Latin America: A Survey of History and Culture – Fall 2021

30 thoughts on “Independence 1”

  1. Ke Han Yu – Week of 10/24/2021 – Independence (1)
    – After Columbus’ discovery, he went around many parts of America to create settlements
    – 1500 – 1550ish is where we see the Natives come to terms with the Spanairds. They sort of got used to each other and stopped fighting
    – Epidemics brought on by the Spaniards killed many Native Americans, whether it was intentional or not
    – The new society is now practicing Christianity.
    – Natives adopted Christianity and the Spanish language
    – Despite all that, there are still some indigenous tribes that remained untouched. They still practiced their culture and religion
    – Many churches in Mexico are inspired by both European and Indigenous architecture
    – Many of the saints in said churches were a combination of European people and Native American Gods
    – This combination of European Christianity and native culture is a whole new branch in the Americas
    – The Natives who didn’t live in the cities did not suffer as much as the ones who did
    – The concept of a “nuclear family” didn’t exist before the conquest.
    – Nuclear family means the entire family lives on the same farm together.
    – Before the conquest, indigenous cultures were egalitarian. It didn’t matter who the parents were
    – With the arrival of the Spaniards, a noble class started to emerge
    – The creation of a new class started to cause a huge migration to the cities
    – The Spanish language became so popular that it can be compared to how English is today
    – Indigenous peoples also adopted the Latin alphabet.
    – They also adopted many Spanish words.
    – There are now two new kinds of people: Euros who are born in the New World, and mixed Euros and Native people (Biracial). This has huge consequences later on.

    Comments: One of the main questions that I had when coming into this class was how the pre-conquest Americas transformed into the modern Americas we see today. Lesson really helped answer my question. The Spanish didn’t necessarily murder every Native American, as those who didn’t live in the cities weren’t impacted as hard. The Spanish language and religion spread throughout the Americas and stayed today. That combined with a lot of interracial marriage led to what we have today.

  2. Alvin Liu 10/24/2021
    Independence #1:
    -During the 16th century, the Indigenous people and Spaniards managed to co-exists with one another.
    -One problem that the Indigenous people have to deal with was the demographic disadvantage they found themselves in due to diseases and wars.
    -Indigenous people also faced cultural challenges like religion and language.
    -Some parts of Latin America were left untouched by the Spaniard.
    -Indigenous people began to start nuclear family
    -Emergence of a nobility class in Latin America with the top generally consisting of people from the city.
    -Spanish was the universal language used by the Indigenous people to communicate with one another.
    As the indigenous people speak Spanish more and more, they began to lose their native language
    While watching the video, I felt that it was very interesting that the indigenous people not only managed to survive and even adapt some Spanish culture into their own. It must be weird and challenging for the Native Americans like 20 years ago, they were living in small villages far away from other tribes; now they are living together in big cities and inter-marring the Spaniards. In addition, the Spaniards influenced their family culture of how now they are a nuclear family with a family tree and lineage. Now, they even have a caste system where the closer you are to being a pure blood Spaniard born in Spain, the higher your social standing will be. It just seems that the Indigenous people have completely lost connection to their old way of life and embraced the lifestyle of their conquerors, for better or worse.

  3. Bridget Campanelli

    Notes
    1500s-1700s
    1540s: more peaceful time, Spaniards and Natives learned to coexist and build a society together
    Spaniards brought epidemics to Americas and killed off many natives
    Many indigenous communities more north were left untouched, were able to practice their religions in peace
    Churches in Mexico are a mix of Christianity and the indigenous peoples religions
    Europeans settled mainly in big cities so the natives in rural areas weren’t as affected
    Before: natives culture was an egalitarian society, family’s wealth didn’t matter
    After Spaniards came: implemented more of a hierarchy on society
    Indigenous people had to take on Spanish as their language because it was the language of the victors
    Indigenous adopted the latin alphabet and integrated some Spanish words into their own language
    Over time many natives became bilingual
    Many indigenous languages went extinct because the natives had to learn Spanish for jobs and fluent speakers died off
    Different social classes were made of people born in America based on who their parents were

    Comment
    I found it really interesting how different groups of Native Americans were treated differently by the Spaniards based on where they lived. The indigenous people that lived further north and in more rural areas were pretty much left alone while those in cities and in Mexico were completely overrun by the Spaniards. I liked learning about how eventually the Spaniards and indigenous people learned to coexist and created a society together. It must’ve been difficult for the indigenous people to have to learn Spanish, especially when none of the Spaniards were bothered to learn their language. They had to totally adapt to their language because they were more powerful and controlled many industries. It would be impossible for the indigenous people to get a job without learning Spanish.

  4. Hymie Israel

    Notes:
    During the 16th century the indigenous people and Spaniards stopped fighting and coexisted
    Sadly with this coexisting, came the diseases that the Spaniards brought along with them such as smallpox
    They also had to deal with cultural challenges like living with someone who spoke a different language
    There were churches that were a mix of Christianity and the indigenous people’s temples
    Before the conquest, “nuclear family” didn’t exist
    Nuclear families lived on the same farm
    Nobility started emerging which was new to the indigenous people because to them it didn’t matter who your parents were (egalitarian)
    The indigenous people starting speaking Spanish and as they did their native language died
    If they indigenous people didn’t learn Spanish they would not be able to survive in society

    Comments:
    I never really thought about what would happen if somehow the indigenous people got the Europeans to stop killing and what life would be like afterwards. I hadn’t thought about the various challenges such as the language and religious differences. It was really sad to see that the indigenous people had to adapt to the Spaniards way of life and lose all that was special and unique of theirs while the Spaniards gave up nothing of theirs.

  5. Anabel Fernandez
    -After Christopher Column’s conquest, the killings and pillage had lasted for about thirty to forty years.
    – The Spaniards had built settlements in what today is Mexico and Central America and which then extended to South America.
    – In the middle of the sixteenth century, around 1540, the colonial violence had calmed down.
    – From that period to the independent wars, indignant communities had come to coexistence with the Spaniards.
    – They redefined their territories and their relationship with each other.
    – This led to an emergence of a new society.

    After the Conquest, the Native Americans had to adapt to coincide with the Spaniards. One of the many challenges thrust upon them was the demographic decimation, as there were several waves of carnage during the conquest. Some of them were by the hand of the Spaniards and some of them were indirectly caused by them. Those indirectly caused by the Spaniards were more deadly than the carnage done intentionally. For instance, the smallpox epidemic killed so many people because the native bodies were unfamiliar with the disease and their bodies were not ready to combat it. Another significant challenge for the Natives was a cultural one. They had to adopt Christianity as it was the dominant religion. A lot of people concocted a religion that is a combination of Christianity with indigent religions. Architectural evidence that can be seen today is churches that mix these religions. Furthermore, learning a new language was a difficult change for the natives. Since communication was necessary to survive in the New World, Indigenous communities slowly developed Spanish into their way of speaking. The first stage was adopting the Spanish alphabet. Next, was adopting words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The natives borrowed Spanish words and spoke them along with their language. The third stage was when the natives became bilingual as the societies became more integrated. Lastly, a lot of native languages became extinct as Native Americans became fluent in Spanish and that became their main language. Though the natives had to learn Spanish the Spaniards never bothered to learn the languages of the natives. This is unfair as Spaniards are invaders and the natives should not be forced to adopt new ways to coexist. Before the Spaniards’ arrival the natives had no social structure, yet this all changes. The Natives developed aristocracy were was an emergence of a nobility class. The idea that city dwellers were superior to those living in the rural areas, was also introduced into the indigenous culture. Thus, there was a migration from those living in the rural areas towards living in the city.

  6. Joseph Guedalia

    Notes:

    There is a gap between the conquest and this independence period
    The continent went through a 250-year changing period
    The conquest went on for about 40 years back and forth to America
    Built settlements in Mexico area
    Around the 16th-century things started to settle down
    The indigenous people who lived after the conquest struggled with the overall decimation, no one left, and damaged and changed forever
    While they managed to coexist with the Spaniards they also were severely damaged by smallpox and other epidemics
    Cultural challenge: a new society was taking form around these people that is now Christian
    Language: natives were forced to now speak a language they didn’t it caused a major barrier between the Spaniards and the natives
    Some parts of Latin America were left untouched by the Spaniards.
    Indigenous people began to take on the structure of the nuclear family
    All of a sudden there was a nobile class in Latin America with the top generally consisting of people from the city and those at the bottom weren’t from the city
    Spanish was the language used by the Indigenous people to communicate with one another.
    As the indigenous people speak Spanish more and more, they began to lose their native language
    Slowly the indigenous people were losing their identity

    Comments:
    After watching the video it really hit me how much these indigenous people were stuck. Not only did they lose all their friends and were mentally and physically scarred but they were completely ill-prepared for this new society around them. They were physically ill-prepared in that they were never exposed to viruses like smallpox. They were not prepared in terms of language or social status. They were essentially trapped with no way to a better productive happy life. The Spaniard really screwed them.

  7. Jennifer Lee’s Notes:
    -Gap between conquest and independence of uncover events (1500-1800)
    -Columbus arrived in US in 1492 and went on 30-40 trips to other countries- marked by colonial violence.
    -1550- challenges for indigenous people: 1) demographic decimation (several waves of carnage which some by Spaniards or indirectly caused by them-more deadly->epidemic: small pock), 2)cultural (Christianity. Central America and south of Mexico affected the most by conquest however, indigenous people from north were left untouched with their religion. ), 3) language (forced to live with ppl with different language)(because English is so dominant, English was also combined to their own language., 4) social structure(they had rural areas and big cities. Rural areas were left more untouched than the city where it has been very looted. They did agriculture etc.)(emergence of nobility or noble class- was migration to rural areas )
    -Adoption of nuclear family

    Comments:
    I never expected that some indigenous people were able to practice their own religions and some combined religions. It makes sense how some indigenous people combined their own religion with Christianity because now there are a lot of different types of Christianity that has very similar concepts in beliefs. It is also ironic how English is still our society’s dominant language and even today, many languages also use English in it too. When I say ironic, I mean how many businesses now look for people who speak other languages besides English. It made me realize how many other languages are becoming lost.

  8. -There’s a gap between the conquest and their independence
    -In about 1500-1700, there are about 250 years where the continent goes through changes.
    -People from European countries all traveled over to America.
    -There were 30-40 years of colonial violence.
    -Around the 16th century, it settled down.
    -Indigenous people come to have coexistence with Spaniards.
    -Spaniards destroyed much of the land and culture. So they now have to start everything from scratch.
    -The indigenous people have to deal with having lost many people to the epidemic and adjusting to the new culture and language.
    -Central America and Mexico are the places that were affected the most.
    -When you go further north many indigenous groups were untouched and were deep into their culture.
    -Many people created a new religion which was a concoction of Christianity and their old religion.
    -The locations where the Spaniards looted the most are where the Europeans built settlements.
    -There wasn’t a lot of change pre-conquest and post-conquest.
    -Americans were like a noble community.
    -City dwellers were considered more sophisticated and were introduced into the indigenous culture after the arrival of the Spaniards.
    -The indigenous language transforms to a mixture of Spanish and their language.
    -It started with adopting their alphabet, then they started adopting some words from the Spanish. Most of the indigenous languages weren’t extinct.
    -In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were 2 new categories of people. Those born from Spanish parents, but in the Americas (first-generation immigrants).
    -Then there are the people who were born from one European parent and one native parent.

    It’s a little amazing to think that the indigenous people were able to get along with the Spaniards who completely destroyed their land and culture. To the extent of where some of them even married the Spaniards. But is there a chance where they were forced into marriage with them because Spaniards had a higher social standing? But it’s also quite intriguing to hear about the creativity of the indigenous people being able to develop their own mix of a religion and language.

  9. – Period of 250 yrs int which the Americas transform drastically through
    – The Spanish and Portuguese had many colonies in the Americas
    – First years were very violent but settled around 1540
    – Eventually the colonies and the natives began to co-exist
    – The epidemic in Mexico in which small-pox killed many natives (were not ready or immune like the Europeans), killed millions of people
    – Christianity becomes the dominant religion, the natives had to adapt to a new way of life and a new language
    – South America was affected the most by the conquest, most of the north was fairly untouched and continued to practice their religions
    – Many churches built in the northern half of Mexico were built by the natives, you can see both in architecture and the figures of the G-ds and saints that there was a mix between Christianity and the native G-ds
    – The natives had big cities before the conquest, but many of their cities were taken by the Spaniards, but the rural areas remained nearly untouched
    – The way natives ran their business did not change much before and after the conquests
    – There was an emergence of a noble class/aristocracies, city people were seen as smarter
    – Change in the language of the natives, learned how to take Spanish into their own culture
    – Books written in native language with the Latin alphabet
    – Adoption of many words from the Spaniards
    – Native languages began to go extinct and Spanish became dominant
    – New generation of people, Spanish parents but born in America, first generation of immigrants
    – Generation of native-Spanish children (biracial)

    I found this lecture to be very interesting. Assimilation is always different for every culture and conquest, but the point you made about the churches with a sort of cross-religion was very interesting. I am surprised the Spaniards did not punish the natives for incorporating their own religions into the churches. Another idea that I found particularly captivating was the point made about how the major cities were taken over by the Spanish and the natives were left to live in the rural areas. One question I have about this lecture is did the Spanish ever fight the English for power over the Northern pieces of America?

  10. Stacy Keta
    Notes:
    – There was a gap worth 30-40 years between conquest and independence wars where subjugation of Indians continued (Europeans, Spaniards, Portuguese). It extended from Mexico and Central America to South America.
    – After this, violence calmed down (mid 16th century).
    – They came to a co-existence; built the foundation of society with colonizers. Redefined territories and relationships which led to establishment of a new society.
    – Indegenous people wanted to start from scratch and deal with the new world. They faced challenges.
    – Invasions and smallpox epidemics were some of these challenges and carnages after the conquest. This reduced the population of natives even more.
    – Cultural and social changes. Christianity had to be adopted since it was the dominant religion by the Spaniards. The language of the Spanish also had to be followed in order to survive.
    – Central America and South America were impacted the most in terms of deaths. Up north, some indejenous people were untouched.
    – There were churches in the northern half of Mexico.
    – There was a mix of indejeous culture and Christianity, a mix of European churches and native temples for example.
    – Big cities were the most looted, rural areas were mainly untouched. This drew people into these cities and increased migration.
    – Quite similar to society pre conquest era except the adoption of nuclear family. This caused an emergence of social structure.
    – Emergence of nobility and aristocracy. Before, the indejenous people were egalitarian, the arrival of Spanish changed this.
    – People wanted to be closer to nobility.
    – Indegenous language was transformed as Spaniards had the dominant language. Many mixed the languages the same way people speak Spanglish today, until the native tongue died out.
    – Alphabet was adopted. Documents from 1550-1650 that showed indegenous language but with latin alphabet.
    – Many natives were bilingual because of this.
    – There were only two groups of people pre conquest, there were now two new ones that included mexitos and creoles. This would have consequences.
    Comments:
    From the sounds of it, the natives were forced into this new society. This would completely shake their lives and seems like they were cornered since they had no choice but to adapt if they wanted to survive. The loss of their lifestyles and cultures is saddening. I hadn’t realized that there were some groups of indegenous people that were untouched so that was interesting to hear about. I anticipate that the separation of classes would definitely have drawbacks and arise new problems for them. The fact that they couldn’t do anything to change the outcome makes it worse.

  11. Parneet Kaur
    -In the middle of the 16th century like 1540 to the independence war it was not violent. The indigenous people and the Spaniards co-existed with one another and built a new society.
    -The epidemic was a disease that killed many native people so any person that got in contact died.
    -A new society was formed in which the Christianity was the dominant religion
    -The native people were forced to live with people that spoke a new language and in order for communication they had to learn this new language.
    -Central America and the south of Mexico was affected the most by Spaniards.
    -There were some indigenous communities that were untouched and they were able to manage/practice their religion and maintain their foundation of their culture deep into the 18th century.
    -In the northern half of Mexico there was churches that were built and in those churched it has a mix of indigenous people and Christianity.
    -There were saints in the churches that had a mix of the European people and indigenous people gods.
    -The rural areas were untouched and did not suffer much of the consequences compared to the people in the city.
    -There was an adoption of the “nuclear family” that did not exist before the conquest.
    -The nuclear family would be the whole family that lived on the same farm together.
    -Indigenous society was egalitarian and it didn’t matter who your parents were.
    -The Spaniards brought in nobility and it led to many people from the rural areas to move to the city.
    -It was a status migration to move together to be closer to nobility.
    -Since Spanish was a language of the victors the Indigenous people had to take on their language.
    -Indigenous people adopted their alphabet.
    -They had adopted Spanish words.
    -As time goes on the native language becomes extinct.
    -Two new groups of people: biracial (Spanish and native) and European parents but born in the Americas.
    Comments:
    I know that it is hard thinking about individuals who were forced to conform to a society because they didn’t accept you. So instead of them understanding you, they choose to make you act like one of them but be inferior to them. Although the indigenous people fought long and hard they had to give in for their own survival.It must have been upsetting for them to forget their own culture and slowly become one of them. In a way they were losing a big part of themselves because they started to get their origin.Furthermore, they had to forget about their society and learn to be like the Spaniards. This is upsetting to know because we are taught to embrace ourselves and never let that part go but yet these people had to in order for their own survival.

  12. Julia Pedersen

    Notes:
    There is a period of time that is not as violent as you would expect- the indigenous people and Spaniards built a society where they coexist with each other.
    The epidemic killed a lot of people. Their bodies were not ready to combat the virus. It is around millions of people who died. This reduced their community to a lower number than before the conquest
    A new society was taking form around the indigenous people where Christianity was the main religion
    There is also a new language that you do not speak, therefore it made the communication between them harder.
    The South of Mexico was affected the most. Further north, indigenous communities were left fairly untouched.
    There is a lot of churches that were built. Inside the churches, you see a mix of European and indigenous cultures in the architecture.
    They had rural areas and big cities, just like the Europeans. The big cities were where the Europeans looted the most. The rural areas were fairly untouched.
    The families live on the same farms together. The children grow and marry and spread to neighboring farms.
    There were changes in social structure: emergence in the noble class. The egalitarian societies, it did not matter where your parents were or your blood. Anyone else was equal. With the Spaniards, there was aristocracy. This idea that city dwellers were more sophisticated was introduced to the indigenous cultures. This is when we see a migration from the rural areas to the cities.
    The indigenous language is transformed in this period. There is now a new language introduced to them- the European languages. The Indigenous people tried to find a way to deal with the Spanish and make their own language.
    If you didn’t speak English, you were excluded from a lot of what was happening in the world.
    The Spaniards did not care to learn their language.
    There were two new categories of people: people born to Spanish parents in the Americas and people with one native parent and one European parent (biracial).

    Personal Thoughts:
    I think it is important to note the impact the Spanish had on the Indigenous people and their culture. I feel like in past blogs we have focused on how they affected their lands and how they took their lives, rather than how the Spanish affected those indigenous cultures that were still around. It is important to note how the culture, language, and religion developed when impacted by European ideals. It is also sad how languages and cultures die out as the Europeans had a lasting impact in Mexico.

  13. Amanda Ng

    Notes:

    -there’s a gap between the conquest and the independence wars (couple of hundred years)
    -1500s
    -indigenous community and the Spaniards learn to co-exist and form a society
    -demographic decimation: waves of carnage
    -epidemic of smallpox in Mexico that killed millions of natives
    -natives faced cultural and language challenges
    -south of Mexico was affected the most by the conquest
    -north of Mexico was mainly untouched
    -a lot of churches built by the Indigenous in the northern half of Mexico were a mix of Indigenous and European architecture
    -the big cities were looted by the Spaniards the most
    -the rural areas were fairly untouched as well
    -adoption of the nuclear family
    -before: egalitarian, after: aristocratic
    -migration towards the cities
    -Indigenous people had to adapt to Spanish to thrive in society
    -many Indigenous languages died due to this

    Comments:

    It is heartbreaking that the indigenous people were always forced to do something out of their will. For example, having to co-exist with your killers and conquerors. I can only imagine how terrifying and traumatizing it would’ve been. Even though the violence stopped, the Indigenous people still lost something of their own- their culture. Having to be obligated to learn and adapt to a new language and culture soon caused their own languages and cultures to die out. It’s ultimately losing themselves to adapt to a new society in order for them to thrive. However, it is still interesting to see that some of their cultures have combined with others to what we know today, like the churches.

  14. Julie Guo
    Notes:
    – 30 to 40 years marked by colonial violence
    – 1540 violence cools down
    – Smallpox killed many native people, everyone who got it basically died
    – Cultural challenge: Christianity is the new dominant religion
    – Language challenge: forced to live with people who speak a different language
    – Central America and the south of Mexico were most affected by the conquest
    – A lot of indigenous communities in the North were untouched by the Spaniards
    – Rural dwellers didn’t suffer the consequences like those living in the big cities
    – Indigenous cultures were like egalitarian societies
    – Didn’t matter who your family was
    – When Spaniards came = emergence of the noble class
    – Indigenous people become bilingual
    – Slowly, the Indigenous language disappears
    Comments:
    It is sad to see how the Indigenous people slowly lose their identity, culture, and language. In order to fit in or get jobs, they have to change themselves into Spanish ideals. Even though the land belonged to them first they’re the ones that have to change many aspects of their lives. I wonder how they were able to live with the people who killed so many of their people. Also, I didn’t know that there were some parts of Latin America that were untouched by the Spaniards until I watched the video.

  15. Ricky Chen
    Notes
    -There is a period of 30 to 40 years that is marked by violence but then it settles down in the middle of the 16th century
    -Indigenous people coexist with the Spaniards and lead to a new emergence of a new society
    -Indigenous people had to deal with their demographic being decimated
    -Smallpox killed millions who caught the virus because they did not have the antibodies to fight it
    -Christianity is the dominant religion and many indigenous people are forced to convert as well as learn a new language
    -North of Mexico, the indigenous people studied Christianity and were thus left mainly untouched
    -Rural areas were untouched and did not suffer as much from the conquest
    -Agriculture stayed the same throughout the conquest but there was one change which was a nuclear family where farmers would have children who spread the social structure
    -There was an emergence of the noble class with the settlement of the Spaniards and many moved to gain that status
    -The indigenous people tried to mix Spanish into their own language to be able to converse by adapting to their alphabet and adapting their words
    -The indigenous languages eventually go extinct as people started learning Spanish to gain status
    -During the conquest were two groups of people, natives, and Spaniards, and then during the settlement, there are now biracial people and those born here but their parents are from Europe

    Comments:
    Learning about the settlement and this emergence of a new society demonstrates how much everything revolves around the winners of history. Since the Spanish won, they held the highest status in the new Latin American society. It is disheartening to know that because the Indigenous people wanted to gain status, they would end up giving up their own language and culture just to adapt. Now the original language of the people of Mexico is completely erased and no one knows how to speak it as Spanish has completely taken over.

    1. I agree with the fact that it’s interesting to see how much everything revolves around the winners of history. It’s disheartening to see how certain parts of people’s cultures have been diminished or completely erased over the course of time as a result of their loss.
      – Norbert Kopec

  16. Clarissa Reynolds
    Notes:
    -Theres a gap in this period (between conquest and independence)
    -1500-almost 18th century:
    -Christopher columbus arrived 1492
    -Violence against indiginous people and civilizations lasted 30-40 years
    -Early half of 1500s were more peaceful
    -Diseases brought by Spaniards killed many Native Americans
    -Natives adapted to Christianity and Spanish languege
    -Some untouched indiginous tribes still practiced their religion and maintain the foundation of their culture (even into 18th centuru)
    -Churches-mix of indiginous culture and christianity in architecture and figures of gods
    -It was a way of coming to terms with the new way
    -Rural areas and big cities
    -After conquest most of spaniards built settlements in big cities–those who lived far away didnt suffer consiquences of the conquest
    -Political structure of ssmall villiagse remained untouched
    -Nuclear families–entire family lived on the same farm
    -Nuclear families came after the conquest
    -Before the conquest, indiginous cultures were egalitarian
    -With Spaniards arrival, noble class started to form
    -New class cause migration to the cities
    -Language: indiginous languages-took spanish into their own world
    -Adopted the spanish alphabet
    -Adoption of many spanish words–similar to spanglish (spoke their own language but borrowed words from spanish)
    -Many native americans became bilingual for jobs
    -Spaniards didnt learn their language

    Comment:
    I liked learning about the period between what was discussed in the reading. I find it interesting learning about how the cultural changes that happened because of the conquest. Before the conquest there werent social classes but after the noble class started to emerge. Its also interesting how they tried to keep as much of their culture as they could. Instead of completely converting their lives to match the Spaniards, they basically mixed them together. In churches there was architecture from both the indiginous people and Christianity, they took some spanish words and incorporated it in their speech or became bilingual, etc.

    1. I agree with you. The cultural dynamic really evolved and grew after the conquest. It was so interesting to learn about them mixing cultures and adapting to the Spanish/European culture.

  17. 10/25/21 Randy Huynh
    Independence 1 Notes
    -Significant gap in the events covered between the conquest and independence.
    -1500’s, Natives and Spaniards coexisted with one another. However, frequent interaction led to epidemics. The native population was eventually decimated by smallpox
    -The Spaniards’ religion bled into Native lifestyle. They practiced christianity and spoke the Spanish Language
    -There were christian churches that incorporated aspects of Native temples
    -Arrival of the Spaniards marked a turning point in the lifestyles of the Natives, before there was egalitarian society, and after the Spaniards, hierarchy mattered.
    -Social class was based on who you were born to
    -Native language began to die out due to Spanish becoming a more dominant language in the new hierarchal society

    The impacts of this era can be seen in today’s world in South America. In the blog, the topic of how the Spaniards brought over Christianity was discussed. Christianity was a turning point for the Natives and part of why they adopted it was that they had no other choice. It was to adopt Christianity or be killed. This led to indigenous cultures/religions eventually dying out, and today we see Christianity as the most prominent religion in South America. One can theorize that the purpose of spreading Christianity to the natives was to prevent the possibility of rebellion. The Spaniards could have had the rationale that if the Natives believed in similar gods, they would hesitate to attack the Spaniards.

  18. Jhonathan Mizhquiri
    Notes:
    – Period of two hundred and fifty years after the conquest era, in which the continent drastically changed.
    – In the middle of the 16th century, the violence caused by the Spaniards settles down.
    – The Natives coexist with the Spaniards and build the foundation of a society.
    – They redefined their territories and relationships with each other which lead to the Americans of a new society.
    – Spaniards destroyed much of the land and culture and after the first wave of violence and wars, life for the natives started from scratch.
    – Small pox, introduced to the Natives by the Spanish, killed many indigenous people because they had never experienced the illness before.
    – Took the life of millions of people.
    – Indigenous people had to adapt to the new way of life and endured many barriers such as language between them and the Spanish.
    -South of Mexico and the Caribbean were affected the most by the conquest, further north many indigenous communities were left untouched.
    – In the northern half of Mexico, indigenous culture and christianity was present in certain churches.
    -Structure of the churches resembled both European churches and indigenous temples as well as the gods they worshiped.
    – A new religion was created with a mix of both ideologies.
    – Similar to the Europeans, they had rural areas and big cities.
    -The cities were looted so the rural areas were left fairly untouched.
    Notes :
    After many of our readings in this class I would often get caught up in the violence against the natives that I never thought about life for those who survived. After having your land taken away, your culture severely hurt and your people murdered it was clearly tough for them to adapt to the new world. Barriers such as language and discrimination are examples of the difficulties that the natives endured. However, they began to take influence from the Europeans and began to adopt some of their structures. For instance, churches were found with architectural evidence that the indigenous people created a religion that combined theirs with christianity. I admire the Natives for attempting to move on and readjust after many years of bloodshed and brutality.

  19. Norbert Kopec
    Notes:
    – Between the conquest and the independence wars there is a gap of a couple of hundred years (not discussed in this semester)
    – The 30 to 40 years after first arrival of Christopher Columbus is marked by violence
    – Around 1540, things settle down and a sort of coexistence between the Natives and Spaniards is created
    – One of the greatest factors impacting the reconstruction of Native life was the decimation of the population which occurred during the conquest
    – Deaths were caused both directly and indirectly by the Spaniards. Directly by attacks and combat and indirectly by viruses and infections
    – The difference in religion and language between Natives and Spaniards were also a challenge
    – Lots of indigenous communities were left fairly untouched in the north
    – The religion and churches were sometimes evidentially mixed as you can see both Indigenous and Christian values and culture mixed in churches
    – Big cities were looted while smaller rural areas tended to be left untouched
    – Something that changed culturally was the introduction of nobility. Indigenous groups didn’t really have nobility and social classes. Other than those who ruled everyone was basically equal.
    – During this period indigenous language is transformed. Spanish was in a more powerful position due to their victory. The indigenous language adopted the Spanish alphabet, adopted many Spanish words, and many Native Americans became bilingual.
    – At first the two groups seen were the Spanish and the Natives. As time went on there are new categories of people added. People who are born to the Spanish in the Americas and people who are born to biracial parents.

    Comments:
    I was interested to learn in today’s class that the indigenous people who lived in smaller rural areas were left fairly untouched in comparison to the big cities. This also shows how the Spaniards went for the largest targets that most likely seemed as if they would have the greatest potential for wealth and riches. I was also interested to hear how the language of the indigenous people had changed over time. I never thought of how some Native Americans may have chosen to learn Spanish as to be bilingual and potential earn higher working positions or to hold a greater social status in society as it may have been seen as superior or better than those who didn’t know both languages.

  20. Nigya Thapa
    Professor Amir Ahmadi
    LTS 1003
    October 25th, 2021
    Blog # 6
    NOTES:
    – The conquest period is now finished.
    – There is a gap in this period, so between the Conquest and the Independence War.
    – There are like a couple of hundred years that are left uncovered.
    1500-1700 discussion (middle of the 18th century).
    – There’s a period of almost 250 years in which the content goes through a huge amount of change and transformations and it’s necessary to know at least a little bit about those changes in order to have a context for the independence period.
    – After 30-40 years of colonial violence, it settled down in the middle of the 16th century (the 1540s)…. From the 1540s till the Independence War, it was not as violent as people would expect it to be.
    – The Indigenous community come to coexistence with the Spaniards and they form a society or build foundations of the society that we know today.
    – In 1550, the Spainards have come and destroyed much of the land and culture
    – The first wave of the Conquest of Wars had settled down, people wanted to start their lives from scratch, to deal with the situation, to understand how they can revitalize their community, and how to deal with the new world. – – The Indigenous people faced many challenges after the conquest of the Spaniards.
    – The biggest problem was demographic decimation. There were several waves of carnage during the conquest. – – – Some of the decimations was caused by the Spaniards. Some of the decimation was caused by themselves (more deadly). Ex. The smallpox epidemic, it killed so many people, anyone who had it probably died.
    – The community was reduced due to these problems.
    – There were also cultural barriers. Christianity is the dominant religion.
    – Language barriers caused communication problems.
    – Over a couple of centuries, they tried dealing with these problems.
    – The Spaniards left regions up north such as Mexico untouched, they were able to keep their religions.
    – Those churches created by the Indigenous people were a mix of their own culture and the religion of Christianity.
    – The Spainards looted the big cities the most. After the conquest, many Europeans built settlements in the big cities. The rural areas were fairly untouched. People who were farmers living far from big cities didn’t suffer the consequences of the Conquest like the city dwellers.
    – Adaption of the nuclear family… They live on the same farm together and when children grow, get married, and have children, they spread to a neighboring farm. They adapted to this social structure.

    COMMENTS:
    I found it interesting to learn about the concept of nuclear families. I had never learned of the term “nuclear family.” I also thought it was interesting that this wasn’t a thing or a trend before the Conquest even occurred. It was surprising that many rural areas were left alone and big cities were attacked or looted. I would’ve expected every place to be equally affected. I expected there to be violence when it came to gaining their Independence but I genuinely appreciated that the Indigenous People took a different, more peaceful route to gain their independence.

  21. Alice Gonzalez
    Notes:
    – 1500-1700 a period of 250 years with lots of change to the continent
    -Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492 -colonization settles down in the middle of the 16th century
    -the period wasn’t as violent
    -indigenous communities sort a coexistence with Spaniards
    – build the foundation of the society we know today as Mexican society
    -interactions led to the emergence of a new society
    -indigenous settle down and begin life from scratch
    -revitalize the community
    -waves of carnage during the conquest
    -epidemic in Mexico smallpox -killed many native people
    -community is reduced to a fraction compared before the conquest
    -the new society has Christianity as the new religion
    -natives have to cultural adapt to the change of religion and language
    -further north indigenous communities left untouched -were able to maintain the foundation of their culture
    -architecture evidence left are churches built by natives -a mix of indigenous culture and Christianity
    – rural areas were untouched -didn’t suffer consequences of conquest
    -farmers continued their practice similar before the o-conquest -the adoption of the nuclear family -live on the same farm -children spread to neighboring farms
    -change in social structure emergence of the noble class
    -before egalitarian society -the arrival of sparids brought aristocracy
    -city people were more sophisticated than farmers
    -language -indigenous language transformed -take Spanish and mix it with their own language
    -adopted Spaniard alphabet -the adoption of many Spanish words
    -born to Spanish parents but in America -made large population in America
    -one parent European one parent native
    -grow into large social class -before the conquest, there were only Spaniards and natives -50-100 years later entered biracial children and European parents but born in America
    Comments:
    This video enlightened me about the effects of colonization on indigenous societies. As the conquest is shown to pierce the community aspects of native culture. To their religion, social hierarchy, and language, the Spaniards are shown to make their influence prevalent. I found this information necessary to show the significance of revitalizing native records. Seeing the hardships native culture has undergone throughout history, it should be a priority to preserve and matinin the culture of natives.

  22. Noshin Ahmed

    Notes:
    -Columbus built settlements across the Americas
    -In the middle of the 16th century, around the 1540s, the indigenous communities start to coexist with the Spaniards and started to build a society together.
    -This was not a very violent time.
    -One big challenge the indigenous community has to face at that time was demographic decimation (their community was reduced).
    -One big cause for this is the epidemic killed many indigenous people.
    -In the new society Christianity was the dominant religion. Indigenous people had to adapt to the language of the Spaniards.
    -Central America and the south of Mexico were the most affected by this.
    -Indigenous communities in the north were not affected/affected very little, and they had the ability to practice their religion and maintain their culture.
    -Churches in Mexico shows the mix between European churches and Indigenous architecture.
    -Europeans settled in the big cities after the conquest.
    -Natives who lived in the rural areas didn’t have to suffer the consequences as much as those who lived in the big cities.
    -The political structure and the regime of the land were similar to what they (Natives) did before the conquest.
    -They adopted the concept of nuclear families.
    -Pre-conquest, the Indigenous culture was egalitarian, which means that they didn’t care about who their parents were.
    -With the arrival of Spaniards, you can see the emergence of the noble class, which caused a migration to the cities.
    -The indigenous people tried to bring the Spanish language into their culture and language.
    -They adopted the Latin alphabet, then many of the Spanish words.
    -Many Natives became bilingual.
    -Two new categories of people, people who have fully Spanish parents but were born in the Americas, and people who are mixed (Biracial).

    Comment:
    I found it interesting to learn about how the culture of the Indigenous people was affected because of the conquest. For instance, their concept of religion was affected to the point where it became a mixture of both their religion and Christianity. Their language was also affected because they started to incorporate many factors of the Spanish language into their culture. I think this shows how the Spanish culture assimilated into the Indigenous culture. I also found it interesting to learn about how social class structure started to become a thing in the lives of indigenous people.

  23. Tercia Dobrzynski
    Independence I Notes
    – During the time post colonization and pre-independence, Indigenous community and colonizers come to coexist and form a society, the foundations of the one we see exist today
    – One of the biggest challenges the the indigenous people faced was the demographic decimation; caused by the waves of carnage during the conquest
    – Another challenge was the cultural adaptation that was forced upon them; Christianity, the language and communication
    – Central America and south of Mexico were affected most by the conquest
    – Further north, the indigenous communities were fairly untouched
    – The mix of European and indigenous architecture shoes that a lot of people mixed the European Christian with indigenous religion
    – After the conquest, europeans mostly settled in the big cities, so the rural areas were fairly untouched and didn’t suffer as much of the consequences of the conquest
    – The spaniards brought the ideas of social class and the aristocracy

    Comment
    It’s interesting to read and listen to the time period post colonization and pre independence, it is something that I have not learned about before. The social adaptations that the indigenous people were forced to undergo particularly stood out to me. Specifically, the social class that was brought to the Americas by the Spaniards. It’s an interesting point, how natives fled the rural areas and towards the cities for ‘status migration’. Learning about this social adaptation and more helps me better understand the process natives had to undergo post colonization.

  24. Alan Tupac

    Notes on independence:

    -The continent goes through a large transformation within 250 years
    -Christopher Colombia arrived in America in 1492
    -The conquest took the form of killing and pillaging and subjugation of the indigenous people
    -This went on for decades from different trips between Europe and the Americas
    -First, it was the Spaniards and Portuguese, but later on, more European powers started establishing their dominance over the continent
    -Settlements were built by the Spanish in Central and South America
    -The time spent in the Americas was marked by colonial violence
    -In the middle of the 16th-century things began to ease and become less violent until the independence wars
    -The relationship developed by the Spaniards and the natives for decades helped create a new society
    -The natives who survived after the conquest had to deal with many challenges
    -The arrival of the colonizers led to the decimation of the native population which was caused through war and the epidemic that was occurring in the Americas
    -Millions of natives died from smallpox because they didn’t build up the immunity to fight off the virus unlike the Europeans
    -The native population was reduced to a fraction of what it once was and the culture of the region was changed significantly due to the introduction of Christianity and European languages
    -The natives had to adapt to survive the new world created by the Spanish
    -The highest percentage of natives affected by the arrival of the Spanish occurred mostly in Central America and the Caribbean
    -There we’re a lot of indigenous communities that were untouched and they managed to retain their culture for an extended amount of time
    -There was a mix of European and indigenous beliefs which resulted in the religion Latin American countries practice today
    -Before the arrival of the Spaniards the natives had big cities and rural areas and when the colonizers made it to the Americas they looted the big cities the most
    -The rural areas were mostly untouched and didn’t face the same violence the natives in the big city did
    -There was minimal change in the agricultural sector of the indigenous empires after the arrival of the Spaniards
    -The nobility in the America’s we’re the rules while everyone else was a commoner
    -With the arrival of the Spaniard’s there was an emergence of a noble class in the cities
    -City dwellers were seen as more sophisticated and interesting than those from the rural areas
    -There was a status migration from the rural areas into the city to be closer to the nobility
    -There was no equality of power because the Spanish language was the dominant language
    -The natives mixed the Spanish language with their indigenous language
    -The natives adopted the Spanish language by first adopting the Latin alphabet
    -The natives then started adapting Spanish words into their vocabulary
    -As time went on the natives started borrowing more words until the population became bilingual
    -The natives had to learn the Spanish language to get better jobs and a better standard of life
    -Gradually the native language died off and was replaced by Spanish
    -The highest class in the Americas was those born from Spanish parents and made up a large portion of the population in Latin America
    -The second highest class was people born from one European and one native parent which created a large mestizo population

    Comments:

    I found it very interesting that after centuries of Spanish colonization there was a new race of people which emerged due to the racial mixing between the Indigenous and European population which formed a new class in the social hierarchy which was worse than the lives of their white parent but better than the life experienced by their indigenous parent. I was also surprised to learn that it took decades for the natives to adopt the Spanish language and that the people had to learn from themselves how to speak Spanish instead of the Spaniards teaching them the language. In addition, I was surprised that there was a mass migration to the big cities in Latin America because the people wanted to be perceived as more sophisticated and higher in the social ladders.

  25. Notes:
    In the initial first 30-40 years after Christopher Columbus’ arrival there was a violent and rapid period of European expansion throughout the Americas.
    Following this gruesome period the indigenous Natives and Europeans alike seemed to integrate into a peaceful coexistence and establish a functioning society together.
    The Natives who managed to survive faced many different challenges. Including facing the obliteration of their peoples through the smallpox brought over from Europe.
    They also had to face a shift in culture and way of life as Christianity and foreign languages were forced upon them.
    Northern portions of Mexico which were much less affected by the conquest compared to Southern areas left many indigenous communities untouched and much of the Christian and Native architecture survived for a long time.
    This included rural areas where farm workers might reside as much of the European infiltration occurred in big cities.
    Many cultural changes that also occurred was the integration of a nuclear family and an emergence of a noble class that lived predominantly in the bigger cities which incited many to migrate there.
    Spanish very quickly dominated and became an aspect which Natives were forced to learn and adapt to.
    At first Natives used the Latin alphabet in their language then slowly began borrowing Spanish words and phrases. Eventually most became bilingual speaking their native tongue and Spanish but sadly most native languages would die off.
    With European arrival 2 new types of people emerged, those born of European parents in the Americas and those with one Native and one European parent.

    Comments:
    Seeing the progression of how the Natives and Europeans integrated and completely changed the landscape of the Americas is fascinating. It is admittedly a little saddening that many great Native languages and cultural practices were lost to time as they were not allowed to remain with the dominance of Spanish and European arrival. I would definitely be interested in learning more about Native cultures and the ones that remained as so many were extinguished early in the conquest and not allowed to prosper.

  26. Nur Rahman
    Notes:
    In 1500- 1700, the indigenous people and Spaniards stopped fighting and everything began to settle down
    They were co-existing and they formed society as they built settlements by the Spanish in Central and South America
    The arrival of the colonizers led to the decimation, several waves of carnage
    There were cultural and language challenges
    Christianity is the new dominant religion and people were forced to adopt a new language to be able to communicate with others in order to survive
    Churches in Spain are a mix of indigenous culture and European cultures
    Indigenous cultures slowly begin to fade away
    The emergence of nobility. Indigenous people would live in egalitarian societies where it doesn’t matter who your parents are or where ur from.
    Comment:
    It’s so disappointing to see the Indigenous peoples’ culture being wiped away. In order to survive, they changed their social norms in order to be ranked as someone noble. Even though the physical violence ended and all their land was stolen, they had to deal with more pain where they had to develop a new lifestyle and new social norms while forgetting their indigenous culture. However, I find it interesting how the architecture of the churches was inspired by the indigenous culture and was able to mix that with European culture which preserves their culture in a way.

  27. Omar Malik

    Notes:

    -Period of 250 years had a lot of continental change
    -30 to 40 years of colonial violence until people settled down
    -16th century saw a big decrease in physical violence as a result of desiring power
    -Spaniards destroyed a lot of the indigenous land and indigenous culture
    -The Spanish eventually built settlements in Central and South America
    -Religion played a big role, as Christianity was the dominant religion
    -While many indigenous people survived the Spanish attacks, they lived the rest of their lives with difficulty
    -Central America and South Mexico were impacted the most by the Spanish conquest
    -Many churches were in the indigenous communities
    -Churches had both European and indigenous influence
    -Rural areas were pretty much untouched

    Comments:

    While it was great that violence between Native Americans and Europeans began to settle down, it hurt to hear that the indigenous people had to adopt to Spanish customs. Nobody should be forced to act a certain way nor be forced to have certain beliefs. The Spanish may not have been as physically violent as they were before, but they were definitely still psychologically violent. I can’t imagine how it must’ve been for the Native Americans who survived the conquest attacks to live in fear for basically the rest of their lives.

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