Month: October 2020

This is a picture taken of a Bahia woman, in the year 1896. Slaves were vital to Brazil’s economy at the beginning of the nineteenth century. During the nineteenth century, Brazil used slaves for gold and diamond mining, as well as for the emerging coffee economy around the area of São Paulo(Dawson,78). Due to pressure from Britain onto Portugal, to stop the slave trade around the 1830s, the gradual end to the slave trade started(Dawson,81). During the nineteenth century, Brazil imported 1.3 million slaves it also experienced many slave rebellions, especially in the year 1835, In Bahia, one of Brazil’s poorest regions(Dawson,81-82). Brazil’s government, unlike many of the surrounding governments, loosened colonial-era restrictions on slaves that limited free people of color, due to the increasing Afro-Brazilian population(Dawson,79). During this time, in Bahia, upwards mobility was occurring within free people of color, they had worked in agriculture, owned land, and controversially, even owned slaves(Dawson,84). It is noted that specifically in Bahia, Afro-Brazilians owned both sugar plantations and slaves in significant numbers(Dawson,84).

 

In this picture, the picture’s only description is that it is a woman from Bahia. From her appearance, she seems to have formal traditional clothing. From understanding how slavery evolved in Brazil, I believe this woman could have possibly moved away from Bahia, or even have acquired certain rights. In Brazil, former slaves were treated differently depending on where they lived. “In São Paulo, slaves tended to move away from their former masters. The libertos (former slaves) in this part of Brazil often demanded respect, an end to corporal punishment, appreciation for their family units, and wages that planters would not offer(Dawson,79).” Another interpretation of this picture could be that this woman was still in Bahia and in service of her former owner. “In Bahia, by the late nineteenth century one of Brazil’s poorest regions, former slaves often remained tied to their former owners, working on their estates as agricultural laborers, only migrating away from estates that suffered economic catastrophes in the aftermath of emancipation(Dawson,86).” Whether this woman moved away from Bahia or not, she was pictured and it is now a photograph that is documented in history. The topic of citizenship with this woman comes into question as well, due to Brazil’s complicated history with slavery. Brazil was a racially mixed society during the time, though Brazilians of color didn’t have full access to civil rights. “Moreover, because people of African ancestry could hope to move up the social hierarchy by acquiring wealth, prestige, and power, after 1889 a confrontational struggle for civil rights gave way to more individualized strategies of advancement. If you followed the rules of the system, you might get ahead. If you protested, you were certain to be left behind(Dawson,87).” This woman pictured above has many possibilities of what her history could have been. Whether she was a free slave, or fighting for freedom. Nonetheless, Brazil’s history of slavery can be discussed in detail by looking at this one photo of the woman from Bahia.

 

Dawson, Alexander. Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources. 2nd ed. Taylor & Francis, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central.

“Bahia Woman.” Bahia Woman | Tulane University Digital Library, digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:10732.

 

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A11108

This is a photo of Benito Juarez, a Mexican president that had served for several terms. After the collapse of the regime of Santa Anna, many young liberals, like Juarez, were leading the charge in the fight for the future of Latin America.

Juarez as a person was humble and modest in his demeanor and his attitude. It was naturally befitting that he would go on to become a lawyer. He saw many problems with the church and the aristocracy that controlled much of the economy in Mexico. He wanted many changes so that would change the current system of Mexico. However, his plans would be put on hold momentarily when the conservatives of Mexico obtained back their power in 1853 and exiled many liberals which included Juarez. Juarez would live in New Orleans from 1853-1855, about 2 years, before returning to Mexico when liberals took back control in 1855.  When Juarez returned, he joined the new government under Juan Alvarez as the minister of justice. Juarez made reforms for the poor so that the poor would be able to climb the social ladder and eventually create a middle class. When a new president was elected, Juarez was promoted to preside over the Supreme Court of Mexico. Juarez would be elected president in 1861 but was faced with many issues. Juarez intended to solve them but was interrupted through forces in Europe. Juarez was once again forced to leave Mexico and bide his time to return. When he did return, the people did not question his role as president but react with violence to his suggestion to change the constitution.

Juarez was a interesting figure to say the least. He had good intentions but one mistake turned his career south. Juarez would spend the rest of his days and his presidency trying to restore the peace in Mexico. But his end would come in the form of a heart attack in 1872.

Works Cited

Scholes, W. (2020, July 14). Benito Juárez. Retrieved October 13, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benito-Juarez

 

Tulane University Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. “Carvings at the base of the Cuauhtemoc statue.” The Latin American Library. https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A10441.

The challenge of establishing a national identity has been foremost in the concerns of the state since Mexico’s independence in 1821. Various Mexican governments have worked hard to establish and foster a strong national identity that combines its history of advanced and powerful indigenous kingdoms and empires and its European heritage. Many governments have worked to idealize the legacy of the indigenous population, especially the heritage of the Aztec Empire.

Following the rise of Porfirio Diaz to the Presidency in 1876, highly visible efforts were made to connect the new President’s rule with the Aztecs fight for sovereignty of against foreign invasion. In the 1860s, Mexicans had successfully evicted the latest attempted foreign rule with the defeat of the French imposed Maximillian I. Diaz had been a leading general in this battle for liberation. The restored Mexican government embraced the idea of resistance and resilience with commemorations such as this statue of Cuahtemoc. The last Aztec Emperor, Cuahtemoc, had been tortured and executed by the Spanish in 1521. This photo shows one of the reliefs at the base of the statue. Here the brave and stoic Cuauhtemoc has his feet put to the fire by the Spanish Conquistadors who press in on him and appear to mock him. His resolve and resistance elevate the status of the Mexican people. Above the relief is the name of Coanacoch, one of the rulers of Texcoco who was also executed with Cuahtemoc. Along with the reliefs are other iconographic images tied to the Mexican culture imbedded in the base and mounted around it. The statue was placed along the Paseo de la Reforma, a central thoroughfare of Mexico City. The boulevard had originally been constructed by Maximillian I and following his overthrow, the Mexican government renamed it after the liberal economic and political reform movement of the 1850s. The Diaz government placed of the statue on the boulevard to tie together the la Reforma movement, Mexican nationalism, and his modernizing regime into the identity of the Mexican people. In focusing on the heroism of the indigenous people of Mexico, the government publicly declared support for the liberal vision of respect for all citizens.

Under Diaz’s rule, the government attempted to implement further liberal economic reforms to free up capital and labor for investment in the economy. The irony was at the same time the Diaz was promoting a unifying vision of Mexican national identity that celebrated the historic roots of the nation, his government was expropriating the land of indigenous peoples to establish massive export producing haciendas. The indigenous people were brutally forced into peonage to work for the hacienda owners producing cash crops. By the end of Diaz’ rule, more than 50% of the land was owned by 1% of the population. These liberal economic policies would devastate huge numbers of indigenous persons across Mexico. In a country where the vast majority of people were peasant farmers, 97% of the population owned no land.* The economic growth of Mexico was built on the exploitation of the rural poor and indigenous peoples this statue was meant to exalt. Thirty-five years of Diaz’s dictatorial rule would lead many of the indigenous people of Mexico to join in a violent revolt against Diaz that sparked the Mexican Civil War in 1911. Millions would die in the Civil War and renewed attempts to create a lasting unifying national identity would be necessary.

* Alexander Dawson, “Latin America Since independence,” (New York: Routledge, 2015), 121.

This is a photo of the facade of the Zacatecas cathedral in Zacatecas, Mexico, taken between 1850 to 1900. The photo of this church is significant because it represents the Liberal and Conservative tensions after independence, specifically between liberals and the church. Before independence, the church exercised great power over political life, education, and civil code in Latin America. Liberalism believed in individual power since it was the key to human progress (Wood & Alexander, 103). Thus, they rejected the authority of the church since in their eyes it allowed no individualism. Along with that, it was viewed as an outdated institution who still held ties with Spain. In Mexico specifically, liberals began a movement called La Reforma to eradicate the power of the church. Analyzing this photo and its location, this church must have received enormous benefits since its inception. The church for decades were the largest landowners in Mexico and also benefited by paying no taxes whatsoever. Overall, this church was most likely exempt from civilian law. Benito Juarez, the liberal president during La Reforma, enacted new laws to delegitimize their power (Wood & Alexander, 104). However many churches, probably such as the one seen above, allied with conservative parties in Latin America. This in turn led to the Reform Wars, a civil war between liberals and conservatives which lasted from 1854 to 1861. Overall, this church must have had a significant role in not just political life, education, and civil code in Mexico, but also held great opposition toward the liberal government.

Works Cited:

1. Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=5743856.