Born in Blood & Fire: A Concise History of Latin America

Flashcards based on John Charles Chasteen's "Born in Blood & Fire: A Concise History of Latin America", covering key vocabulary and concepts related to the Encounter, Colonial Crucible, Independence, Postcolonial Blues, Progress, Neocolonialism, Nationalism, Revolution, Reaction, and Neoliberalism in Latin America.

Nonsedentary people

Indigenous groups that led a mobile existence as hunters and gatherers in food-scarce environments, roaming open plains and having simple social organization. Examples include the Pampas of Argentina.

Semisedentary people

Indigenous forest dwellers who practiced shifting cultivation (slash and burn agriculture) adapted to thin tropical soils. They built villages but moved frequently and organized themselves by tribes and gender roles rather than social class. An example is the Tupi people of Brazil.

Fully sedentary people

Indigenous groups with permanent settlements, often on high plateaus, sustained by agriculture. Their societies were complex and stratified by class, some building great empires like the Aztec, Inca, and Maya.

Aztec Empire

A major Mesoamerican empire ruled by the Mexicas, known for its vast capital Tenochtitlan and advanced civilization built on stationary agriculture and a hereditary nobility specializing in war. Conquered by Hernán Cortés.

Inca Empire

An even larger empire in the Andes, with its capital at Cuzco, whose people (Quechua speakers) utilized elaborate sustainable agriculture like terraced slopes and irrigation. Conquered by Francisco Pizarro.

Mayas

A civilization known for impressive city-states and ceremonial centers in Central America, with high cultural attainments in art, architecture, and astronomy, but not a unified empire at the time of European arrival.

Iberia / Iberian Peninsula

The southwestern tip of Europe, occupied by Spain and Portugal, whose history of Christian reconquest from Muslim Moors significantly shaped the crusading mentality and institutions of Spanish and Portuguese colonization.

Reconquest of Iberia

An 800-year process by which Christian kingdoms gradually pushed the Moors (Muslims from Northern Africa) out of the Iberian Peninsula, culminating in 1492. It fostered a crusading mentality and centralized political power in Spain and Portugal.

Isabel of Castile

Queen of Castile who, in the 1490s, sponsored Christopher Columbus's explorations, hoping to enrich her kingdom and extend Christian influence, reflecting a crusading mentality.

Encounter

The historical collision of Native American, European, and African worlds, starting in 1492, which formed patterns of social domination and laid the foundation for distinctive Latin American societies.

Pedro Alvares Cabral

The Portuguese commander who, in 1500, stumbled upon Brazil while en route to India, initially deeming it less important than the Asian trade but establishing Portuguese claims there.

Tupi

Semisedentary, forest-dwelling indigenous people of Brazil whose society was largely destroyed and replaced by African slave labor due to Portuguese sugar cultivation.

Hernán Cortés

The Spanish conquistador who, with indigenous allies and the advantage of European weaponry/disease, conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521, laying the foundation for Spanish colonization in Mexico.

Francisco Pizarro

The Spanish conquistador who, using treachery and military advantages, captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa in 1532, leading to the collapse of the vast Inca Empire.

Encomienda

A Spanish institution in which Indigenous people were 'entrusted' to a conqueror, tasked with Christianizing them, in exchange for their labor and/or tribute. Common in the colonization of Mexico and Peru.

Bartolomé de las Casas

A radical Dominican friar who, in the 1500s, passionately denounced Spanish exploitation of indigenous people, advocating for their protection and influencing the creation of the New Laws of the Indies.

Colonial Economics

Structured around the extraction of precious metals (silver in Spanish America) and cash crops (sugar in Brazil), linking the colonies to European markets and driving the geographical layout and political organization of the empires.

Silver mining

The primary economic activity in colonial Spanish America, centered in Zacatecas (Mexico) and Potosí (Peru), which dramatically reshaped society and linked the colonies with Europe through the 'royal fifth' tax.

Potosí

A major silver mine high in the Andes, which became one of the most populous cities in America during the 1600s, creating an extensive supply network for its operations.

Royal fifth

A 20% tax on mining, specifically silver and gold, which was the prime source of colonial revenue for the Spanish Crown, shaping its administrative organization in the Americas.

Viceroyalty

The largest administrative divisions of the Spanish and Portuguese empires in America, ruled by a viceroy (representing the king), with key centers in Mexico City (New Spain) and Lima (Peru).

Sugar plantations

The main generators of export production in colonial Brazil, concentrated on the northeastern coast. They required large capital investment and a substantial, enslaved labor force, largely of African origin.

Senhor de engenho

Literally 'lord of a mill,' referring to the powerful owners of sugar mills and plantations in colonial Brazil, who dominated the sugar economy and local society.

Hegemony

A form of social domination in which the ruling class gains a measure of consent from the subordinate classes by making its dominance seem natural and inevitable, often through cultural and religious means. It characterized Iberian colonial control.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

A Mexican nun (died 1695) and leading intellectual of her time, whose literary and scientific pursuits challenged patriarchal norms of colonial society, ultimately leading to her silencing by church authorities.

Patriarchy

A social system where fathers rule, dominating households, society, and institutions. It was strongly implanted by Iberian colonialism in Latin America, defining gender roles and property distribution.

Honor System

A cultural pattern in colonial Latin America that measured social standing by how well men and women conformed to prescribed, highly differentiated gender roles, particularly regarding female sexual purity and male defense of family reputation.

Transculturation

A two-way process of creative interaction and mixing between cultures, resulting in a new, distinct culture. It describes how indigenous, African, and European cultures blended in colonial Latin America to form unique national identities.

Virgin of Guadalupe

A unifying symbol of transculturation in Mexico, seen as both a Catholic saint and an indigenous earth goddess (Tonantzin). Her acceptance by Spanish authorities helped integrate indigenous belief into Latin American Catholicism.

Fringe areas of colonization

Vast regions of Spanish America and Brazil situated outside the core mining/plantation areas. They were poorer, attracted fewer colonizers, had less incentive for forced labor, and often developed more mixed-race populations and strong indigenous cultural influences.

Bandeirantes

Wandering frontiersmen from São Paulo, Brazil, whose primary activity was slave hunting (of indigenous people). Their explorations expanded Portuguese claims deep into the continent and led to the discovery of gold.

Quilombo

A settlement of escaped slaves (palenques in Spanish America) in Brazil. Palmares was the largest and most famous, symbolizing heroic resistance to slavery.

Bourbon and Pombaline reforms

Administrative and economic changes enacted by the Spanish Bourbon dynasty and Portuguese minister Marquis de Pombal in the mid-1700s. Aimed to tighten imperial control, increase revenue, and make colonies more economically subservient, often at the expense of local elites.

Caste system (colonial)

A rigid social hierarchy legally encoded in colonial Latin America, based on perceived racial purity (European, indigenous, African, and various mixtures). Wealth and social attributes could 'whiten' an individual's status through 'gracias al sacar.'

Gracías al sacar

An official exemption that allowed wealthy individuals of low caste to purchase legal whiteness, making them eligible for positions of distinction and authority, highlighting the fluidity of the caste system despite its rigidity.

King João (João VI)

The Portuguese prince regent (later king) who fled Napoleon's invasion and brought the royal court to Rio de Janeiro in 1808, making Brazil the political center of the Portuguese-speaking world and delaying its independence.

Creoles

People of Spanish descent born in the Americas. They often resented the preferential treatment given to Peninsulars and led most of the independence movements in Spanish America.

Peninsulars

Spaniards born on the Iberian Peninsula who resided in the New World. They held most high colonial offices and privileges, fueling resentment among American-born Creoles.

Miguel Hidalgo

A Mexican Creole priest who in 1810 sparked a massive rebellion of indigenous and mestizo peasants against Peninsulars, using nativist and religious rhetoric, but was later captured and executed.

José María Morelos

A mestizo priest and able leader who continued the Mexican independence struggle after Hidalgo's death. He advocated for the end of slavery, the caste system, and indigenous tribute, calling all Mexicans 'Americanos.'

Tupac Amaru II

A Peruvian mestizo who claimed royal Inca descent and led a major indigenous rebellion in the Andes (1780-83). His revolt, though crushed, terrified the Peruvian elite and shaped their cautious approach to independence.

Americanos

A nativist keyword used by patriots during the independence wars to define a shared identity for all people born in the Americas (Creoles, mixed-race, indigenous, freed slaves), uniting them against Spanish and Portuguese enemies.

Simón Bolívar

Known as 'the Liberator,' he was the most important leader of Spanish American independence, leading armies from Venezuela and Argentina in a continental 'pincer' maneuver that defeated royalist forces across South America.

José de San Martín

An Argentine general who trained a combined Argentine-Chilean patriot army, crossed the Andes, and defeated Chilean royalists. He later cooperated with Bolívar in the final assault on Spanish power in Peru.

Haitian Revolution

A major slave uprising in the French colony of Haiti (1791) that abolished slavery and established the independent Republic of Haiti, serving as a powerful warning to slave-owning elites across Latin America.

Postcolonialism

The lingering effects of previous colonization on nations that have gained formal independence. In Latin America, this meant carrying over colonial languages, laws, religion, and social norms, and facing ongoing economic and cultural influence from outside powers.

Patronage politics

A political system prevalent in postcolonial Latin America where powerful figures (patrons) distributed government jobs, pensions, and public works (spoils of office) to their loyal friends, cronies, and clients in exchange for political support and votes.

Caudillo leadership

The rule of strong political leaders (caudillos) who built personal loyalty among followers, often using personal resources for patronage or private armies. Many were war heroes, embodying masculine ideals and cultivating a 'common touch.'

Juan Manuel de Rosas

A conservative Argentine caudillo who dominated the country from 1829 to 1852, known for using violence against opponents, savvy political imagery (gaucho garb), and mass propaganda to maintain power, while also forging alliances with indigenous groups.

Antonio López de Santa Anna

A flamboyant Mexican caudillo and political opportunist who repeatedly seized and lost the presidency during the 1830s and 1840s, known for his military victories against foreign invasions and his sense of political theater.

Pedro I (Emperor of Brazil)

The first emperor of independent Brazil (1822-1831). Despite his liberal inclinations, he had an authoritarian temperament; his scandals and involvement in Portuguese politics led to his abdication in favor of his Brazilian-born son.

Regency (Brazil)

The period (1831-1840) when adult guardians ruled in the name of the underage Prince Pedro II. Marked by liberal rebellions and political turbulence, it led to the early coronation of Pedro II to restore strong royal authority.

Costumbrismo

A popular artistic and literary form in mid-1800s Latin America dedicated to depicting national customs, dress, speech, and the lives of ordinary folk, particularly in the countryside, as a way to define new national identities.

Caste War of Yucatán

A major indigenous rebellion in mid-19th century Yucatán, in which Mayan people (Cruzob, 'people of the cross') took up arms, inspired by prophetic religious messages, to reclaim their land from white and mestizo intruders.

Guano

Nitrate-rich seabird droppings that accumulated on Peruvian offshore islands, fueling a lucrative export boom in the mid-1800s and rescuing Peruvian finances, but creating uneven prosperity.

Monroe Doctrine

A US foreign policy proclaimed in 1823, stating 'European hands off' the Western Hemisphere, reserving it for US influence. Largely theoretical until expanded US naval power in the late 1800s.

Progress (with a capital 'P')

A dominant idea in the 19th century West, embracing technological advancement (steamships, railroads, telegraphs), European/US material culture, and liberal transformations, often equated with Civilization.

Fueros

Special legal exemptions and privileges traditionally granted to clergy and military officers in colonial Latin America. They became a major point of contention for 19th-century liberals in Mexico.

Ultramontane Catholicism

A conservative orientation within the Catholic Church, especially in the mid-19th century, that stressed loyalty to the Pope above national authorities. It became official Catholic policy and fueled church-state conflicts with liberals.

Benito Juárez

Mexico's great 19th-century liberal president of fully indigenous (Zapotec) ancestry. He led the Reform movement and the resistance against the French invasion and Emperor Maximilian, becoming a symbol of Mexican nationalism.

Lerdo Law (1856)

A Mexican liberal decree that abolished collective landholding, primarily targeting the Church's vast properties but also jeopardizing the communal lands of indigenous villages, aiming to promote individual private property.

Maximilian and Carlota

French-backed Emperor and Empress of Mexico (1864-1867) during a conservative attempt to re-establish monarchy. Maximilian, a European prince, was executed by Juárez's forces after French withdrawal, symbolizing the defeat of conservative forces.

William Walker

A fundamentalist Christian mercenary from Tennessee who, with liberal support, briefly made himself president of Nicaragua (1850s), attempting to colonize it for the US, legalize slavery, and promote English, ultimately giving liberalism a bad name.

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda

A Cuban writer whose 1841 novel, Sab, was banned for its scandalous theme of interracial love between a slave and his white owner. She became a pioneer in Latin American literature and feminism.

Juana Manuela Gorriti

An Argentine-born 19th-century author and influential journalist in Peru, known for her didactic writings on women's issues and for hosting literary salons (tertulias) that promoted European and US models of 'Progress.'

Pedro II (Emperor of Brazil)

Brazil's second and last emperor (1840-1889). A philosophical liberal with a conservative governing style, he promoted science and progress but reluctantly presided over a slave-owning monarchy until its military overthrow.

Triple Alliance War (1865-1870)

The bloodiest international conflict in South American history, pitting Paraguay against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. It devastated Paraguay and spurred the abolitionist movement in Brazil.

'Free birth' law (1871)

A Brazilian law declaring that children born to enslaved mothers after 1871 would be free, although they still owed labor to their mothers' owners until adulthood. It signaled a public commitment to ending slavery.

Joaquim Nabuco

Brazil's leading abolitionist spokesman in the 1880s, who argued that slavery was not only morally wrong but also a major obstacle to Brazil's 'Progress.'

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

An influential Argentine liberal of the 19th century, author of Civilization and Barbarism, who promoted European immigration and public education (modeled on the US) to transform Argentine culture, despite his racist views towards gauchos.

Neocolonialism

An informal type of colonization in Latin America (1880-1930) where politically independent nations experienced overwhelming economic and cultural influence, and occasional military intervention, from Great Britain, France, and especially the United States.

Great export boom

A period of rapid and sustained economic growth in Latin America (roughly 1870-1930) driven by the massive exportation of raw materials and agricultural commodities, often facilitated by foreign investment in infrastructure like railroads.

United Fruit Company

A powerful US-based multinational corporation that became a 'banana empire' in Central America (early 1900s), acquiring vast landholdings and exerting significant economic and political control over 'banana republics.'

Rubber boom

A surge in the tapping and export of natural latex from the Amazon basin at the turn of the 20th century. It brought immense wealth to international traders and created boom towns like Manaus, but devastated indigenous populations and was ultimately undercut by Malaysian rubber.

Joaquim Machado de Assis

Widely considered Brazil's greatest 19th-century novelist. A grandson of slaves, he rose to become president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, representing the gradual integration of talented mixed-race individuals into the middle class.

Rubén Darío

A mestizo Nicaraguan poet (early 1900s) who achieved international fame and became one of the most influential Spanish-language poets. He was also a leading voice of protest against US interventions in Latin America.

Porfirio Díaz (Porfiriato)

Authoritarian ruler of Mexico from 1876-1911. His 'Porfiriato' epitomized neocolonial dictatorships, characterized by strict political control, encouragement of foreign investment (and Científicos), and modernization that benefited elites at the expense of the rural poor.

Rurales

The mounted national police force of Mexico, founded by Porfirio Díaz, used to impose order in the countryside and create an environment attractive to foreign investors, often at the expense of indigenous villagers.

Canudos

A large backland settlement in northeastern Brazil (1893-97) led by 'Antônio the Counselor,' which resisted the authority of the new Brazilian Republic and its modernizing, 'godless' ideas, leading to its violent annihilation by the federal army.

Paulina Luisi

The first woman in Uruguay to receive a medical degree (1909) and a leader of the country's feminist movement. She campaigned for women's voting rights and represented Uruguay at international women's conferences.

Bertha Lutz

A Brazilian biologist and leading feminist who founded the Brazilian Federation for Feminine Progress. Inspired by European and US movements, she played a crucial role in securing voting rights for Brazilian women in 1932.

1898 war (Spanish-American War)

A short war between the US and Spain that resulted in the US invasion of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. It marked the projection of US military power into the Caribbean basin and the beginning of direct US interventions in Latin America.

Manifest Destiny

A 19th-century US vision of inevitable expansion across North America, often justified by notions of racial and cultural superiority, which later influenced US imperialist ambitions in Latin America.

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine (1905) by Theodore Roosevelt, asserting the US military's role as a hemispheric police force to intervene in Latin American countries to prevent European intervention, typically to collect debts or ensure stability.

José Enrique Rodó

A Uruguayan essayist whose influential book, Ariel (1900), criticized US culture as crassly materialistic and challenged Latin Americans to cultivate finer, more spiritual values, inspiring a generation of intellectuals.

Pan-American Conference of Women (1922)

An international meeting held in the US that provided a platform for Latin American feminists like Paulina Luisi and Bertha Lutz to connect, share ideas, and advance women's rights in their respective countries.

Maquiladora

An assembly plant, often located along the US-Mexico border, that uses cheap labor (mostly women) to assemble imported parts for export. Low tariffs ease production, but worker conditions are often poor, and wages are kept down by neoliberal policies.

Maras

Violent street gangs, originating among immigrant youth in the US and then spreading to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador upon deportation. They traffic drugs and exploit people, contributing to migration of unaccompanied minors.

ISI (Import Substitution Industrialization)

An economic policy, dominant in Latin America from the 1930s to the 1950s, focused on creating domestic industries to produce goods previously imported. It was a nationalist strategy to achieve economic independence, particularly during interruptions of international trade.

Getúlio Vargas

Brazilian president and dictator (1930-1945, 1951-1954) who led Brazil through a period of extensive nationalist economic activism, industrialization, and social legislation under his authoritarian 'Estado Novo,' becoming a key populist figure.

Estado Novo

Getúlio Vargas's authoritarian 'New State' regime in Brazil (1937-1945), characterized by dissolved legislative bodies, banned political parties, media censorship, state-appointed governors, and a strong nationalist commitment to industrialization and cultural integration.

Carmen Miranda

A Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress who became a global celebrity in the 1930s-40s. While her performances helped popularize Brazilian samba and Afro-Brazilian fashion (Bahiana dress), her Hollywood image became a 'hot Latin' caricature.

Lázaro Cárdenas

Revolutionary nationalist president of Mexico (1934-1940) who dramatically re-energized the Mexican Revolution. He distributed vast amounts of land (ejidos), supported labor unions, and famously nationalized the foreign-owned Mexican oil industry in 1938.

Good Neighbor Policy

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt's non-interventionist foreign policy toward Latin America (1933-1945). It involved a public pledge against military intervention and improved US-Latin American relations, tested by Mexico's oil expropriation.

Rafael Trujillo

A long-standing pro-US dictator of the Dominican Republic (1930-1961), who came to power with US support. He was known for his extreme greed, corruption, and brutal repression, including the massacre of Haitian immigrants.

Populism

A leadership style and political strategy in post-WWII Latin America (especially 1945-1960) that focused on mass politics, winning elections, and making vigorous appeals to urban working and lower-middle classes, often using nationalist themes and anti-oligarchic rhetoric.

ECLA (Economic Commission for Latin America)

A United Nations commission, guided by Argentine economist Raúl Prebisch, that developed the 'developmentalist' and 'center-periphery' models. It argued for industrialization to overcome Latin America's economic dependence on industrialized countries.

Juan and Eva Perón (Peronism)

Juan Perón was president of Argentina (1946-55), swept to power by immense working-class support. His wife, Eva ('Evita'), played a crucial role in mobilizing the nationalist, populist Peronist movement, which blended anti-oligarchic rhetoric with social benefits and an emphasis on national dignity.

Rio Pact (1947)

A permanent Pan-American defensive alliance signed by the US and hemispheric nations. It militarized the US-Latin American alliance of WWII into an explicitly anticommunist front for the Cold War, viewing revolutionary movements as foreign invasions.

Jacobo Arbenz (Guatemala)

The second reformist president of Guatemala's 'decade of spring' (1951-1954). He pursued major land reforms and expropriated land from the United Fruit Company, leading to a US-backed proxy coup that ended Guatemala's democratic experiment.