The Occupation of Middle America

1. The Occupation of Middle America

2. Today’s Objectives • Revisit Pre-Columbian civilizations and contributions • Contextualize the occupation of Middle America as the continuation of Spain’s Reconquista Imperial project • Compare/contrast Spanish ideology and civilization to that of Pre-colon Amerindians (Olmecas, Maya, Aztecs) • Begin to break down the term ‘Colonization’

3. Geography and People • The first great American civilizations developed in Mesoamerica, also called Middle America. • Region includes Mexico and Central America. • The people that inhabited this region had migrated from other parts of North America. • The people farmed and grew corn, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes. • Farmers also domesticated animals.

4. Source: http://mapsof.net/map/region-mesoamerica#.Uufha_bTky5

5. Olmeca Empire • The Olmeca Empire, which existed 1500BC-500BC was the first major MesoAmerican civilization. • Developed in the tropical rain forests of Mexicos gulf coast. • They invented a calendar and system of writing made up of carved inscriptions. • Strongly devoted to religion and priests were highly respected.

6. Source: http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/olmecs.htm

7. The Mayas • 1800BC (flourished from AD 300-900) • Complex agricultural society • Dug irrigation canals. Reclaimed lands by constructing raised fields. • Farming and Trade – most of the people were farmers. Men farmed while the women turned the crops into food. • Religion was very significant and priests were well respected. Priests were the only ones who could conduct ceremonies and rituals that the Mayas believed would ensure bountiful harvests and victories in battles.

8. Mayan [Gendered] Social Structure • Ruling Chief • Nobles • (Military and Government Officials) • Merchants and Artisans • Farmers Source: http://aztecsincasmayansproject.weebly.com/index.html

9. Mayan Contributions • Architecture – Built large pyramids and palaces • Agriculture – grew enough food to support large populations • Science – Develop a hieroglyphic style of writing, an accurate calendar, numbering system, and understood the concept of Zero

10. Mayan Mathematics • What is so important about ‘Zero’? • Developed as early as 36BC • Mayan mathematics Provides more accurately Account of time and space than Western Civilization. Source: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/mayan.html

11. Mayan Decline • After 909AD, Maya built few new temples and shortly after began to decline (as an empire, not a people) • Possible reasoning: warfare, overpopulation, famine, or natural disaster Source: http://maya.nmai.si.edu/the-maya/maya-world

12. The Aztecs • Between 1325 AD and 1345 AD, the Azteca founded their capital of Tenochtitlán on an island in Lake Texcoco. • The Aztecs were fierce warriors using military conquests and alliances to build a huge empire. • The Aztec Empire became very wealthy from collecting taxes from conquered people. • By the 1500’s, the Aztec Empire covered most of Mexico and included approximately 30 million people.

13. Social Structure • Ruled by a single emperor chosen by a council of priests and nobles. • Nobility • Warriors • Traders – also acted as military scouts • Farmers • Slaves

14. Aztec Religion • Priests were highly respected individuals • Huitzilopochtli, lord of the sun and god of war • To please their gods, the Aztecs practiced blood sacrifice

15. Soure: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Mexicoweb/factfile/Unique-facts-Mexico8.htm

16. Chinampas – raised fields

17. Significance of Time 1492: Spanish reclaim the Iberian Peninsula 36 BC: Maya develop concept of ‘Zero’ 1325: Aztec Empire est. 1519 – Fall of Tenochtlnan Cultivation of Maiz 9000-7000 years ago 1500 BC Olmecas: First major Meso American Civilization 1510: Hernan Cortez arrives to mainland (now Mexico) 1810 New Spain on the brink of war 909 AD: Maya Empire declines, not erased

18. Between the Fall and Colonization “At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Maya still wrote glyphs—not only on stone slate but in handmade books. In 1566 in the Yucatán, Friar Diego de Landa read a great number of Maya books. According to him, because the books were about the indigenous antiquities and sciences, which he believed were based on nothing but superstitions and falsehoods of the devil, he burned them....” (Acuña, Chpt. 1, p. 5)

19. Questions to Consider • What drove Spain’s emergence into the ‘New World’? • What justified the Spanish conquest? • What institutional, ideological, and economic forces allowed for the Occupation (later Colonization) of Middle America?

20. Over 700 years of war..... • 711, Muslims of northern Africa take control of the Iberian Peninsula • African presence lasted more than seven centuries • Spanish regain territory through a military-religious campaign known as la reconquista • Between 1200-1492, Spain drives out last of Muslim presence

21. Contextualizing Spain (Spanish) • A strong-affiliation to Christian ideology • A clear division existed between Spanish and African Muslims • 1479: Queen Isabela and King Fernando united kingdoms of Castile and Aragón • A kind of racial system: 120,000-150,000 Spanish Jews expelled.

23. The 15th Century • Amerindian population went from 25 million to about 1 million within the eight decades. (Acuña, p. 19) • Spain emerged as a global, imperial power. First with the reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. Next with the settlement of New Spain. • Conquistadores such as Colon, Cortez, and Pizarro (Incas) were the primary agents in establishing Spanish colonial rule.

24. Converging Technologies • Gunpowder • Horses • Steel (armor) • ‘Politics of Death’

25. Ideology “The Pope had condemned the Portuguese practice of the plunder and enslavement of human beings along the coast of Africa. However...the natives could be enslaved if they were cannibals. Columbus himself justified the enslavement of the indigenous people, claiming they were indeed cannibals.” (p. 21)

26. Genocide • Over 90% of Amerindian Peoples died with the Spanish invasion of the Western hemisphere. • Disease (smallpox, measles, influenza) had devastating consequences for First peoples in both North and South America. • Four major epidemics in Spain’s first 60 years of occupation: 1 – 1520-1521 (untold thousands died) 2 – 1531 (smallpox + measles) or tepitonzahuatl 3 – 1545-1548 (hemmorage fever) 4 –

28. New Spain Institutions • Race • Gender • Labor

29. Constructing A System of Race Peninsulares– Spanish blood Creoles – Spanish roots, born in New Spain Mestizos – Indian and Spanish blood Mulatoes– Afro and Spanish blood Blacks – African slaves

30. Racial logic • Gente de razon • Gente sin razon • Limpio de sangre

31. Constructing Gender Divisions and Inequality • Institution of Marriage • Rape • Land rights (lack of) • Class and Gender intersections

32. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651 – 1695) • As a Creole woman, Sor Juana challenged male authority (patriarchy) in the church. • As a Nun of the Catholic Church, she wrote La Repuesta (The Answer) in response to Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz. She argued that women should have full access to education.

33. New Spain’s Structural Control • Encomiendas – large tracts of land with native subjects. • Haciendas – large estates of land granted to privileged Spaniards

34. Pop. Of Mexico in 1810

35. Colonization “When people from a given country exploit the people and resources of another, subjugating the people they encounter, their culture and political order. The colonizers write histories and produce narratives (cultural production) to normalize their power position. Subjugated peoples, when they rise up, produce counter narratives—or stories and histories to counter the dominant, colonial narratives.” -- Dr. Linda Heidenreich-Zuniga

36. Class Discussion • What has been the role of colonization in Middle America so far? • What are some differences between Pre-Columbian civilizations and Spanish civilizations? • Where do you think legacies of colonialism maintain power today?