Latin American History Commons^™

Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Colonization And Regionalization In Northern Perú: Fishtail And Paiján Complexes Of The Lower Jequetepeque Valley, Greg J. Maggard

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Until relatively recently, the view of Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in the Americas was dominated by the “Clovis-first” paradigm. However, recent discoveries have challenged traditional views and forced reconsiderations of the timing, processes, and scales used in modeling the settlement of the Americas. Chief among these discoveries has been the recognition of a wide range of early cultural diversity throughout the Americas that is inconsistent with previously held notions of cultural homogeneity.

During the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene, the development of widely varying economic, technological and mobility strategies in distinct environments is suggestive of a range of different adaptations and traditions.

It …

Mestizaje: Piro Indian And Spanish Vecino In Socorro, Texas From 1744 To 1813, David Camarena

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research examined culture on what is now the U.S./Mexico border, among Piro Indians and Spanish citizens (vecinos) in the community of Socorro, Texas between 1744 and 1813. The purpose was to better understand the process of mestizaje as experienced by Piro Indians as they participate in larger hegemonic Spanish civil and ecclesiastical institutions. Using archival materials along with secondary sources, this thesis reconstructs the antecedents that ultimately led the primary Indian community to transform into a Hispano settlement along the banks of the Río Grande. Pressured by vecino encroachment, participation in the Spanish wage-labor system, several environmental catastrophes in …

Race, Gender, And Citizenship: The Removal Of Japanese And Japanese Mexicans From The United States/Mexico Borderlands, Selfa Alejandra Chew Smithart

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores the uprooting of the Japanese Mexican community from the United States/Mexico borderlands region during World War II. I argue that the development of international relations and the global organization of the economy directly informed the management of Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the United States borderlands region. In compliance with the United States' request to control Japanese Mexicans, President Manuel Ávila Camacho ordered the dislocation of the entire Japanese Mexican community and approved the creation of concentration camps and zones of confinement. Under this order, a new pro-American nationalism developed, which scripted Japanese Mexicans as an …

Short Term Strategies For Long Term Power: The Rise And Potential Fall Of Hugo Chávez, Linden E.S. Schult

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the route to power of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and the methods by which he has remained in power throughout his presidency. Also, it explores the potential for Chávez to lose power, given the current economic and political situation in Venezuela. The importance of the oil industry, Chávez's suppression of the opposition and control of the media, and constitutional changes and reforms are all discussed as keys to Chávez's continuance in power.

The Border At War: World War Ii Along The United States-Mexico Border, Winifred Baumer Dowling

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The U.S.-Mexico border, especially the shared border of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was in many ways transformed by the effects of World War II. This study examines change or continuity brought about by the war. The border region reflected many similarities to the national reaction to the upheaval of World War II. Yet there were dramatic differences as well. Examples of continuity and change are examined through the lens of border relations, labor and the economy, Mexican Americans, border women, and health on the border.

Wartime relations between El Paso and Juarez reached a zenith of good …

Zebulon Pike: Great American Explorer Or Climate Spy?, Merlin P. Lawson, Randall Cerveny, Cary Mock

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Zebulon Pike is known in history books as one of America’s heroes—a great explorer whose adventures in the American West rivaled the Lewis and Clark Expedition and who became the namesake for Colorado’s Pike’s Peak. But what if the history books got it wrong, and Pike was actually not the hero everyone thinks he is? What if he was actually a spy carrying out a secret mission, or a scoundrel interested in overthrowing the American government and helping to carve a new empire out of the North American Southwest? Evidence from Pike’s famed expedition in 1806-1807 points to the possibility …

Independence, Revolution, And Celebration In Mexico: 1810, 1910, And 2010, Brian Stauffer, Salvador Salinas

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hugo Chavez: Socialism And Dictatorship, Kathryn E. Corridan

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Hugo Chavez is in the process of transforming Venezuela's democracy into a socialist dictatorship. He has diminished democratic institutions, processes, and law. He has practiced demagoguery in order to win popular support, while stifling the critical media. He has reorganized Venezuela's economy to support socialism and provide him with more income and power.

Guatemala's Green Revolution: Synthetic Fertilizer, Public Health, And Economic Autonomy In The Mayan Highland, David Carey

Faculty Publications

Despite extensive literature both supporting and critiquing the Green Revolution, surprisingly little attention has been paid to synthetic fertilizers' health and environmental effects or indigenous farmers' perspectives. The introduction of agrochemicals in the mid-twentieth century was a watershed event for many Mayan farmers in Guatemala. While some Maya hailed synthetic fertilizers' immediate effectiveness as a relief from famines and migrant labor, others lamented the long-term deterioration of their public health, soil quality, and economic autonomy. Since the rising cost of agrochemicals compelled Maya to return to plantation labor in the 1970s, synthetic fertilizers simply shifted, rather than alleviated, Mayan dependency …

Art As A Venue For Political Commentary: The Modern Mexican Printmaker And Social Consciousness, Gabriela Pickett

Master of Humanities Capstone Projects

This master’s project addresses the relationship between the Mexican roots of the author and her personal artistic expression. Growing up in México, the author was greatly influenced by the artistic talent of her father, as well as the work of many iconic Mexican artists. From a very early age she recognized how the political climate surrounding the Mexican Revolution and the visual arts complimented each other. The murals of Diego Rivera (1886-1959) are evidence of the fusion of art and a visual depiction of the history of México. This exposure helped her appreciate the process of defining cultural identity through …

Path Of Empire: Panama And The California Gold Rush, Michael Conniff

Faculty Publications, History

A review of AIMS MCGUINNESS. Path of Empire: Panama and the California Gold Rush. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 2008. Pp. xiii, 249. $35.00 (US).

A Tale Of Two Freedmen: Comparing Black Self-Determination In Atlanta And Salvador, Caitlin Wells

Latin American Studies Honors Projects

After emancipation, African-Americans in Atlanta, Georgia, sought self-determination through formal political means, whereas Afro-Brazilians in Salvador da Bahia pursued self-determination through cultural expression. To determine why, I have synthesized secondary sources into an original comparative narrative based in the different experiences of slavery, the different emancipation processes, and the different post-emancipation socio-political situations of each region. These contrasting histories led Afro-Brazilians in Bahia to organize much in the ways they had under slavery, whereas African Americans in Georgia were drawn into formal politics through opportunities presented under Radical Reconstruction. Unfortunately, white supremacy was quickly restored in Georgia under Redemption, leaving …

Naccs 36th Annual Conference, National Association For Chicana And Chicano Studies

NACCS Conference Programs

¡El Movimiento Sigue!
April 8-11, 2009
Hyatt Regency Hotel

How Bolivarian Is The Bolivarian Revolution: Hugo Chávez And The Appropriation Of History, Phillip Price

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Years of popular discontent with the Venezuelan government allowed Hugo Chávez to win the presidential election in 1998. Since then Venezuela has undergone dramatic changes and deviated sharply from the dominant two-party system that had previously governed the nation. Chávez’s polemical new policies have affected virtually all aspects of Venezuelan life and are founded on his interpretations of the revered South American “Liberator,” Simón Bolívar. By drawing upon the legacy of Bolívar, Chávez has been successful in exciting the masses and adding a sense of legitimacy to his “revolutionary” movement. This research will examine the correlation between these two historical …

From Working Arm To Wetback: The Mexican Worker And American National Identity, 1942-1964, Mark Brinkman

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This thesis explores America’s treatment of the Mexican worker in the United States between 1942 and 1964, the years in which an international guest worker agreement between the United States and Mexico informally known as the Bracero Program was in place, and one in which heightened fears of illegal immigration resulted in Operation Wetback, one of the largest deportation programs in U.S. history. The Mexican worker’s experience during the bracero era brings to light core traits of American national identity, such as xenophobia and ethnocentrism, that today obstruct the United States’ ability to resolve its currently conflicted relationship with the …

Beyond Corporatism And Liberalism: State And Civil Society In Cooperation In Nicaragua, Hannah Pallmeyer

Hispanic Studies Honors Projects

The Nicaraguan state has historically attempted to control Nicaraguan civil society using corporatist and liberal-democratic frameworks. This has created a difficult organizing environment for civil society organizations to struggle for social change. In this thesis, I argue that civil society organizations, operating in 2008 in a corporatist or liberal framework, were less effective in achieving national social change than organizations that worked cooperatively with the state, yet maintained some autonomy. This hypothesis is developed using the case study of three water rights organizations, and is further tested using the case of corporatist-structured Citizen Power Councils, created in 2007.

Eduardo Chibás: The Incorrigible Man Of Cuban Politics, Ilan Ehrlich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is ample evidence to suggest that Eduardo Chibás (1907-1951), despite never having been president, was of primary importance to Cuba’s political system in the years 1940-1952. As a congressman, senator and presidential candidate who was also the island’s most popular radio commentator, Chibás was afforded an excellent opportunity to alter government policy and shape public opinion. Specifically, Chibás denounced what he saw as the vices and inadequacies of Cuba’s fledgling democracy, especially corruption in public office. By all accounts, Chibás was a man of unquestioned probity. Unlike his political rivals, who gained financially from their elected positions, Chibás’ economic …

Riding The Borderlands: The Negotiation Of Social And Cultural Boundaries For Rio Grande Valley And Southwestern Motorcycling Groups, 1900-2000, Gary L. Kieffner

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation presents an analysis and interpretation of particular aspects of the social, cultural, and ideological history of motorcycling in the US-Mexican Borderlands from 1900 to 2000. It is based on interviews with historical correspondents, archival and other documents as well as thirty years of participant reflection during which the author was immersed in biker culture. The motorcycle served as a vehicle for personal and group identity, resistance, and liberation. Issues related to identity, gender, race, marginalization and resistance, imagery, and rhetoric become clearer when considering the perspective of riders. This study surveys interactive processes that occurred between historic motorcyclists, …

Claiming The Discursive Self: Mestiza Rhetoric Of Mexican Women Jouranlists, 1876-1924, Cristina Devereaux Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the last two decades, scholars in Rhetoric and Writing Studies have been calling for a greater representation of voices of those from other cultures who participated in rhetorical practices. As Jacqueline Jones Royster contends, rhetoric has been framed as mostly white, male, and elite, and that these positions distort the democratic perspective of our discipline. Claiming the Discursive Self: Mestiza Rhetoric of Mexican Women Journalists, 1876-1924 presents women rhetors who were participating in not only creating a national identity, but also in constructing a public identity that would insure women's contribution and participation for future generations. It closely examines …

Mining Wars: Corporate Expansion And Labor Violence In The Western Desert, 1876-1920, Kenneth Dale Underwood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation analyzes the class struggle in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Mexico and the western United States to illuminate the social transformation taking place in this trans-national region. The US and Mexico both underwent a significant metamorphosis in this era. The creation of a labor based working class and the displacement of occupational professionals from the upper class in many communities into an emerging middle class disrupted traditional social structures in both nations. This systematic social change, occurring nearly simultaneously in the US and Mexico, was complicated by the emerging system of monopoly capitalism, which led …

"Who Would Believe What We Have Heard?": Christian Spirituality And Images From The Passion In Religious Art Of New Spain, June-Ann Greeley

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The colonial art of New Spain/Mexico provides the viewer with a locus of examination into the robust Christianity that emerged over time out of a native spirituality newly laden with the contours and images from the Old World theology of late medieval/early Catholic Reformation Spain. Franciscan and especially Jesuit missionaries, impelled by a devotional zealotry, championed an apocalyptic vision of hope and suff ering that was well suited for artistic expression. Religious art, whether or not patronized by European colonizers, became an instrument for the missionaries to teach and for the native artists to interrogate religious doctrine, and some artists, …

Cuba, U.S. Naval Blockade Of, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview and analysis of the U.S. naval blockade of Cuba during this conflict.

Socio-Economic And Cost Of Living Indicators Among Foreign And Domestic-Born Latino Nationalities In The New York Metropolitan Area, 2005, Howard Caro-López

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report focuses on comparing socio-economic conditions between foreign born and domestic born populations among the major Latino national groups in the New York City metropolitan area as of 2005.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: New York City Latinos lag considerably behind all other groups in terms of total family income. While median family income for non-Hispanic white residents far …

Demographic, Economic, And Social Transformations In Bronx Community District 9: Parkchester, Unionport, Soundview, Castle Hill, And Clason Point, 1990 - 2006, Astrid S. Rodríguez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics among the five largest Latino nationality groups during 1990-2006 in the NYC Community District 9 of the borough of the Bronx, which comprises the neighborhoods of Parkchester, Unionport, Soundview, Castle Hill, and Clason Point.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino subgroup in the Bronx Community District 9, accounting …

Washington Heights/Inwood Demographic, Economic, And Social Transformations 1990 – 2005 With A Special Focus On The Dominican Population, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines demographic and socioeconomic factors concerning New York City based Latinos in Washington Heights and Inwood – particularly Dominicans.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Since the 1980s the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights/Inwood has been transformed by the immigration of a large Latino population of whom Dominicans have been the most prominent national group. Latinos made up …

The Latino Population Of New York City, 2007, Laura Limonic

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report provides and in-depth demographic profile of Latinos in 2007 New York City.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: New York City’s Latino population increased by 2.5% between 2006 and 2007. Puerto Ricans remained the largest national group among all Latinos (778,628) and 33.3% of the total Hispanic population of the City, an increase of .9% since 2006. Even though …

Where Do Latinos Work? Occupational Structure And Mobility Within New York City’S Latino Population, 1990 - 2006, Laura Limonic

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines the difference in occupational changes across racial and ethnic groups in New York City as well as across Latino origin groups from 1990 to 2006.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates. All figures pertain to individuals 16 years of age or older.

Results: While there has been an overall increase in employment gains in the management sector, which includes …

"Hard Working, Orderly Little Women": Mayan Vendors And Marketplace Struggles In Early Twentieth - Century Guatemala, David Carey

Faculty Publications

During the first half of the twentieth century, Guatemala was dominated
by two of Latin America’s most repressive regimes: first that of Manuel Estrada
Cabrera (1898–1920) and then that of General Jorge Ubico (1931–44). Though
the marketplace was one venue through which these dictators sought to impose
their modernization programs of progress and order, criminal records abound with Mayan women disobeying market regulations and more generally disrupting the peace. Beyond putting the women’s livelihoods at stake, these conflicts were also struggles over ethnic, gender, and state power. As such, marketplaces were critical both to elite efforts to mold the economy, …

Interview No. 1587, Armando F. Salinas

Combined Interviews

Mr. Salinas began working in the fields at a young age, he picked strawberries and apricots during the summer, he was paid a dollar an hour and all his earnings were given to his parents except for five dollars; in his early teens he began seeing braceros besides family pickers in the fields; he explains that ten men would rent one room and they slept in cots; he describes their food as burritos and chips; he points out that braceros did the work American workers did not want to do such as ladder work; he explains that exploitation did occur, …

Hiram Bingham’S Expedition And The Peruvian Response: A Connecticut Yanqui In The Land Of The Incas, Aaron Wiener

Kaplan Senior Essay Prize for Use of Library Special Collections

On June 15, 1915, the renowned Yale historian-turned-explorer Hiram Bingham III returned from a three-week trek along the Salcantay trail to find his Ollantaytambo headquarters occupied by four hostile young Peruvian men. In the name of the Instituto Histórico del Cuzco, they accused him of violating the prefect’s decree prohibiting the excavation of Inca sites in the vicinity. Their suspicions were not unwarranted. Lining the walls of the office were large wooden cases, full of archaeological specimens. They demanded to investigate the contents of the boxes, charging that Bingham was smuggling gold and treasures out of Peru by way of …