State Government Building. 

Tulane Univeirsty Digital Library/ Box 17, Disk 4, Collenberg & Miller, Collection 50, CM5-17-166

The visual above depicts the state government building in the urban setting of Morelia, Mexico. The neo-classical architecture style for this governor’s palace is indicative of how the Mexican government aligns itself with European values and societies. The electrical grid system, and electric-powered lighting sticking outward from the building’s facade, are indicative of the efforts made by the Mexican government. Especially the effort of the government of Porfirio Diaz in modernizing Mexico. President Diaz personally put a heavy emphasis on grand modernizing projects across urban centers, and we see that displayed in the photo. “ A new opera house was under construction in Mexico City, government office buildings were going up throughout the downtown core, and electric lights and automobiles were everywhere on the city’s streets. Mexicans could also celebrate the success of massive engineering projects, including a drainage tunnel that emptied the waters of the Valley of Mexico, ending the threat of malaria in the capital city. Though it had slowed in recent years, Mexico’s economy had been growing spectacularly since the 1880s, bringing new agricultural wealth, new mines, and even an emerging industrial sector. Díaz covered the city in lights to mark these achievements.” (98 Dawson) Even if the rural areas weren’t exactly experiencing the same increase in the standard of living the urban centers were, Mexico wasn’t alone. Several other Latin countries had their urban centers at the forefront of modernization efforts to achieve material progress using positivism as a framework. Some leaders, such as Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, President of Argentina, even went as far as to hold rural living people as backward. Domingo would go as far as to describe his contempt for people he felt were opposite to the modern urban centers embracing liberal free markets and European-style progress. In Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism, Domingo makes his stance clear, “As for the city man of Argentina, he wears a European suit and lives a civilized life. In the cities there are laws, ideas of progress, means of instruction, municipal organization, and regular government. Outside the cities, the look of everything changes.” (139 Wood) Domingo has an underlying belief that his nation needs to overcome its backwardness through a government immigration project. This thinking isn’t dissimilar from Profiorio Diaz’s wanting to progress his country through government modernization projects. In the case of both men, they prized the urban modern centers they were working on modeling from European societies.

Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019.

Dawson, Alexander S. Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022.

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A11356

I provided the link because the image was not downloading even after a screenshot. I apologize for that.

During the late 19th century, Latin America was becoming modernized and expanded dramatically economically. As they were expanding, it led to them being noticed and foreigners wanting to come and explore a life in Latin America. The image above shows an American legation in Lima, Peru. It’s a building with multiple floors and has an American flag on top. As Latin America improved, the US and Europeans definitely made an impact with their presence by arriving in all around these countries. There were both positive and negative consequences to foreigners arriving here and becoming economically and politically involved. The building and the flag in the picture mainly represents foreigners (mainly US and Europeans) in Latin America and the pros/cons that come with it. 

One positive consequence that foreigners had on these countries was economically. There was a lot of exporting done due to demands that were being made for their materials. Different areas of Latin America profited off of different exports. For São Paulo, Brazil “the physical and chemical qualities of the soil permitted extensive coffee planting. The relatively high productivity of labor, the vast size of the area planted, and the use of European immigrants who demanded monetary wages favored the creation of a modern infrastructure” (Wood 269). This shows how the foreigners who provided labor led to this mass production leading to economic growth. Towards the end “Sao Paulo highlands supplied two-thirds of the total world coffee input” (Wood 269) which is a great number when it comes to exporting goods. Overall, foreign influence had a positive impact on the lifestyle for all social classes since the country was doing great. 

Another event this picture connects to is the Cholera that was spread in Argentina. A ship from Italy that held double the holding capacity, came into Tucuman risking the disease since everybody was cramped up and easily was able to spread. At first they planned to quarantine the ship but “these plans fell apart due to political pressures” (Dimas 128). The reason this happened was because an Argentine political official who wanted to attend the ceremonies was on the ship. Political friends helped him leave the same day the ship arrived, so “Immediately all remaining passengers demanded their release from the quarantine, and by October 15th the ship was empty” (Dimas 128). So the ship was completely empty after only 3 days of arrival and due to the poor decision of the ship by holding double the capacity, cholera cases began to spread all over leading to thousands of deaths in a matter of months. This is when the Red Cross workers arrived which ultimately led to the debate on who they should trust. There were disagreements between the national doctors and local doctors, some people even believed that the American doctors were poisoning them so in Tucuman “once the Red Cross workers arrived, locals attacked and killed them” (Dimas 165). This goes to show the conflict and negative consequence of neocolonialism and foreign influence coming into these countries, there was a lot of mistrust and miscommunication between both groups.

Works Cited

Dimas, Carlos S.. 2022. Poisoned Eden : Cholera Epidemics, State-Building, and the Problem of Public Health in Tucumán, Argentina, 1865-1908. Lincoln: Nebraska. Accessed October 20, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Wood, James A., and Anna Rose Alexander. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

The Aztec calendar is based on the Mayan calendar which was mostly used in the Valley of Mexico in the center of the country and consisted of a ritual cycle and a civil cycle. It was rediscovered in 1790 and mounted on the tower of the Catedral Metropolitana until 1885.  This Aztec calendar today Is an image connected to Mexican nationalism and identity. Then the independence movements of Latin America formed, these indigenous images were closely tied to the New Mexican national identity. When Mexico began to form its own national identity, most denounced Spanish colonialism and favored new growing national cultures. These national identities allowed them to see themselves apart from Spanish colonialism but rather as a new identity as Mexicans. This new identity was based even on events that had occurred before the Spanish were involved in the Americas, and used local native culture as a claim to this new found identity. These images of Aztec and Mayan warriors, the Aztec calendar and other local traditions were used as a precedent to identify themselves as being victims of the Spanish crown, just like the Indigenous were. These rebels who looked to rally people behind a national identity did not see themselves as being connected to the Spanish crown but rather saw their lives as being rooted in America. Later this new identity attempted to erase the ethnic differences of those who lived within its borders in order to rally support behind the newly created Mexican identity. It began to downplay colonial divisions and in attempting to unify the colony opted to create a new identity which severed its ties with Spain. After the Hidalgo revolts liberals wanted federalism, free trade and to dismantle conservative institutions, specifically  the Holy Catholic Church.  This gave way to reactionary inclusions in the writing of new constitutions which allowed for more universal citizenship. Afterward, the breakup of the ejido was an attempt on part of the government to allow indigenous persons to become “regular” citizens but ultimately resulted in a system that tied them to subservient subjects and created a land grab that left them with nothing. Previously caudillos had assisted in building national identity through parades, parties, dances and local traditions were celebrated. By the 1850s industrialization was so intense that Mexico could no longer remain isolated. The rise in liberalism ultimately followed the European scientific explanations of race and Latin America initiated a campaign to be seen as a competitor to European powers. It is clear that Mexico and other countries felt pressured to reflect European ideology and afterward began to restrict the rights of marginalized persons in the country. Mexican elites favored positivism which included the material goals of liberalism but it did not reflect its political goals. Europeans viewed other races as primitive and attributed the differences in races as notions in the times, they believed that they have the ability to modernize with the end result being the current European society. Those who did not agree were viewed as rejecting progress. Elites agreed that when the masses were educated  the voting rights would be expanded. The rise of civilian government created deduction in civilian government participation. Today lighter skinned Mexicans receive preferential treatment against darker skinned Mexicans, as there is a legacy carried on of light skinned being interpreted as more modern and capable. The European elites preferred a form of liberalism in which marginalized groups were excluded. This exclusion rendered the elites control over the government and consequently the economy and distribution of wealth. This subset of liberalism preaches universal participation in one’s government while discrediting non-european voices using tactics to marginalize these minorities, especially after efforts in Latin America to produce new national identities. According to this ideology, a country led by indigenous peoples could only ever be considered as “other,” never to be potentially equal on the world stage. By gravitating toward the new European scientific explanation for the differences in races, they took a step backward in an attempt to appear “modern” and compete with Europe. This forced them to adopt a system that practiced that it was best for Europeans to have a sole rule, as they knew what is “best”. In reality this strategy was not beneficial for those of non European peoples of Mexico, but it was what was necessary in their eyes to survive.

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A1

This image that I selected is from Costa Rica in the 1890’s and is of a group of workers harvesting bunches of bananas for the United Fruit company. I chose this image because I like how it shows the conditions of the work of these workers for Tropical Agricultural goods. Goods such as bananas would eventually be mechanized but at this point it required more effort from workers for very low wages. They could have easily mechanized this process to avoid the exploitations of people desperate for work. The United Fruit company took advantage of the indigenous people of Costa Rica as they did not have many other options. There was a large increase in the demand for bananas which lead to a massive increase to the economy in Costa Rica but yet they still refused to make these changes. The United Fruit company became a large part of Costa Rican economy due to them taking advantage of the climate in Costa Rica to mass produce these tropical goods. They took advantage of the fact that the indigenous people could not come up with any other methods so typically they were forced to continue to use the traditional methods because they had no other options.(Woods, 269). This would have been one of many areas that had conditions such as these as nations such as Costa Rica grew many other goods such as coffee so the people of Costa Rica where being suffocated by The United Fruit company and forced into working into those plantations that they owned. The Costa Rican government had no other choice but to allow The United Fruit company to create these plantations because they needed the boost to their economy because they had little chance of doing it themselves without their intervention in the economy. It had gotten to the point where about 14% of the fruits and vegetables where being exported from nations in Latin America such as Costa Rica.(Woods,270) This was the beginning of Latin Americas economic boom that would not have been possible without this situation.

Referenced: Wood, & Alexander, A. R. (2019). Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

This image depicts the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, which represents the modernization of Argentina. For the Liberal Elites, this city represents what the intellectuals viewed as progress in their society. Argentina went through a period of time in which European intellectuals began to introduce ideas to their country. Liberal Elites had begun to take into consideration the ideas that intellectuals brought, such as visual similarities with European countries, with France being the main comparison. “The more the capital city architecturally resembled Paris, then ipso facto the greater degree of progress that particular country could proclaim.” (Wood, 135). In Buenos Aires, the city had gone through a great deal of infrastructure change as observed by the Liberal Elites. “The neocolonial system that arose in the late nineteenth century drove Latin American elites, those with the power to shape the states and societies in which they lived, toward the cultural values of modernizing Europe.” (Wood, 131). Europe’s rapid architectural and technological change “awed most of the impressionable Latin American cosmopolites who clamored to replicate the process in their own localities, to graft the novelties on the quite different political, social, and economic institutions and realities of the New World.” (Burns, 135). For liberal elites, their goal was for their cities to resemble European cities, as it would show that they have managed to make progress in the new world both intellectually and for society. 

As Argentina went through the modernization of their infrastructure, there was the idea of Africans and indigenous people being an obstacle to the progress of modernization. Across Latin America, some governments “felt perfectly correct in forcing the Indians to labor for them under the rationalization that it fostered contact with the elites and thus exposed the Indians to the indubitable benefits of European civilization.” (Burns, 136). In Argentina, however, the government took their own stance to deal with the natives of the land by getting rid of them.  Argentina launched their “Conquest of the Desert” where the Argentinian army killed the natives of the land in order to achieve the government goal of turning the newly deserted land to “markets of wealth and flourishing towns, in which millions of men, may live rich and happy.” (Burns, 138). The Argentinian government justified their action towards killing the natives by claiming that, “Destroying these nests of land pirates and taking possession of the vast region that shelters them, you have opened and widen the horizons of your country toward the South-land, tracing as it were with your bayonets an immense field for the development of future greatness.” (Burns, 138). In place of the indigenous people, the government of Argentina opened its borders to European immigrants who, in the eyes of their government, were “the principal element of order, and the main hope for the future that Argentina possesses today.” (Burns, 139). Despite intellectuals in Argentina claiming that the modernization of their country depends on further civilization, the liberal elites caused the deaths of the many indigenous people that once lived in their country, which consequently makes the elites seem more barbaric rather than progressive. Overall, the modernization of Argentina brought progress to their infrastructure but at the same time, it also brought harm to its indigenous people.

Works Cited:

Wood, James A. and Anna Rose Alexander, editors. Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations. 5th ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A11638

With the threat of imperialism still looming in the world during the late 19th century, Liberals in Latin Americas wanted to prove to the world that their nation was progressing. Liberals had created new projects in Latin America to improve the economy of the nation. Latin American nations had become exporters with their raw materials such as coffee beans, sugar and rubber. Liberals had brought a free market economics to their port cities being able to trade with nations across the world. Countries from Europe, the US and other nations throughout the world wanted these materials from Latin America. With it Latin America had gotten strong around their ports, other big cities and mines. It also started to import more goods and start to build up industries. Liberals focused on these areas with new laws and other proposals mainly benefiting people who lived in the areas. New technology is starting to come up in the nations such as the railroad line we see in the photo above. However, the new modern states of Latin America did not benefit everyone who lived there.

This image shows how liberal projects did not always positively affect the people of their nation. In the left side of the image we see a railroad. The railroad shows that Latin America is building infrastructure across the country. This helps boost a country to move items or materials throughout the nation quicker and easier. Latin American nations were mainly exporters at this time with raw materials to European nations and other parts of the world. This liberal project allowed success for many who dealt with trade in Latin America and definitely helped make them successful financially. On the right side of the image we do see a small, underdeveloped town in the rural parts of Latin America. The liberals did not make a big contributions to these parts of their nations. The people were very poor from the rural regions and most worked for the government. These people had to pay taxes to the government and when they could not pay they had to pay off their debt by working for the government. Sending materials and goods to ports so the government and other merchants can sell them and make a fortune. People began to feel disconnected from the government, since many were not allowed to vote and were not guaranteed protection. These same people had a positive relationship  with the caudillos. Liberals had made a big impact on Latin America’s economy, but it did fall short on the cultural aspects of its nation.

With Latin America’s fast growing economy it helped modernize and progress into the trading global markets. This did however, cause setbacks on the cultural aspect of their respective nations. Many in the countryside and rural parts of the nation felt disconnected with the liberals and felt cut out of politics. Many politicians focused on issues within cities and how to improve its global reputation than preserving its indigenous groups and economic mobility to those in the rural parts of the nation. 

Work Cited:

Dawson, Alexander S. Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022. 

The photograph demonstrated above shows a postcard with the Argentine flag on top and a picture of a park, specifically Palermo Park in Buenos Aires. There’s also a blue ribbon tied to the card on the left, perhaps a way to hold the card together. Lastly, probably the whole point of the card, is the message of salutation presented alongside the flag.

Being provided with this information, it can be deduced that this card was sent by an immigrant wishing to write to their family back home. Not rare for the time, similar to the United States, many Latin American countries wished to entice immigration into the country for development. Argentina, for instance, had liberals that espoused immigration as a good for the republic. As illustrated by Domingo Sarmiento in his work, Facundo Civilización y Barbarie, he viewed the Argentine frontier as a threat to nation creation, specifically a threat to progress and to combat this, European immigration was to be encouraged (Sarmiento 1845). For the Argentine, the perfect immigrant was of Northern European descent yet eventually, Argentina received many Southern European immigrants in the end. Much of the attraction to live in Argentina was its development of railroad systems and telegraphs which ensured greater involvement of the central government.

In addition to the topic of immigration, the photograph also reveals the rapid growth of cities. Once again, the need for maintaining cities can be found in Sarmiento’s work where he analyzed how in the cities, there are laws and progress whereas outside the cities, the way of life is different which do not meet European standards (Sarmiento 1845). In other words, cities were where modernization was concentrated and the countryside was meant to keep out those that were seen as hindering progress. Furthermore, markets were also a motivator for the growth of cities since after all, export booms mandate that places like city ports grow for the sake of making trade easier. Growing industries also created many manufacturing jobs within cities.