Paper Example on Colonial Period in Latin America

Introduction

History of Latin America dates back to the fifteenth century, and started from the pre-colonial period includes colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese. Latin America consisted of the entire land of South America, and Mexico. Other parts such as Central America and the island of the Caribbean also form Latin America. People in these large areas shared the experience of conquest and colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese from the late fifteenth and the eighteenth century. During the sixteenth century, Spanish and Portuguese colonialist settled in the central and the southern part of America. Later after the French, Dutch, and English claimed the Northern part of America (Johnson, 90). The term Latin America was first used in in the nineteenth century; the area was entirely under the influence of Spanish and spoke Latin-based languages such as Spanish and Portuguese.

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Antiquity of colonialism in Latin America can be separated into four different parts: pre-Colombian native imperialism, and early modern European colonialism. Apart from the two are, new colonialism, and finally the neocolonialism. According to archeologists and historian, modern colonialism began in the fifteenth century with the rise of modern nation-states and the beginning of European exploration and discovery. The pre-Colombian empires of the Americans were all conquered and colonized by the Spanish (Michalopoulos, Stelios, & Elias Papaioannou, 60). The Spanish advanced tactics to reorganize the indigenous population of Americans to enable them to rule Latin Americans. Representatives of the Spanish began with Hernando Cortez in North America and Francisco Pizarro in South America this lead to the creation of new Spanish elite that ruled the native population.

Ideally, Lane, Kris, and Robert (1550) argue that conquest and colonization of Latin America were beneficial to Spain in various ways. Spain gained gold and silver and the Spanish born in America were the ones to build the social elite. In parts of Latin America, such as, the Caribbean, and South America had some Indians who came to live in the sixteenth century. There was a rise in spiritual conquest which rose as a result of Christianization through evangelism and teaching of the Catholic religion. Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, Augustinians, and Carmelites imposed the Catholic way of worship by force to other believers.

Additionally, the native Indians were significantly affected by the colonization of the Latin America (Furtado, & Celso, 125). Since European arrival in North America in 1620, they had severe effects on the indigenous population on the issues concerning employment opportunities, the environment, culture and tradition, health, and also social justice. Firstly, the unemployment rate of the Native Americans was below half of their population. Native Americans were portrayed to be too illiterate to get the white scholar jobs and also the media such as movies indicated that they were very primitive and hostile. Probably, this was an economic frustration so that the Colonizer would undermine their abilities to take part in the available jobs.

Conferring to Celso (130), after the invasion of the Spanish and European in Latin America, the indigenous population had restricted freedom. This issue resulted in an inability of these Americans to freely interact with the surrounding environment and therefore relied heavily on the western culture. For instance, the Black Hills, a mountain range in Dakota, was initially home to tribes of Native Americans. After the discovery of gold in the place, the tribes were removed and relocated in the desert where humans could hardly survive leading to the death of the less fortunate Americans. Besides all the harsh conditions, in the nineteenth American children were placed in European boarding schools where they were forbidden from communicating in their native languages and abandon the traditional religious beliefs in favor of Christianity.

Colonialism of the Latin America and revolution got facilitated due to the various factors. Lack of respect for the Creoles, the Spanish colonies, had a prosperous class of creoles. Venezuelans were appointed from 1786 to 1810 (Veliz & Claudio, 509). This issue irritated the influential creoles who correctly felt that they were ignored. Also, the Native Americans could not trade easily due to the vast Spanish New World Empire that produced many goods such as coffee, cacao, textile, wine, and minerals. The conies were not allowed to trade with Spain and Spanish merchants.

Native Americans that inhabited the present day America their lives got destroyed when the European settled and changed their way of living. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria overspread. Fights over territories began to break out, and this was mainly because of greed and discrimination that the Colonies had towards the original owners (Salvatore, Ricardo, & Carlos, 273) Colonialists introduced laws that protected the land and property the colonists had acquired.

Latin American Wars at the colonial period during the eighteenth century resulted in the creation of some independent countries within Latin America. The American and French revolution had effects on the Spanish, Portuguese, and French. It happened during the Haitian Revolution which lasted from 1791 to 1804 (Michalopoulos, Stelios, & Elias Papaioannou, 61) since Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as French ruler. The French ruler that emerged set an army that later conquered Europe, including Spain, and Portugal in the year 1808.

Lane, Kris, and Robert (1555) point that after French conquering Europe, the old centers of Spanish power in Mexico and Peru achieved independence. However, some Spanish sill remained in the islands of Cuba, Philippines, and Puerto Rico until the Spanish-America War of 1898. Despite war and discomforts, the French revolution had some impacts on the American. It affected the institution of slavery among Americans, preservation of freedom for the indigenous and also foundation of the sovereign state of Haiti. Another interesting benefit of the French revolution is that it gave value to the human right. In the year 1789, the month of August on the twenty-sixth, France National Assembly published the declaration of the rights of man that valued self-freedom and equity.

Easterly, William and Ross (230) argue that the Spanish ruled native America for a quite long time before French defeated them. Long before most of its countries gained independence from the Iberian motherlands in the early 19th century. Period ranging from 1870 to 1930 thru which immigration reached genuinely massive proportions. This inflow of people in the six decades after 1870 was thus quantitatively unprecedented, embedded in a wider set of worldwide movements of peoples. As a contrast to the migrations of other world regions, the vast majority, although not all, of those who overlapped the Atlantic toward the Americas, hailed from Europe.

At the end of the wars of independence, some sovereign states emerged in the Americas from the old Spanish colonies. Indigenous viewpoints on some philosophical issues emerged in the past that depicts the history of the colonial violence and development of race based on the social system as part of the European conquest and colonization (Salvatore, Ricardo, & Carlos, 273). The movements that liberated Spanish arose from opposite ends of the continent. From the north came the movement, a dynamic figure known as the Liberator, led by Simeon Bolivia. From the south proceeded another powerful force, this one directed by the advanced intelligent leader Jose de San Martin After difficult conquests of their home regions, the two movements spread the cause of independence through other territories.

According to Johnson (90), after the struggle for freedom by the locals Americans, who were greatly looked upon by the colonizers and the several revolutions that happened in the Latin America in a better way than her initial status. More of the inventions started coming up as the leadership also cotemporary improved. At stake was not only political autonomy per se but also economic interest; the Creole merchants of Buenos Aires, who initially sought the liberalization of colonial restraints on commerce in the region, subsequently tried to maintain their economic dominance over the interior.

In its first years, of invention and introduction of agriculture, Spain become less potent as it experienced direct competition from other countries like Brazil that had fertile lands beside having the freedom to handle their affairs. According to historical research food processing industries came up and life started becoming more joyous (Furtado, & Celso, 125). The Gran Colombian army later consolidated the independence of Peru in 1824. Bolivar and Santander were re-elected in 1826.

Similarly, as the war against Spain came to an end in the mid-1820s, political division and commercial disputes among religion still intensified greatly because people now had freedom and wright to their religion of interest (Bakewell, & Peter, 80). Nevertheless, the French government had become stable enough to handle all the businesses within her boundaries and the countries that were still under her. Also, some countries such as Cuba still had economic and political grievances. Since the end of the 18th century, Spain textile industry suffered because cheaper textiles were being imported from other countries like France.

Works Cited

Bakewell, Peter. "Colonial Latin America" Latin America. Routledge, 2018. 77-85.

Easterly, William, and Ross Levine. "The European Origins of Economic Development." Journal of Economic Growth 21.3 (2016): 225-257.

Furtado, Celso. "Economic Development of Latin America." A promise of Development. Routledge, 2018. 124-148.

Johnson, John J. "Political Change in Latin America: The Emergence of the Middle Sectors." Promise Of Development. Routledge, 2018. 88-99.

Lane, Kris E., and Robert M. Levine. Pillaging The Empire: Piracy In The Americas, 1500-1750: Piracy In The Americas, 1500-1750. Routledge, 2015.

Michalopoulos, Stelios, and Elias Papaioannou. "Further Evidence on the Link between Pre-Colonial Political Centralization and Comparative Economic Development In Africa." Economics Letters 126 (2015): 57-62.

Salvatore, Ricardo D., and Carlos Aguirre. "Colonies of Settlement or Places of Banishment and Torment? Penal Colonies and Convict Labour in Latin America, C. 1800-1940." Global Convict Labour (2015): 273.

Veliz, Claudio. The Centralist Tradition of Latin America. Vol. 509. Princeton University Press, 2014.