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Research project 2: Images of Latin America in the late 1800s and early 1900s

Building of the United Fruit Company

Tulane University Howard-Tilton Memorial Library of Early Images of Latin America Collection, Source: Box 10, Album 12, Costa Rica_03above, Building of the United Fruit Company.

This image depicts the construction of the United Fruit Company’s infrastructure in the Costa Rican port city of Limon. The archival description indicates that the image was created in 1890s. Within the picture, there are some buildings and trees in the background with a lot of land in front and center. At the center, there is a track or railroad that curves, with one end going left and the other pointed south. The construction of the railroad is part of an exchange made between the United Fruit Company and Costa Rica in 1880 for land that will be used to setup the production and export of bananas. The track is surrounded by construction materials, showing the beginning of the United Fruit Company process in building its infrastructure. At the bottom of the picture, there is text both in Spanish and English, stating that the construction of this company is at Limon. Limon is a province located in Costa Rica.

The United Fruit Company was created in a merger of the Boston Fruit Company and the companies held under Minor C. Keith. This newly formed merger aimed to capitalize on the growing demand for banana as a staple food in the United States. The United Fruit Company quickly expanded its operations in Central America, acquiring vast tracts of land to establish banana plantations in countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. The company developed a comprehensive infrastructure including ports and railroads like the one in the picture. Both port and railroad were used to facilitate the export of bananas overseas, effectively creating a profitable industry that would dominate the region’s economy for decades. However, the business practices of the United Fruit Company had negative impacts on the marginalized workers and the environment. “ The dynamic created by the epidemic [of plant-based pathogens led to] accelerated rates of deforestation in humid, lowland tropical regions, destabilized local economies, and indirectly heightened the incidence of malaria among plantation workers.”1 Still these issues were not of any concern to the United Fruit Company, until these plant-based diseases started ravaging their banana plantation. From that point onward, the United Fruit Company focused on developing a banana that is both disease-resistant and maintains its quality, while acquiring new land in Central America to make more banana plantations.

The United Fruit Company can be seen as a case study of the expansion of Latin America’s export-oriented economy, neo-colonialism with liberal ideas such as the promotion of free trade and minimal government intervention in the economy. The United Fruit Company minimize government involvement on their business by collaborating with local governments in Central America and manipulating U.S. foreign policy to protect its interests. “ In 1911, United Fruit sold its interests in three companies not under its direct management in an effort to placate U.S. government officials who were increasingly concerned about its business practices.”2 “In Central America, United Fruit and its main competitors-Standard Fruit and Cuyamel Fruit-used their economic muscle to gain political favors by hiring influential lobbyists, providing loans to cash-strapped governments, and, on more than one occasion, backing armed insurgents and/or military governments.”3 Minimal involvement in the business practices of the United Fruit Company led to massive control over the land, to the extent that made these countries dependent on the corporation. “ In 1926, United Fruit controlled around 650,000 hectares of land including 70,000 hectares of active banana plantations in the Caribbean and Central America. The fruit companies also financed the construction of hundreds of kilometers of railroad; employed tens of thousands of people; and operated stores, hospitals, schools, radio stations, breweries, and banks.”4 According to Standley, both a botanist and a critic of the United Company describes his observations from the Ulua River, Honduras in 1927-28: “Practically all of the land within this area that is fit for the purpose is covered with banana plants, which, however beautiful when standing alone or in moderate quantities, become exceedingly monotonous when massed in plantations many miles in extent.”5 Standley’s observations illustrates how the United Fruit Company’s export-oriented economy, transforms the geography of Honduras with the vast amount of the banana plantations.

Works Cited (Footnotes)

  1. John Soluri, “Accounting for Taste: Export Bananas, Mass Markets, and Panama Disease.” Environmental History 7, no. 3 (2002): 386. https://doi.org/10.2307/3985915.
    ↩︎
  2. Ibid, 390. ↩︎
  3. Ibid, 390. ↩︎
  4. Ibid, 391. ↩︎
  5. Ibid, 394. ↩︎

Work Cited (Bibliography)

Soluri, John. “Accounting for Taste: Export Bananas, Mass Markets, and Panama Disease.” Environmental History 7, no. 3 (2002): 386–410. https://doi.org/10.2307/3985915.  

    Categories
    Research project 2: Images of Latin America in the late 1800s and early 1900s

    Clergy

    Canónigo Don Juan Bautista Ormaechea. Tulane University Digital Library. Early Images of Latin America. Cruces y Campa Collection 63, Box 1, cyc_19.

    The image of Canónigo Don Juan Bautista Ormaechea visually represents the Catholic clergy’s influence in 19th-century Latin America, particularly in Ecuador. While Ormaechea himself was not directly connected to Ecuador, his depiction evokes the power and presence of clerical figures who played significant roles in spiritual guidance and political affairs. The clergy acted as spiritual leaders, intermediaries, and protectors who perceived their role as guiding Indigenous people “into the civilized world” by framing them as “spiritual infants” in need of Catholic discipline (Williams, 729). This legitimated the church’s authority to maintain spiritual and social behavior. They also enforced colonial order by reinforcing landowner interests and perpetuating inequalities. The critique of this system is articulated by liberal writers who exposed the “…nefarious consequences of landlord and clerical control…”, illustrating how this alliance perpetuated inequalities and hindered Indigenous emancipation (Williams, 731). The liberal critique emphasized the need to diminish the church’s power for meaningful social progress and equality, challenging the pervasive clerical influence over social hierarchies and Indigenous rights.

    In mid-19th-century Ecuador, liberal political projects challenged the church’s extensive influence over Indigenous communities. President José María Urbina led reforms aimed at protecting Indian pueblos from exploitation, such as by emancipating Indigenous populations from “clerical tutelage”, a system granting the church significant authority over the legal and social rights of Indigenous people (Williams, 700). The dismantling of legal tutelage in 1854 enabled Indigenous people to access the national judicial system without clerical mediation fostering greater Indigenous autonomy. His reforms also targeted the alliance between landlords and the clergy. The passage of the 1856 water-rights law directly confronted the feudal control over land and water resources held by the church and Serrano landlords (Williams, 698), emphasizing the deep-rooted connection between religious life and land ownership. These reforms sought to realign social hierarchies by placing civil law above religious influence, pushing for liberal democracy and civil rights.

    Despite these reforms, the 1854 Ley de Indígenas redefined church-state relations, not fully excluding the church but establishing a “paternal” relationship between the state and Indigenous communities (Williams, 704). Previously, the clergy had exerted caste-like control over Indigenous rights; however, the law attempted to balance these rights with broader nation-building goals, reducing the church’s direct legal authority. García Moreno’s Catholic-conservative rule in 1859 further sought to restore and protect the church’s influence, counteracting the liberal advances of Urbina. García Moreno’s administration aimed to create “harmony” by reasserting the church’s influence over Indigenous affairs and countering pro-Indigenous “populism” (Williams, 726). The church continued to provide moral and spiritual guidance, bolstering its control over both landowners and Indigenous communities, thus reinforcing social hierarchies. 

    The shifting power dynamics between liberal reforms and the Catholic church’s entrenched authority in 19th-century Ecuador reveal deeper tensions about how a country defines progress and equality. Urbina’s efforts to dismantle “clerical tutelage” and García Moreno’s counteraction raise critical questions: To what extent can policies reshape deeply ingrained social and religious structures? How did the church’s control over land and race shape or hinder the development of a more inclusive civil law? This also makes us wonder how past struggles still play a role in today’s debates regarding religion and politics.

    Works Cited

    Williams, Derek. “Popular Liberalism and Indian Servitude: The Making and Unmaking of Ecuador’s Antilandlord State, 1845-1868.” Hispanic American Historical Review 83, no. 4 (Nov. 2003): 697-733.

    Categories
    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Analysis of “Nigritae exhaustis venis metallicis consiciendo saccharo operam dare debent”

    Post by Emma Ribette

    This image title “Nigritae exhaustis venis metallicis consiciendo saccharo operam dare debent” is Latin and literally means “The blacks, having exhausted the metallic veins, must turn to the production of sugar”. It is an extract of Girolamo Benzino’s historical book from 1565. It is very representative of what colonialism was mainly about. The illustration shows enslaved Africans doing work related to sugar production, likely processing sugarcane.

    The illustration seems to describe almost all the manual labor that is involved in the production of sugar, including harvesting or boiling the juice. The labor was long and those men were working in harsh conditions, they were dehumanized and treated as tools. There are various activities in the scene reflecting the labor-intensive nature of sugar processing. First, it shows the harvesting process, the slaves are depicted in dynamic postures cutting and carrying the canes, easily identified thanks to its long appearance. Near the center, they are feeding the canes into a large press operated by a manual turning mechanism to extract the juice. On the bottom left corner, the men are boiling the cane juice in a large cauldron to concentrate it into sugar. The slaves are shown stirring the boiling liquid, indicating the constant attention required for this step. In the background, there is more activity, including what looks like additional processing areas. This gives the impression of a large organized plantation setting.

    In the illustration there is no depiction of the overseers or europeans. This could reflect the European perspective of seeing slaves as tools within an economic process rather than humans. Color is added selectively to enhance some features such as the flames or the press, but not the slaves themselves.

    The title gives us a context, this an image from after the depletion of mineral resources such as gold and silver, when the labor force was redirected to other forms of production such as sugar when it suited the commercial interests. It reminds me of the discussion we had in class about sugar and coffee becoming trendy items among the European population. It shows how their needs and wants dictated the slaves’ lives.

    In my opinion, the title frames the narrative from a European, colonialist perspective. It emphasizes economic activities and benefits without mentioning the human cost. The description of using slaves for sugar production as a practical and normal response to the exhaustion of mining resources normalizes the forced labor and suffering of those men, reflecting the colonial mindset that prioritizes profit over human dignity. The factual tone of the text conveys an acceptance of this economic transition, highlighting how such forms of oppression were normal and justified in European societies. This building in the background and the machinery such as the press for extracting sugarcane juice illustrate how European technological and economic structure were imposed on colonies, showing even more the European’s controlling role in the production process.

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Early images of Buenos Aires

    Post by Romario Lopez

    The image shown above is not just a view of a beach in Buenos Aires, but a view of an important landmark in Latin American history. This image is the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, which was created by Giuseppe Erba Odescalchi and Paolo Fumagalli in 1821. But this would be 11 years after the start of Argentina’s independence.

    This image is of Buenos Aires, this is where Argentina was invaded by the English. In 1806 the

    English invaded Buenos Aires to take over the Falklands. The English wanted to take the

    Falklands because the islands would give a really good strategic position to England’s naval

    operations. The Spanish were going back and forth between Spain and Argentina while the

    Spanish were gone the English invaded. While under the control of the Spanish leader, Rafael de Sobremonte, he had fled during this invasion, leaving the Argentinians vulnerable, or so they

    thought. The Argentines rallied together and were on their own. They defended themselves and defeated the English. After realizing they could defend themselves on their own they promptly decided to go for independence. And in 1810 the Argentine for Independence began.

    During this war, many important steps were being taken for Argentinian independence. In May

    1810 the first independent Argentinian government was formed. Six years later and on 1816 July 9th, Argentina declared independence and is now their own country.

    The war still isn’t finished but two years later, after 9,000 lives were lost the war has ended, in

    1818 the war has officially ended. The image above shows the place where the idea of

    Argentinian independence was born. This is a visual of where independence began.

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Case of Marcus Rainsford

    Blog post by Yawen Chen

    This Image depicts a man named Marcus Rainsford being sentenced to death by Louverture then to be postponed. It is assumed that he is a spy from Britain pretending to be an American. The image dates 1805. What stood out to me in this image was that an ethnic Haitian women shown empathy to white man of military status. What was Marcus a British man doing in Saint Domingue?  and what was the relationship and involvement of Britain? 

    A brief recap

    The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was a conflict that not only involved enslaved people in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) but also attracted the interests of foreign powers such as  Britain and Spain. Saint-Domingue was one of the richest colonies in the world due to its sugar and coffee plantations and probably the largest slave trade during this time period. It was heavily reliant on enslaved labor. The French Revolution’s ideals of liberty and equality challenged enslaved people to revolt against their oppressors.

    Britain’s involvement

    As the French Revolution unfolded, Britain sought to weaken France and gain control of its lucrative colonies. Saint-Domingue was particularly attractive due to its economic value. In 1793, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution and the execution of Louis XVI, Britain invaded Saint-Domingue. The British aimed to take over the colony and its resources while France was preoccupied with internal strife and wars in Europe.

    The British sought to re-establish the plantation system and maintain slavery, which contrasted with France’s abolition of slavery in 1794. France hoped to rally enslaved people to their cause so that theres one less problem to worry about. Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the Haitian revolution switched sides of the alliances. He shifted his support from the Spanish to French. (Spanish who also attempted to win the favor of Louverture in hoping to weaken the French). Then  he resisted the British’s similar attempts to control the colony. His leadership and military tactics effectively countered British forces. The British were unable to maintain control over Saint-Domingue due to resistance from Louverture’s troops. By 1798, British forces were largely expelled from the island. Then followed by Haiti’s independence in 1804, making it the first black-led republic in the world and a symbol of resistance against colonialism and slavery.

    To answer the initial questions

    It is that After the defeat of British army, Marcus was sent by Britain to recruit Haitians to be part of British army. As it was mostly dismissed that these colored men had the capacity to fight. Unlike other white militants, Marcus Rainsford acknowledges Louverture’s troops as intelligent and capable fighters, and he is supportive of their independence. It is natural that the Haitians are precautious of an enemy landing on their land once more as possible intent of re-establishing slavery. But the most prominent part to me is the empathy the people would have toward the country they have just fought; one militant’s respect shows to another.

    Side note

    A Timeline of events I Compelled as I researched on events surrounding this time.

    1789- French revolution, French citizen was discontent of lavish spending of their king

    1790 March 8 Decree, declared by Barnave to give colony autonomy but abandon the colonies from the French’s constitution and prosecute those who tempt to uprise against the slavery system. The free colored man had no input nor was it considered.

    1791 Haitian revolution, start of rebellion led by  Toussaint Louverture

    1793-Execution of Louis XVI , Britain invades Haiti. Seeks to control the most lucrative wealth generator from French. At the same time French was at war with Spain.  

    1794 slavery were abolished in saint Domingue and all colonies under France. Toussaint Louverture turns on the Spanish who supported the free of colored cause in hoping to weaken France.

    1795 Napolean returns France to restore order and later became king of France in 1804.

    1802 Napolean ended 10-year war with Britain  

    1803- Toussaint Louverture won the Haitian revolution

    1804-  Haiti obtain independence

    Citation

    Image, “when under sentence of Death relieved by a benevolent Female of Colour.” Albion Press Printed: Published by James Cundee, Ivy-Lane, Paternoster-Row; and sold by C. Chapple, Pall Mall

    Reading, Analysis of Fick, “The French Revolution in Saint Domingue,” by Carolyn E Fick (Pg53 Sugar plantation and slave trade), (Pg 65 Britain at war with Spain)

    https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/oa_monograph/chapter/2278842 (page 5, Marcus Rainsford in St Domiangue)

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Plano de la Ciudad de Santiago

    By: Christian Figueroa

    The plans for the building of the capital of Chile Santiago. This map demonstrates The colonial urban planning of the Spanish Empire and how Santiago Chile is a prime example of how Spanish layouts were performed and made during the 18th century. The map provides us with a visual representation and information of how Spanish urban planning was based on Colonial Administration and social hierarchy throughout Latin America. 

    The Urban Design of the map of Santiago demonstrates a pattern with Spanish legal code and how they govern urban planning throughout the colonies. They commonly used grid-based systems of layout. Which reflected Spain’s control over their colonial colonies and territories as well as their methods of Imposing order. The grip pattern  created an effective way to manage cities and  facilitate administrative control as well as provide religious and Commercial activities. For example if you look at  land marker a it shows a Center Square plaza where nothing is built and this indicates that it’s the center of the city. This also reflects the religious power of Catholicism that has a hold on  Spanish Urban Planning As demonstrated on landmark number one there’s a cathedral located next to the plaza. This provides a key indicator on which and where government buildings will also be built and where centralized control of the town will be administered. This can also symbolize both the spiritual and Administrative power that has over the center town. 

    The spiritual power is also a demonstration of how the Catholic Church within Colonial urban planning is embedded and intertwined with the creation of many of the towns around Latin America. The Reason why is because the relationship institutions served a big role in Colonial governance  for example Catholic Church  administrative bookkeeping throughout the colony for example keeping baptismal records and historical documentation of current events. You can see throughout the town you have the central Cathedral labeled by landmarker 1 as well as landmark number 11 demonstrating the “Noviciado de los Jesuitas”. The placements are very key to colonial power structure as it demonstrates governance and religious institutions and infrastructure are closely intertwined and held at high levels of power.

     This leads to social structure because of urban planning. The map demonstrates to us the centralized control of people’s lives. The town is built upon filtering people into the Center Plaza and then throughout the town. As well as how social hierarchy is placed within the capital of Santiago. By looking at the center plaza and the buildings that are located around it you can make an inference. The people who are held in high regard are concentrated within the areas of the Central Plaza, those being Colonial Elites which include Spanish settlers administrators like the Creoles and clergy. Therefore, from walking away from the center of town you start to filter out those Elites and get into more areas in which lower classes or indigenous populations could be living. 

    There is a Roman comparison in which Romans viewed that people of Rome or within Italy that they were themselves held as Civilized then those leaving the outskirts of Roman empire. The Romans viewed those living outside or on the outskirts of the Empire as barbaric backwards and needing to be civilized. If you were to compare how the Spanish controlled their colonies and administered it, it’s similar to how the Romans did it when expanding their empire. I find that this key detail is very important as colonization reflects similarly to how Romans expanded their empire .

    citation
    https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/detail/JCB~1~1~633~510006:Plano-de-la-Ciudad-de-Santiago-Capi?sort=image_date%2Csubject_groups&qvq=q:plano;sort:image_date%2Csubject_groups;lc:JCB~1~1&mi=13&trs=18

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Simon Bolivar

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Subio Juan Diego, y siendo Invierno hallo las Flores

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Cerro De Potosi

    CB Archive of Early American Images, 08040, Cerro De Potosi.

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    Research project 1: Visualizing Latin American independence

    Deffaite des Yroquois au Lac de Champlain

    Fahim Sadi 

    History 3072 

    September 18 

    When I see this image, the first thing that comes to mind is not a battle but a stomp. I say this because we can all see that in the middle, a Frenchman is standing with a gun, and the people of Iroquois are shooting him with arrows as if he is surrounded. However, this is sadly the opposite, as this was the battle of Lake Champlain, where the French defeated the Iroquois. About 9 Frenchmen and 60 Hurons fought against 200 Iroquois and beat them. This battle took place on July 29, 1609, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain and his allies fought the Iroquois. There had been previous altercations between the French and the Iroquois leading up to this such as the kidnapping of the Iroquois, the fur trade, territories and controlling of the resources, and the French alliance with the Algonquins and the Hurons. Iroquois people had a belief that the French were taking over their land, religion, and controlled resources. They were right, to say the least, because the French did indeed intend to take over and control the majority of the territories and resources. If you look at modern-day Canada, a lot of people speak French instead of what they would have spoken had they not been invaded by the French. The same way we speak English here in the United States is because it is a country that was once invaded and controlled by the British Empire which left a lot of influences and impacts. The same goes for the French-speaking regions and populations in Canada. I went to Canada myself this summer of 2024 and it was surprising to me that in the part of Canada I went to most people spoke French over English and they had very little English. Now, if one asked me why I speak English instead of French or Spanish, I would probably say something like “Oh, it’s because I was raised in the States or I was raised in New York.” The point I am trying to make here is that these regions had once been occupied by someone else by force hence we have different cultures and languages. So the Iroquois had feared that this would happen and they were very hostile towards the French as a result of that. The other two native tribes I mentioned at the end were the Algoquins and the Hurons, they were not like the Iroquois. They were more welcoming in a sense because they was willing to trade with the French. Champlain used firearms to surprise the Iroquois and catch them off guard. They were also wearing armor to protect themselves from the arrows, this was very critical in the battle because not only did the 60 warriors from the Huron help the Frenchmen, but the Iroquois were at a massive disadvantage because of the firearms and armor that the Frenman were wearing. I also mentioned that one of the reasons for this battle was because of the kidnapping of the Iroquois by the French. The Frenchmen Cartier was an explorer and he had kidnapped two Iroquois in one of his expeditions, from which one of them was taken to France. Therefore fighting the French was very rational to the Iroquois. We can see in the image that there are about 16 boats docked at Lake Champlain which one would assume were used by the Iroquois because there were 200 fighters, then we see Champlain and his allies by the trees firing at the Iroquois. We can only speculate that the Iroquois were only hostile because they were afraid of losing their land and they were different from other tribes. In truth, this battle completely changed the relationship between the Iroquois and the French.

    Work Cited

    “Browse JCB Archive of Early American Images.” John Carter Brown, https://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/JCB~1~1. Accessed 18 September 2024.