy of peninsulares, creoles, mestizos, mulattos, Native Americans, and Africans?
It stands to reason that any sort of policy or idea usually benefits one group over another. The beneficiary usually is the group that creates the policy in the first place. In the case of Spain's colonial empire, it is the people born in Spain that benefited from the social stratification of the New World.
The Spanish when colonizing the areas formally belonging to the Native Americans wanted to make one message clear: Our culture is superior to your own.
Perhaps they were intimidated by the engineering feats of the Inca and the Aztec empires. Indeed, they were one of the most centralized of Native American tribes.
At the top of the social hierarchy were what were called the peninsulares, or Spanish born. Think of the Spanish as being born on the Iberian peninsula and you'll see why they are called peninsulares.
The assumption is that these peninsulares are all of light complexion and therefore easily identifiable as being the creme de la creme of this social hierarchy in the New World. You'll see why in a bit.
Next on the social ladder are the creoles, or descendants of Spanish born parents. These are individuals who are considered socially inferior to the peninsulares simply based on where they were born, in the New World.
Top government jobs were reserved not for the creoles, but for the peninsulares. This would lead to social conflict in the future as enlightenment ideas crept into the minds of learned creoles who then questioned the status quo.
The peninsulares or Spanish born who came to the New World obviously did not find an unoccupied land with no culture to call its own.
Native to the New World were Native Americans as diverse if not more diverse than the Europeans themselves. As said earlier, these Native Americans were used as slaves of the Spaniards forced to work under the encomienda system enabled by the Spanish King and Queen. Having no standing army in Spain to defend and sustain this newly established empire, Spaniards were granted the right to use Native Americans to labor in the New World in search of gold and silver, and to provide Spain with the raw materials needed to bring wealth to the Mother Country.
In order to justify such enslavement then, Native Americans needed to be seen as less in the eyes of the Spanish born. When the abuse became so bad that a friar by the name of Bartolome de las Casas complained about it, the Native Americans were then replaced with Africans to continue to the exploitation of the New World. This is why pure Native Americans and Africans were considered to be the lowliest within the caste system set up by the Spanish Crown.
However, we then have the question of the mestizos and mulattos. What about them? Perhaps the reason they are one step above the pure Africans and Native Americans is because they have a hint of European blood within them. Whereas the creoles were discriminated against simply because of where they were born, the mestizos and mulattos were discriminated against based on who they were.
Domination of the Native and African groups could be forced by the Spanish with labor systems or by race mixing. By blending Native blood with European blood and bringing into the New World the mestizos, Native Americans have an incentive to identify with their colonizers as is the case with the mulattos who were a mix of African with European blood.
Perhaps even the bottom rung of the social hierarchy, the pure Africans and Natives, were given the opportunity to give in to their colonizers by bearing their children. Thus the forgering of the Native and African cultures would solidify the presence of the Europeans forever.
This racial division was intended to keep a system of labor going. So I wonder sometimes, given the reality of which groups sometimes have the majority of the wealth, is this still true today?
The Spanish when colonizing the areas formally belonging to the Native Americans wanted to make one message clear: Our culture is superior to your own.
Perhaps they were intimidated by the engineering feats of the Inca and the Aztec empires. Indeed, they were one of the most centralized of Native American tribes.
At the top of the social hierarchy were what were called the peninsulares, or Spanish born. Think of the Spanish as being born on the Iberian peninsula and you'll see why they are called peninsulares.
The assumption is that these peninsulares are all of light complexion and therefore easily identifiable as being the creme de la creme of this social hierarchy in the New World. You'll see why in a bit.
Next on the social ladder are the creoles, or descendants of Spanish born parents. These are individuals who are considered socially inferior to the peninsulares simply based on where they were born, in the New World.
Top government jobs were reserved not for the creoles, but for the peninsulares. This would lead to social conflict in the future as enlightenment ideas crept into the minds of learned creoles who then questioned the status quo.
The peninsulares or Spanish born who came to the New World obviously did not find an unoccupied land with no culture to call its own.
Native to the New World were Native Americans as diverse if not more diverse than the Europeans themselves. As said earlier, these Native Americans were used as slaves of the Spaniards forced to work under the encomienda system enabled by the Spanish King and Queen. Having no standing army in Spain to defend and sustain this newly established empire, Spaniards were granted the right to use Native Americans to labor in the New World in search of gold and silver, and to provide Spain with the raw materials needed to bring wealth to the Mother Country.
In order to justify such enslavement then, Native Americans needed to be seen as less in the eyes of the Spanish born. When the abuse became so bad that a friar by the name of Bartolome de las Casas complained about it, the Native Americans were then replaced with Africans to continue to the exploitation of the New World. This is why pure Native Americans and Africans were considered to be the lowliest within the caste system set up by the Spanish Crown.
However, we then have the question of the mestizos and mulattos. What about them? Perhaps the reason they are one step above the pure Africans and Native Americans is because they have a hint of European blood within them. Whereas the creoles were discriminated against simply because of where they were born, the mestizos and mulattos were discriminated against based on who they were.
Domination of the Native and African groups could be forced by the Spanish with labor systems or by race mixing. By blending Native blood with European blood and bringing into the New World the mestizos, Native Americans have an incentive to identify with their colonizers as is the case with the mulattos who were a mix of African with European blood.
Perhaps even the bottom rung of the social hierarchy, the pure Africans and Natives, were given the opportunity to give in to their colonizers by bearing their children. Thus the forgering of the Native and African cultures would solidify the presence of the Europeans forever.
This racial division was intended to keep a system of labor going. So I wonder sometimes, given the reality of which groups sometimes have the majority of the wealth, is this still true today?
Friday, November 26, 2010
How did Spanish colonial policy affect the Spanish settlers, Natives, and African peoples living in the colonies?
For the Spanish settlers, they were pretty much not allowed to trade with any other European country but Spain. This is what many European countries did to their colonies in order to increase their profits. As a matter of fact, many "mother countries" exploited their children or "colonies" by practicing an ecomonic policy known as mercantilism. Using this economic policy, colonies provided the colonizing country with the raw materials necessary to create finished goods. The colonizing country would then ship back the finished good to sell to the colonies for profit. In other words, the colonizing country would export more than it would import. This was done to increase its supply of gold and silver and thus increase its wealth.
For the Native Americans, they were forced to work in search of the gold and silver that the Spanish Crown demanded from the explorations of the New World. If the Spanish government could not increase their wealth from having a monopoly on trade with the Spanish colonies, they would increase their wealth by exploiting the Natives for whatever valuables they had left. This forced system of labor was called the encomienda system. Whether the Natives died from the harsh working conditions, European disease, or a combination of both, they were easily replaced with by thousands more Natives who were commanded by the conquistadors to work in the name of Spain.
If Natives were not working as slaves for the Spaniards, they were forced to work as peons, or workers who had to work for a landlord to pay off a debt. The Natives were provided with food or items that they would never be able to pay back, thus making them virtual slaves to the Spanish. This system was more easily justified as technically providing the opportunity to pay off a debt that was self-incurred but in practice only really benefitted the creditor.
As for the Africans, they were imported by the millions after the Friar Bartolome de las Casas suggested that they take the place of Natives in providing the labor the Spanish claim they needed. Reportedly, they not only worked as slaves but also field hands, miners, or servants in the houses of wealthy landowners or as skilled artisans, artists, and mechanics. The experiences for Africans, like other groups, depended on their particular situation. Some Africans were able to purchase their freedom. However, this would be the exception to the rule. Spain colonial society had already established a social hiearchy in the Americas in which only the peninsulares, or Spanish born, were able to obtain top government jobs. These creme de la creme were then followed by the creoles who were the children of Spanish born parents. Next in the hiearchy were the mestizos and mulattoes, or mixes of Spanish blood with Native American blood and African blood, respectively. Lastly, at the bottom rung of the social hiearchy were the pure Native and African people. In the Spanish colonies, these last two groups would literally be the last to enjoy the abundance of the land and the opportunity to make a good living for themselves.
For the Native Americans, they were forced to work in search of the gold and silver that the Spanish Crown demanded from the explorations of the New World. If the Spanish government could not increase their wealth from having a monopoly on trade with the Spanish colonies, they would increase their wealth by exploiting the Natives for whatever valuables they had left. This forced system of labor was called the encomienda system. Whether the Natives died from the harsh working conditions, European disease, or a combination of both, they were easily replaced with by thousands more Natives who were commanded by the conquistadors to work in the name of Spain.
If Natives were not working as slaves for the Spaniards, they were forced to work as peons, or workers who had to work for a landlord to pay off a debt. The Natives were provided with food or items that they would never be able to pay back, thus making them virtual slaves to the Spanish. This system was more easily justified as technically providing the opportunity to pay off a debt that was self-incurred but in practice only really benefitted the creditor.
As for the Africans, they were imported by the millions after the Friar Bartolome de las Casas suggested that they take the place of Natives in providing the labor the Spanish claim they needed. Reportedly, they not only worked as slaves but also field hands, miners, or servants in the houses of wealthy landowners or as skilled artisans, artists, and mechanics. The experiences for Africans, like other groups, depended on their particular situation. Some Africans were able to purchase their freedom. However, this would be the exception to the rule. Spain colonial society had already established a social hiearchy in the Americas in which only the peninsulares, or Spanish born, were able to obtain top government jobs. These creme de la creme were then followed by the creoles who were the children of Spanish born parents. Next in the hiearchy were the mestizos and mulattoes, or mixes of Spanish blood with Native American blood and African blood, respectively. Lastly, at the bottom rung of the social hiearchy were the pure Native and African people. In the Spanish colonies, these last two groups would literally be the last to enjoy the abundance of the land and the opportunity to make a good living for themselves.
What is the difference between a continent and a country?
Apparently, at least one member of the Wiley family and a member of the Shiro family was confident that Europe or Africa are countries. I post this here so that we do not repeat their same mistake. As the old addage goes, those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.
According to an online dictionary, a continent is "one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica)."
According to the same source, a country is "a state or nation: What European countries have you visited?"The idea is that there are many countries within a continent.
This concept at least is pretty basic. A more interesting question for a future blog may concern what exactly makes a country a country. For example, why is Lesotho in Africa considered a country and Texas just a state within the United States? Considering the sizes of some of these countries I wonder sometimes what exactly constitutes a country as opposed to a city like New York City or a state as in the state of New York?
Is it merely a declaration of political independence from a higher governmental authority? I wonder...
According to an online dictionary, a continent is "one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica)."
According to the same source, a country is "a state or nation: What European countries have you visited?"The idea is that there are many countries within a continent.
This concept at least is pretty basic. A more interesting question for a future blog may concern what exactly makes a country a country. For example, why is Lesotho in Africa considered a country and Texas just a state within the United States? Considering the sizes of some of these countries I wonder sometimes what exactly constitutes a country as opposed to a city like New York City or a state as in the state of New York?
Is it merely a declaration of political independence from a higher governmental authority? I wonder...
How many countries does Africa have?
How many countries does Africa have?
A. 52
B. 53
C. 54
It depends on what source you are looking at, I guess. Rather than ask this question directly to the almighty Google, I typed "list of African countries" to see what would come up. When I did, the wikipedia article showed what it called a "List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa." According to wikipedia then, the answer would be "A." I then looked at another website and when I clicked on the list of African countries under buzzle , it showed me 54 countries. According to this website then, the answer would be "C." If you try to learn African geography using a website like sheppardsoftware you will find that the website has listed 53 countries to be practiced, thus making "B" the correct answer. Looking into the history of the continent of Africa would probably provide more answers to why the number of countries is so spotty. Interestingly enough, after I printed a blank outline map from another website to practice my geography, I noticed that the outline map was missing the country of Eritrea. Either way, below is a table with 54 African countries listed for your viewing pleasure.
A. 52
B. 53
C. 54
It depends on what source you are looking at, I guess. Rather than ask this question directly to the almighty Google, I typed "list of African countries" to see what would come up. When I did, the wikipedia article showed what it called a "List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa." According to wikipedia then, the answer would be "A." I then looked at another website and when I clicked on the list of African countries under buzzle , it showed me 54 countries. According to this website then, the answer would be "C." If you try to learn African geography using a website like sheppardsoftware you will find that the website has listed 53 countries to be practiced, thus making "B" the correct answer. Looking into the history of the continent of Africa would probably provide more answers to why the number of countries is so spotty. Interestingly enough, after I printed a blank outline map from another website to practice my geography, I noticed that the outline map was missing the country of Eritrea. Either way, below is a table with 54 African countries listed for your viewing pleasure.
| Countries | Capitals |
| 1. Algeria | Algiers |
| 2. Angola | Luanda |
| 3. Benin | Porto-Novo |
| 4. Botswana | Gaborone |
| 5. Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou |
| 6. Burundi | Bujumbura |
| 7. Cameroon | Yaounde |
| 8. Cape Verde | Praia |
| 9. Central African Republic | Bangui |
| 10. Chad | N'Djamena |
| 11. Comoros | Moroni |
| 12. Congo, Democratic Republic of (Congo-Kinshasa) | Kinshasa |
| 13. Congo, Republic of (Congo-Brazzaville) | Brazzaville |
| 14. Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | Yamoussoukr |
| 15. Djibouti | Djibouti |
| 16. Egypt | Cairo |
| 17. Equatorial Guinea | Malabo |
| 18. Eritrea | Asmara |
| 19. Ethiopia | Addis Ababa |
| 20. Gabon | Libreville |
| 21. Gambia | Banjul |
| 22. Ghana | Accra |
| 23. Guinea | Conakry |
| 24. Guinea-Bissau | Bissau |
| 25. Kenya | Nairobi |
| 26. Lesotho | Maseru |
| 27. Liberia | Monrovia |
| 28. Libya | Tripoli |
| 29. Madagascar | Antananarivo |
| 30. Malawi | Lilongwe |
| 31. Mali | Bamako |
| 32. Mauritania | Nouakchott |
| 33. Mauritius | Port Louis |
| 34. Morocco | Rabat |
| 35. Mozambique | Maputo |
| 36. Namibia | Windhoek |
| 37. Niger | Niamey |
| 38. Nigeria | Abuja |
| 39. Rwanda | Kigali |
| 40. Sao Tome and Principe | São Tomé |
| 41. Senegal | Dakar |
| 42. Seychelles | Victoria |
| 43. Sierra Leone | Freetown |
| 44. Somalia | Mogadishu |
| 45. South Africa | Pretoria |
| 46. Sudan | Khartoum |
| 47. Swaziland | Mbabane |
| 48. Tanzania | Dodoma |
| 49. Togo | Lomé |
| 50. Tunisia | Tunis |
| 51. Western Sahara | El-Aaiún |
| 52. Uganda | Kampala |
| 53. Zambia | Lusaka |
| 54. Zimbabwe | Harare |
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