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Peoples and Empires in Latin America, 1492-1820s

Module description

1492 marked the beginning of what is known today as Latin America. The European arrival, conquest and colonisation of the Americas caused the decimation of indigenous peoples and the forced transportation of millions of Africans. While Europeans named and redefined the American continent, diverse people of Amerindian, African and mixed descent also had a role in this process. This module introduces you to the peoples and empires that shaped early modern Latin America: those who were imperial subjects, those who resisted, and those who lived beyond the colonies. Emphasis will be placed on connections and exchanges across current national boundaries.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to allow you to:  

• Gain an understanding of the place of early modern Latin America within the Atlantic world
• Discuss the different ways in which the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and British people and states settled in and administered their Latin American colonies, and the connections brought together Europe, African and Latin America during the early modern period
• Display a factual and historiographical understanding of the history of people of African, European and indigenous origin and descent in Latin America, and their role in the establishment, development and shaping of the continent
• Create independent arguments through critical engagement with primary sources (written and visual) and secondary sources including archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic material
• Explore a new area of history, and develop the depth of understanding you will require to study more specialised modern and contemporary history of Latin America

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Be aware of the political, economic, social and cultural developments in the history of Latin America between 1492 and the 1820s
• 2. Make a close evaluation of the key developments and debates in the history of European colonisation of Latin America, of indigenous history and of Afro-Latin America, and their interconnections, during the early modern period
• 3. Evaluate the main themes in the subject and to collate information upon, and evaluate in greater detail, those aspects of the module discussed in seminar and especially those topics selected by students for their coursework

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Analyse the key developments of early modern Latin America, especially in relation to empires, frontiers, race and ethnicity
• 5. Collate data from a range of sources, both primary and secondary, in English
• 6. Interpret primary sources
• 7. Trace long-term as well as short-term historical developments
• 8. Recognise and deploy historical terminology correctly
• 9. Assess different approaches to historical writing in areas of controversy

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. Work both independently and in a group, including participating in oral seminar discussions
• 11. Identify a topic, select, comprehend, and organise primary and secondary materials on that topic with little guidance
• 12. Produce to a deadline and in examination conditions a coherent argument

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• European exploration
• Encounters between Indigenous, African and Europeans
• Transatlantic connections
• Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and British colonial projects in Central and South American and the Caribbean
• Imperial policies and imperial reforms
• Inter-imperial relations, frontiers and borderlands
• Colonial societies
• Indigenous communities
• Maroon communities

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

The re-assessment of the essay and exam are exactly the same, a 3000 words essay (worth 30%) and a 2 hours exam (worth 50%). The group presentation will be replaced by a written script equivalent to 10 minutes of speech.

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Andrews, G. R., Afro-Latin America (OUP, 2004).
• Canny, N., Morgan, Ph. (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Atlantic World, 1450-1850 (OUP, 2011).
• Elliott, J., Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830 (New Haven, 2006).
• Greene, J. P., and Morgan, P.D. (eds.), Atlantic History: A Critical Appraisal (OUP, 2008).
• Heuman, G., Brief Histories: The Caribbean (Hodder Arnold, 2005).
• Langfur, Hal (ed.), Native Brazil: Beyond the Convert and the Cannibal, 1500-1900 (University of New Mexico Press, 2014).
• Moore, Jerry D., A Prehistory of South America. Ancient Cultural Diversity on the Least Known Continent (University Press of Colorado, 2014).
• Restall, M. (ed.), Beyond Black and Red. African-Native Relations in Colonial Latin America (University of New Mexico Press, 2005).
• Thornton, J. K., A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250–1820 (CUP, 2012).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6900
• Colonial Latin America http://legacy.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/modsbook08.asp    
• Slave Voyages Database: http://www.slavevoyages.org
• John Carter Brown Library: http://jcb.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet

Key words search

Latin America; Atlantic; early modern; Race; Ethnicity; Frontiers; Empires; colonialism; African-Americans; Indigenous; Spanish America; Brazil; Cuba