The Americas have changed a considerable amount over the years, especially from 1750 until now. Both foreign and domestic influences have helped effect both North and South America and what they have become today. It has changed in many ways, and just some examples include imperialism, politics, wars, militarization, migration, urbanization, and industrialization.
Imperialism is a policy when a nation exercises authority over foreign countries or acquires colonies. From the 18th to the 21st century, this was common practice. By the mid 18th century, the British had numerous colonies, including the thirteen on the east coast and parts of modern-day Canada. France and Spain also owned some territory on the Northern continent, but South America was colonized by many foreign rulers, like the Dutch, Portugal, France, Spain, and the Uk. As said in the lecture, Course Timeline, by 1900, there were only a few countries in the Americas still under foreign rule, which were the Netherlands in Suriname and the UK in Canada and Guyana.
The article, The Growth, and Decline of British Interests, by Rory Miller, shows that Great Britain practiced Imperialism over much of Latin America in an economic sense as well. Their interest spiked in 1825 after the government decided to grant formal recognition to some of the new nations. Merchants set themselves up in large numbers in Atlantic and Pacific ports along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, while in London eager speculators invested their savings in loans to the young governments and in mining enterprises. But it proved to be disappointing. Almost all the new governments defaulted on the loans because they were unable to raise the money. The mining companies failed as well. Commercial relations with South America seemed to stagnate for about twenty years until things began to improve again, but by the middle of the 20th century, Great Britain’s influence had diminished. World War I had put a lot of strain on the British and trade declined and their investments were largely unprofitable. World War II reduced trade even further and the country fell into debt to some of the major Latin American countries as well as the US. Great Britain surrendered many of their pre-1914 investment to Latin American governments in exchange for the debt cancellation.
Another example of Imperialism is seen in the film, The Two Coasts of China, where we can see some consequences of Imperialism. After the British defeated China in the Opium Wars, several countries governed different cities, creating spheres of influence. From 1899 to 1901, citizens revolted in what is known as the Boxer Rebellion. It was an anti-foreign uprising, which is a common theme in Imperialism. Often, citizens will try to overthrow the ruling, foreign government with a revolution or uprising in hopes of change.
Another way the Americas changed was political. Through numerous revolutions, many countries fought for their independence. The ordinary citizens became more of a concern and as a result, more politicians, or populists, would work on their behalf. Many people also tried to solve a lot of progressive issues. Mariano Azuela wrote about the Mexican Revolution in his work, The Underdogs. In the supplementary readings, we learn that in the year 1915, the Mexican Revolution began. Porfirio Díaz, a young mestizo general, became the hero of Cinco de Mayo when he helped the first defeat of the invading French in 1862. After, he served as president and was reelected over and over again. He brought prosperity to the upper and middle classes through an era of modernization and foreign investment, but the masses of people were left in poverty.
Francisco Madero, liberal and idealistic, came from one of Mexico’s richest families. He challenged Díaz in his book where he bluntly described Mexico’s ills. His solution is to return to democracy without reelections. Madero sent a copy to the president himself, who, in turn, harassed his family in an effort to stop Madero’s movement. Madero was eventually thrown in jail, but when he escaped, the revolution began. With the plan of San Luis Potosí, he called all Mexicans to rise up against Díaz. After many uprisings and victories, Díaz eventually went into exile and in his place, Madero became president. However, his inexperience and restoration of democracy crippled his administration.
Many felt as though he had lied about reformation and rebelled. After several outbreaks, the American ambassador, Henry Wilson, helped Victoriano Huerta, the commanding general, force Madero’s resignation and assume the presidency. By the rebellion continued. And the pattern of revolts, coups, exiles, and assassinations is a political process that continues to this day.
Another example of political change was the Métis uprisings we read in the book, Louis Riel & Gabriel Dumont, by Joseph Boyden. It began in the late nineteenth century in Canada. The Métis people, descendants of Indian and European ancestry, inherited land from tribes in the North-West. However, the government would try to overtake it. Two leaders, Louis Riel, and Gabriel Dumont fought hard with their people to keep their homes. The government tried to suppress them and ignored their petitions. In the end, Riel and his people surrendered. He was charged with high treason and hanged, but Dumont was able to escape to the US.
The next example we read is in The Devil and Mr. Casement, written by Jordan Goodman. The book takes place at the Peruvian Amazon Company, a rubber plantation in South America during the early 20th century. Julio César Arana, the owner and the devil of the book’s title, was responsible for the brutal treatment of the Indian slaves who were forced to work there.
Mr. Roger Casement was sent by the British government to investigate and published his findings in a report, called the Blue Book. For all the outrage and horror that book had caused, very little was actually done about it. Parliament members, however, did interrogate the British directors of the Peruvian Amazon Company. Arana, himself, appeared before Parliament’s committee on the Putumayo, but he returned to Peru untouched. Eventually, the company was liquidated. Julio César Arana lost everything and died a broken man. But the damage had already been done. The Indian population had plunged and they still suffered from pollution, deforestation, and drug trade.
Another example of political change is found in an episode of The Buried Mirror, called The Price of Freedom. Carlos Fuentes explains how every year, on the night of September 15th, millions of Mexicans gather in the central plaza of Mexico City to celebrate El Grito, the cry of independence in 1810. It was the beginning of the Spanish American Revolution and spread from Mexico to Argentina. In the end, the price of freedom was indeed great as they fought to get from under foreign rule.
Wars were another major factor that helped change the Americas. Through civil wars, foreign interventions as well as invasions, and other major conflicts between nations, the Americas changed dramatically. The wars varied, each with different causes. For example, in the article, What Were the Causes For War in 19th Century Latin America, written by Robert L. Scheina, he explains that there were ten causes for war in Latin America, including race, the ideology of independence, the controversy of union against separation, boundary disputes, territorial conquests, caudilloism, resource wars, intraclass struggles, interventions caused by capitalism, and religious reasons.
An example that Scheina provides is in the Haitian War for Independence, which lasted from 1791 to 1803. It began as a conflict between the privileged white planters and the underprivileged affranchis, or those of mixed blood. It quickly became a full-out war when the pure blacks, the most mistreated race, ultimately dominated.
In the article, The French Intervention In Mexico, written by Scheina, details another account of the war in the Americas. The war lasted from 1861 until 1867 and begun when the government of Benito Juarez emerged from the War of the Reform deeply in debt to foreign interests, including the British, the Spanish, and the French. The three countries agreed to seize Vera Cruz, but the French had more clandestine motives. They planned to place Archduke Maximilian in charge of Mexico. The Mexican Liberal Army was a group of amateur officers, skilled in guerilla war tactics and no match for the French army. Spain and Britain both withdrew and France was able to do what they pleased. The first battle of Puebla, however, was a failure, but Napoleon III was too committed and his army’s reputation was at stake. And despite the Mexicans’ initial victory, the French took over Mexico City when Benito Juarez abandoned it.
The throne was given to Maximilian, but in spite of his numerous victories, Maximilian was quickly sinking. The increasing cost of the war made him dependent upon Napoleon III and he wasted the rest of the money on frivolous balls and banquets, extravagant gifts and his residence, the Chapultepec Castle. His policy of conciliation towards Liberals alienated himself from many Conservatives. He also refused to restore church property, upsetting the Pope. Eventually, Mexicans were able to defeat the French with a little help from the US, but their peace didn’t last long. There were many soldiers who lost their jobs after the war and therefore, banditry and social unrest became chronic. The article states, “Ironically, the Liberals lost most of the battles, won the war, and then lost the peace.
Another example of war is easily seen in the movie, Canudos. It follows the story of a poor family in the midst of the most violent civil war in Brazilian history during the late 1890s. The new Republic is oppressive, and with heavy taxes, it abuses the poor people living in rural areas. It separates the church from the state, leading the people to believe that the government is the Anti-Christ. Antonio “Conselheiro,” or counselor, is a religious leader that influences a group of countrymen to build a community where the Republic couldn’t give them trouble. The government sends the Brazilian army to ravage the community, and the civil war begins.
Another example is in the movie, The Mission. It takes place in the year of 1750 when a Spanish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel, comes to South America to build a mission and convert the Guaraní community. At first, the natives aren’t friendly to Christianity or outsiders in general due to other white men kidnapping natives for slaves. Father Gabriel acquires their trust and they eventually convert. Eventually, Spain and Portugal join forces and attack, and the Guaraní were easily defeated. The foreigners break in and shoot down Father Gabriel and most of his congregation when they were in the middle of the Sacrament. Only a few were able to escape. In the lecture commentary, we learn that movies, like The Mission or Canudos, aren’t the same as the actual history. They are condensed or different, but they are still valuable because they raise an awareness of history.
Militarization, the process used by a nation when its military needs to be organized for conflict, was yet another influence in the change of the Americas. There is a lot of importance of military institutions in North and South America, the United States especially. In the lecture, the Course Timeline, we see the map of US military presence overseas, there are hundreds of tiny dots covering entire countries. Every continent ranges from a couple to hundreds, but Europe and the Middle East have the most by far. There are a few countries with access arrangements, many more countries that have US military bases, and a plethora of countries with other forms of military cooperation. One famous example of militarization was during 1946 and didn’t end until 1989. The Cold War happened when America and Russia raced to get an heir hands on nuclear warfare and preparing themselves for war.
Migration was another influence on the change of the Americas – both internal and external. As said in the article, Comparing Frontiers in the Americas, by Alistair Hennessy, there are many reasons why people migrate. It could fall into two categories.“Push” factors force people to move out of a certain environment, whether it be political, economic, or social. This category includes the LACK of political or religious freedom, the scarcity of economic opportunity, limited possibilities of social mobility, and hunger and unemployment.
A different kind of push factor is forcible exportation, like the enforced migration of slaves throughout the Americas. Between free choice and coercion, there is a range of semi-free migration, which includes indentured labor, such as that in the seventeenth century to the Caribbean and Virginia, and contracted labor where the early years must be worked out in subordination to the contractor, as in the case of workers on the coffee plantations of Sao Paulo, East Indians in British Guyana and Chinese in Cuba.
The other category is “pull” factors, which attract people to move into one society rather than another. It explains the lure of new lands, like the hope of total renewal in a different social and political environment. But the “land of the free” and the “land of opportunity” in the popular vision of the United States, with its dynamic economy and political stability, contrasts with the sluggish economy, political instability and recurrent violence of Latin America.
In the book, American Nations, Colin Woodard explains how migration changed North America. He explains the different origins, and how these differences were significant in forming the United States and Canada. THe region, El Norte, was the oldest of the Euro-American nations. It was founded when the Spanish Empire built the northern outposts. Due to the Spanish settlers, El Norte had a lot of Hispanic influence. New France was founded in the early 17th century and the mixed culture of French peasantry and Native Indians is because of migration. Oppressed by British overlords, they spread their attitudes to the Canadian federation, where multiculturalism and consensus were valued. Because of New France, Canda created the First Nation. Tidewater was the most powerful nation during the colonial period and was founded by the younger sons of the English gentry. Their aim was to recreate their aristocratic upbringings where economic, political, and social affairs were run by the aristocrats. Yankeedom was founded by Calvinists as a religious utopia in Massachusetts. Its culture emphasized education, local political control, and the pursuit of the greater good. New Netherlands was founded by the Dutch whose culture has had a lasting impact on American society. It began as a global commercial trading society: “multi-ethnic, multi-religious, speculative, materialistic, mercantile, and free trading, a raucous, not entirely democratic city-state where no one ethnic or religious group has ever truly been in charge.”
The Deep South was founded as a West-Indies slave society by Barbados slave lords. The region supported white supremacy, aristocratic priveledges, and a type of classical Republicanism. The Midlands was founded as a utopian colony in Delaware by English Quakers, who embraced many different people. Mostly organized around the middle class, ethnic and ideological purity was never a priority and government was seen as an unwelcome intrusion. Greater Appalachia was founded by settlers from Northern Ireland, northern England, and the Scottish lowlands in the early 18th century. They are now labeled as “rednecks,” but their culture was formed in a constant war that nurtured a deep commitment to individual liberty and personal sovereignty.
Another example of migration is seen in the film, The Louisana Purchase, which shows that in 1803, Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisana Territory from Napoleon for only fifteen million dollars, which is about four cents an acre. It was one of the greatest real estate deals in history, but it was only possible through a chain of events beyond its control, including intrigues of the Spanish crown, the boundless ego of Napoleon, unexpected ice storms, and the uncertain fate of the small island of Haiti. The United States doubled in size, influencing our expansion westward by allowing us to migrate further within our own country.
The article, Background Readings: The Americas in the 19th Century, shows that as America struggled to resolve constitutional issues as they quickly expanded west. The migration also caused conflict with the Natives, whom they pushed into marginal lands, like the swampy lowlands of Florida, and forced others to migrate to acrid regions in the west. As the US realized its manifest destiny, the westward expansion also created problems within the Republic by AGGRAVATING tensions between regions. The most serious was slavery and eventually, America fell into civil war. The northern states prevailed and slavery was abolished. Moreover, it ensured that the US would remain united, and strengthened the authority of the federal government.
Urbanization, or the growth of major cities, is another factor that changed the Americas. In Joel Kotkin’s book, The City, he explores urbanization. A city is a place that represents the most eloquent expression of our species’ ingenuity, beliefs, and ideals. Regardless of cities endless variations, they each serve three purposes: spiritual, political, and economical. He goes on to warn that whatever their form, cities can only blossom if they remain sacred, safe, and busy. He also explains the effects of developments, like changing demographics and new technology.
The New York series also looks into urbanization. In episode 2, Order and Disorder, the city of New York rises up into a cultural center as people from all backgrounds come in. Its growth came from many different cultures, races, and immigrants. During the period of 1825 until 1865, we learn that urbanization can be a difficult process as it is not easy to bring multiple cultures together, living in the same place, so close together. New York, however, was successful in this aspect and it’s been a great source of pride as well as conflict. In 1825, the building of the Erie Canal helped further its growth by opening up opportunities for its economy. It was becoming the largest city with new businesses, companies, and factories.
In 1865, the North won the Civil War and the industrial revolution helped its economy progress further. Frederick Olmstead also finished Central Park, which he began before the war. In episode 3, Sunshine and Shadow, the film covers the period from 1865 to 1898. There are a lot of local figures and corruption shown in this episode. And in 1869, they built the Brooklyn Bridge and a few years later, in 1875, was the erection of the Statue of Liberty.
Another example of urbanization is found in the book, California: A History, by Kevin Starr. He explains how California became the Golden State as we all know it. In January of 1848, everything changed when gold was discovered. The population exploded as people frantically rushed to California from all over the world in hopes to strike it rich. In the book, Death In The Andes, by Mario Vargas Llosa, we read the stark contrast between the small, rural village of Naccos and a major coastal city, Piura, in Peru. Corporal Lituma is from the city and is sent to Naccos, where he investigates the disappearance of three men. Naccos is a village high in the NAdes, cut off from the outside world. Therefore, it has not experienced the same progression Piura has through urbanization. Lituma is continuously horrified with the uncivilized, barbaric mountain people.
Although we can easily see the benefits of urbanization, we can also see the ill side effects, especially in the film, Mulholland’s dream. It takes place during the 20th century in Los Angeles, one of the biggest cities in America. William Mulholland was the superintendent for the LA water system. He tried to get the growing population to conserve water, but the city continued to GROW, sabotaging his efforts. Soon, the little Los Angeles River, the only source of water, was sucked dry. Mulholland purchased 95% of the water rights to the Owens River, 233 miles away. He built an aqueduct across the Mojave Desert to LA, but it eventually dried up too and when other solutions didn’t work, water continued to be scarce. Until 1988, when the state made LA stop taking water from Mono Lake. Conservation measures and progressive water policies have resulted in a resolution so far.
Industrialization is another influence that changed the Americas. In the lecture, The Great Transformation: Mexico, Japan, USA, it explains that the transition from a traditional agrarian economy to an industrial one. The US progressed quickly, though Mexico was still largely agriculturally based in the 20th century.
Another example of industrialization is seen in the film, The Meiji Revolution, which explains how in 1868, a 16-year-old boy called Meiji became emperor of Japan and in his name, the isolated island nation became a modern world power and the SHOCk WAVES transformed the world. The film focuses on Japan’s evolution into the present day, powerful society, going from “rice paddies to the microchip.”
Another example is seen in the film, A Man, A Plan, A Canal, which details the thirty-year construction of the Panama Canal, from its conception to its construction, and to its final completion in 1914. It is one of the most important waterways and has had a significant impact on the world. Instead of sailing all the way around South America to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific, now ships could cut straight through Panama, saving time and money by drastically reducing the long distance.
In conclusion, the Americas have changed a considerable amount since 1750. Many revolutions and wars have passed, many governments have fallen, and many cities have grown. The United States has become a lot more involved in war, with military bases all over the world. Imperialism is no longer a common practice like it was in the 18th century and many economies have moved from being based on agriculture to industry.