Theme One:  Introduction and Early Americans:
August 30, September 1

Outline:

  A.  The Caribbean and the Taíno
  B.  Mesoamerica
    1. Olmec
    2. Toltec
    3. Maya
    4. Aztec/Mexica
 

Key Terms:
 

Taíno  Naboria  Nitaíno

Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc Huitzilopotchli Teotihuacán

Toltec(s)  Tula Topiltzín

Chinampa  Tlaxcala Triple Alliance

Teculhtlí Macehualtin Pochteca Calpulli

 
Reading Assignments:

Burkholder & Johnson, Colonial Latin America, pp. 1-23

Click Here for a Map of Modern-day Latin America and Quiz Instructions

Questions for Consideration:

Note:  (These are central questions that we will discuss in class and that you should continue to consider throughout the semester.  You may not answer these questions for Paper One.  The Key Terms, however, may appear on an exam.)

1. What, in your opinion, causes change in colonial societies:  developments in the metropole (top down) or developments, including resistance and adaptations, in the colony (bottom up)?

2. Do you think that concrete forms of domination, such as laws or the right to force, were always the most efficient for keeping colonial "order"?  How else might a colonial state maintain its position?  Can you think of any reasons maintaining order would have been especially difficult for Spain?
 
 

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