Latin America and the United States, 1800-present

Transcription

1 Latin America and the United States, 1800-present HIS 306N / LAS Fall 2017 Tues, Thurs 12:30-2pm Location: MEZ Instructor: Professor Joshua Frens-String Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 2:15-3:15pm (Students should pre-sign-up for office hours slots via Canvas) Office Location: GAR jfstring@austin.utexas.edu Course Description Utilizing a combination of secondary literature (books, journal articles, etc.) and a close reading of primary sources, this course will explore the different social, economic, political, and cultural events and concerns that have both divided and united the western hemisphere (North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean) over the last two centuries. The focus of the course will include discussions of particularly significant events and processes in the history of U.S- Latin American foreign relations everything from U.S. military interventions, diplomatic encounters, social revolutions, and political counterrevolutions to important examples of economic and cultural exchange and the hemispheric movement of peoples and ideas. Throughout the course, we will consider the ways in which varying internal conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean have allowed the region to resist U.S. influence in some cases, even providing Latin American/Caribban nations and their citizens the ability to exert considerable power on U.S. politics and culture. Finally, students will be expected to analyze the different ways that Latin America, as a region, has been viewed or represented through North American eyes (and vice versa), and the many political consequences of those representations. Course Requirements It should be noted that this course carries a Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States in this case Latin America and the Caribbean. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of Latin America and its diverse array of cultures and peoples. To that end, the requirements for this course are three-fold. First, students will be asked to complete two short papers for the class. Both papers will require students to respond to a prompt provided by the professor using a combination of primary sources and secondary readings we have read in class that is to say, you will be asked to evaluate the meaning and motivation of a small number of historical documents that we will examine over the course of the semester, place those in conversation with larger historical debates, and make evidence-based arguments. 1

2 In the case of both papers, instructions will be given approximately 1-2 weeks before these assignments are due. A close and careful consideration week s discussion questions (see the weekly calendar below) will be very helpful in completing these papers as the prompts will build off the weekly questions. Second, you will take two exams in this course one midterm and one final. Both exams will be in class and will cover both lecture materials and the readings you ve completed to that point. Each exam will include a combination of short answers, key term identifications, and short essays. Third, it is essential that you attend class regularly, and when possible, participate in class discussion. Although this course will consist primarily of lecture, each week a set of discussion questions will frame our class time, and there will be times when I ask you to respond, either orally or in written form, to the themes of that week or even debate (formally and informally) contentious or challenging issues raised by our readings. All to say, you should always bring your questions, insights, and confusions to class, and I will do my best to address them as we move through the semester. At the end of select class periods where we do have time for class discussion, students will be asked to mark their own participation (or lack thereof) for that day on a discussion self-evaluation form. There students should briefly note what their contribution to class was that day. If a student attempted to comment but was not called upon, or we ran out of time, he/she can write their intended comment or contribution on the discussion sheet. The mark you give yourself on any given day will always be subject to confirmation/amendment by the professor and will be one factor in determining course participation/engagement. Evaluation & Grading Final grades in this course will be based on the following criteria: Paper #1: 10% (2 pages) Midterm Exam: 30% Paper #2: 20% (3-4 pages) Final Exam: 30% Course Participation/Engagement: 10% Each assignment will be given a grade on a scale of 1-12, as follows: Grade: A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F Points: At the end of the semester, each student will have ten grades: the grade for paper 1 counted one time (i.e. 10%), the grade for the midterm counted three times (i.e. 30%), the grade for paper 2 counted two times (i.e. 20%), the grade for the final counted three times (i.e. 30%), and the final discussion grade counted once (i.e. 10%). I will add them up, divide by 10, and assign a letter grade using that number 2

3 For example, if a student received the following marks his/her points would be: Paper 1 B- 7 Midterm A- 10 Paper 2 B+ 9 Final B- 7 Discussion B+ 9 Total = = 84/10 = 8.4 = B Please note: As the course professor, my task is to ensure that every student enrolled in this course receives a fair grade for the work he/she completes. If you receive a grade that you think is not just, your first recourse is to talk to me as soon as you receive your grade back. Understand that the end of the grading process consists of the professor entering the number grades you receive on the semester s assignments into an Excel spreadsheet that calculates your average, and from that, assigning a letter grade. Once this happens, I will only deal with grade disputes for one reason and one reason only: there has been a mistake in my entering your grade into the computer. Extra Credit Opportunities At different points during the semester, students will be encouraged to attend different scholarly events and talks on the UT campus, related to the content of our course. To keep an eye on such events, I recommend bookmarking the UT Benson Library/LLILAS Events page: Extra credit points may be awarded if students attend and write up a short, one-page (doublespaced) response reflection about the event and its relation to a theme(s) in the course. If there s an event you d like to attend and write on for extra credit but I have not explicitly mentioned the event in class, feel free to ask if it is appropriate. Extra credit points will be added to student s course participation/engagement score and will be the primary means of determining if your grade will get rounded up, should your final grade fall somewhere between two different letter grades. Additional Business & Policies 1. Late Assignments / Make-Up Exams Paper assignments turned in late will fall a half a letter grade (i.e. one number) for each day they are late. If you hand in a paper that receives a score of 9 (B+) two days late, the score will fall to a 7 (B-). Students are expected to take both the midterm and final on the day and time they are scheduled. Only in very exceptional circumstances (i.e. a documented medical 3

4 emergency) will this policy be amended, and to the extent possible, special arrangements must be discussed ahead of time with the professor. 2. Attendance Although I will not take attendance every week, I will from time to time take roster in order to put names with faces. Do note that engagement in course discussions (when we have time to do so) is expected and your oral and written comments on readings are an important part of your final grade. It should go without saying that if you never or very rarely attend class, your grade in this area will greatly suffer as a result. Also, you are expected to come to class each week with all of the readings assigned for that week completed. 3. Academic Integrity Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course and any individual who is found to have plagiarized a paper or cheated on an exam will receive a 0 for that assignment. Moreover, his/her case will be sent through the existing channels for academic discipline, per university policy. Should you ever have a question about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask me beforehand to avoid serious problems down the road! For detailed information on issues of plagiarism and standards, or academic integrity, I strongly advise students to read the relevant university ( and Department of History ( pages on the topic. 4. Religious Observances Per university policy: A student who is absent from a class or examination for the observance of a religious holiday may complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence, provided the student has notified the instructor in writing of the dates he or she will be absent. Notification must be made two weeks prior to the absence or on the first class day if the absence will occur during the first two weeks of class. In addition, the notification must be personally delivered to the instructor and signed and dated by the instructor, or sent certified mail with a return receipt request. A student who fails to complete missed work within the time allowed will be subject to the normal academic penalties. 5. Academic Accommodations The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at or I am also happy to talk with any students during my office hours about these issues. 4

5 Required Texts The following texts are required and are available to purchase at the University Co-op ( Please note they are also on reserve at the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) but can only be checked out for 2 hours at a time: Lars Schoultz, Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy Toward Latin America (Harvard Press, 1998) Robert Holden and Eric Zolov, The United States and Latin America: A Documentary History (Oxford, 2010) Van Gosse, Where the Boys Are: Cuba, Cold War America, and the Making of a New Left (Verso, 1993) *Note that additional journal articles and book excerpts will be scanned and uploaded to the course website, via Canvas. Students will be expected to download, print, read and take notes on these readings on their own. Each week s readings must be brought to class. Weekly Course Schedule Week 1: Empire & Anti-Imperialism in Latin America-U.S. History TH, 8/31: Introduction / Empire and its Many Meanings Discussion Questions: What does term empire mean to you? How has it been used historically? What are some of the most important defining features of empire (and antiimperialism) in the context of relations between Latin America and the U.S.? Lars Schoultz, Beneath the United States, Preface, xi-xvii. Strongly Recommended: Paul Schroeder, Is the U.S. an Empire? History News Network, [CANVAS] David Sirota, Why Can t We Say Empire?, Salon, [CANVAS] Jeremi Suri, Is America Really an Empire? Salon, [CANVAS] Greg Grandin, The Empire s Amnesia (Interview), Jacobin Magazine, Summer

6 [CANVAS] Week 2: Imperial Transitions T, 9/4: European Rivalries: Spanish Imperialism, the British Empire, and the Black Legend TH, 9/7: Expanding South: Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War Discussion Questions: What was the Black Legend and how did it emerge? How did US representations of and relations with a newly independent Latin America either draw upon, update, or breaks with the Black Legend idea? 1) Lars Schoultz, Beneath the United States, Chapter 1, pp ) John J. Johnson, Latin America in Cariacture, Uploaded Selections [CANVAS] 3) Primary Sources, in Holden and Zolov, The United States and Latin America: No. 3: J.Q. Adams, Cuba: An Apple Severed by the Tempest From Its Native Tree (1823) No. 4: James Monroe, The Monroe Doctrine (1823) No. 8: James K. Polk Texas, Mexico and Manifest Destiny (1845) No. 9: James K. Polk President Polk s War Message to Congress (1846) No. 12: Governments of Mexico and the U.S., Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) No. 6, Simón Bolívar, The United States: Destine to Plague America with Torments (1829) No. 11: Domingo Sarmiento, The United States: An Inconceivable Extravaganza, (1847) Week 3: Building the Colossus of the North T, 9/12: Securing the Caribbean, Filibustering Nicaragua, Channeling Through Panama TH, 9/14: The Spanish-American War in Context Discussion Questions: What role did views about race and gender in Latin America play in justifying U.S. intervention in Nicaragua, U.S. entry into the Spanish American War and the occupation of Puerto Rico and Cuba that followed? 1) Schoultz, Chapter 4, pp ; and Chapter 9, pp

7 2) Kristin Hoganson, Cuba and the Restoration of American Chivalry, in Hoganson Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars, pp [CANVAS] 3) Amy Kaplan, Black and Blue at San Juan Hill, in Kaplan and Pease Cultures of United States Imperialism, PP [CANVAS] 4) Primary Sources from Holden and Zolov: No. 15: William Walker, Filibuster, (1860) No. 32: The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903) No. 33: Theodore Roosevelt, I Took Final Action in 1903 (1903) No. 25: William McKinley, The Decision to Act Against Spain, (1898) No. 26: The Congress of the US, The Teller Amendment (1898) No. 28: The Governments of the US and Spain, The Treaty of Paris (1898) Week 4: Colonialism a la Norteamericano? Living U.S. Occupation Discussion Question: What sorts of struggles and concerns in Cuba and Puerto Rico prior to 1898 affected how those two islands experienced US power and influence during the Spanish-American War of 1898 and after? T, 9/19: 1898 from Cuba The Rise and Fall of Anti-Colonial Racism TH, 9/21:1898 from Puerto Rico A Colonialism of Liberation? [The prompt for paper 1, due one week later, will be distributed and discussed in class] 1) Ada Ferrer, Cuba, 1898: Rethinking Race, Nation, and Empire, Radical History Review 1999 (73): [CANVAS] 2) Eileen Findlay, Love in the Tropics: Marriage, Divorce, and the Construction of Benevolent Colonialism in Puerto Rico, , in Joseph et. al, Close Encounters with Empire, pp [CANVAS] 3) Primary Sources from Holden and Zolov: No. 30: The Congress of the US, The Platt Amendment (1901) No. 36: Theodore Roosevelt, The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904) No. 44: The Congress of the US, The Jones Act (1917) Week 5: Informal Empire and Anti-Imperial Resistance First Paper Due in Class on Thursday, 9/28 T, 9/26: Dollar Diplomacy TH, 9/28: Anti-Imperialism and Latin America s Cultures of Resistance 7

8 Discussion Questions: In your view, what are the key differences between how the U.S. exercised its power in early 20 th century Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, as opposed to Cuba and Puerto Rico? And what were some of the key motivations behind and manifestations of the struggle against empire (i.e. anti-imperialism) in early-mid 20 th century Latin America? 1) Schoultz, Chapter 11, pp ) Alan McPherson, The Invaded, The Cultures of Resistance, & The Politics of Resistance, Chapters 9-10, pp [CANVAS] 3) Primary Sources in Holden and Zolov No. 42: F.M. Huntington Wilson, Dollar Diplomacy and Social Darwinism (1916) No. 29: José Enrique Rodó, Ariel (1900) No. 34: Rubén Darío, To Roosevelt (1904) No. 47: Victor Haya de la Torre, A Latin American Doctrine of Anti-Imperialism, (1926) Week 6: Your Americanism and Mine T, 10/3: The Good Neighbor Idea: Its Politics and Culture, and Economics TH, 10/5: Visit to the Ransom Center Exhibit Mexico Modern Discussion Questions: Do you think the Good Neighbor Policy (including the policies that governed U.S.-Latin American relations during WWII) represented more a moment of rupture or continuity with U.S.-Latin American relations past? Did diplomats and politicians view this era in Latin America-U.S. relations differently than workers and nonelites? 1) Schoultz, Chapter 15, pp ) Seth Garfield, The Environment of Wartime Migration: Labor Transfers from the Brazilian Northeast to the Amazon During World War II, Journal of Social History 43, 4 (Summer 2010): [CANVAS] 3) Primary Sources from Zolov and Holden: No. 51 Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Good Neighbor Policy, (1933) No. 53 Seventh Int l Conference of American States, Non-Intervention Principle (1933) 8

9 No. 57 Carleton Beals, A Skeptic Views the Good Neighbor Policy (1938) No. 58 US OCIAA, Marketing Pan-Americanism, (1940) No. 59 Carmen Miranda, Leo Robin, Harry Warren, Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat, ( ) No. 61 USG and Mexican Government The Bracero Program (1942) Week 7: From Good Neighbors to Cold Warriors T, 10/10: American Century vs. Siglo del Pueblo (Or, The Containment of Latin America) TH, 10/12: The 1954 Intervention in Guatemala and Its Aftermath Discussion Questions: What do you think is the most convincing cause or explanation for why U.S.-Latin American relations seemed to have changed so drastically and suddenly after the Second World War? 1) Leslie Bethell and Ian Roxborough, The Postwar Conjuncture in Latin America: Democracy, Labor, and the Left, in Bethell and Roxborough, Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War, pp [CANVAS] 2) Stephen Rabe, Guatemala The Mother of All Interventions, in Rabe, The Killing Zone, pp [CANVAS] 3) Primary Sources from Zolov and Holden: No. 70: 9 th Int l Conference of American States, Menace of Communism (1948) No. 71: George Kennan, A Realist Views Latin America (1950) No. 73: John C. Dreir, Terminating a Revolution: A View from Washington (1954) No. 74: Luis Cardoza y Aragón, Terminating a Revolution: A View from Guatemala (1954) Recommended Browsing: CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents: National Security Archive: A research organization that secured de-classified government documents related to the CIA's role in the 1954 coup in Guatemala. Optional: 4) Schoultz, Chapters 16-17, pp

10 Week 8: MIDTERM T, 10/17: *MIDTERM REVIEW* TH, 10/19: *MIDTERM* NONE Week 9: Cuban Connections and Counterpoints T, 10/24: In-Class Film and Discussion: Revolución: Five Visions TH, 10/26: Empire and Solidarity: Cuba in the U.S. & the U.S. in Cuba in the 20 th Century [Prompt for paper 2, due two weeks later will be handed out in class] Discussion Questions: How did U.S. views toward the Cuban Revolution change over the course of the 1960s? In what ways did they stay the same? In your view, what are the most logical explanations for those changes and continuities? 1) Van Gosse, Where the Boys Are, Introduction + Chapters, 3-7 (pp ) 2) Primary Sources from Holden and Zolov: No. 77: Herbert Matthews, With Castro in the Sierra Maestra (1957) No. 81: Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, Debating Cuba and Castro (1960) No. 84: C. Wright Mills, Listen, Yankee (1960) No. 84: John F. Kennedy, Lessons of the Bay of Pigs (1961) No. 87: Fidel Castro, The Second Declaration of Havana, (1962) Week 10: Revolutionary Ideas? T, 10/31: Programming Change: Modernization Theory, Reform, and Counterinsurgency TH, 11/2: Exporting Armed Struggle: Foquismo & Case of the Latin American New Left Discussion Questions: What assumptions about culture, race, gender, and social class underpinned modernization theory s understanding of social change? How were these assumptions or strategies similar or distinct from the Latin American New Left s view of social change? 1) Schoultz, Chapter 18, pp

11 2) Primary Sources: No. 83: John F. Kennedy, The Alliance for Progress (1961) No. 89: Thomas Mann, Principles of Economic Development Washington s View (1962) No. 93: Ernesto Che Guevara, Two, Three, Many Vietnams (1966) No. 95: Eduardo Frei, The Lost Alliance (1967) No. 96: Albert H. Smith, Jr., Transferring Tools of Counterinsurgency, (1967) Week 11: Electing Socialism Second Paper Due in Class on Thursday, 11/9 T, 11/7: Chile: Dependency and Developmentalism TH, 11/9: Chile: Dictatorship & Economic Freedom s Toll Discussion Question: How should we define the concept of human rights and how does the recent history of Chile s relationship to the U.S. illuminate different definitions of this term? Under what circumstances should those who violate human rights be punished/brought to justice? 1) Pamela Constable & Arturo Valenzuela, A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet, Chapters 1, 3, & 4 (Optional: Ch. 7) (pp ; 64-89; ; ( , optional)) [CANVAS] 2) Primary Sources in Holden and Zolov: No. 100: Fernando H. Cardoso and Enzo Falleto, Principles of Economic Development the Dependentistas View (1969) No. 102: Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, The Culture of Imperialism (1972) No. 103: US Senate Church Committee, Report on CIA Covert Action (1975) No. 105: Henry Kissinger and Augusto Pinochet, The U.S and Human Rights in Chile (1976) No. 107: US Defense Department, Operation Condor (1976) Week 12: Not-So-Cold Wars T, 11/14: Latin America as the Epicenter of a Global Cold War: Nicaragua & the Contras TH, 11/16: Going Primitive: El Salvador Discussion Questions: In your view, what are some of the most convincing explanations for the particularly acute levels of violence experienced in Central America during the Cold War? 11

12 1) John Coatsworth, Imperial Decay, & Destruction and Disarray, pp in Coatsworth, Central America and the United States: The Clients and the Colossus [CANVAS] 2) Primary Sources from Holden and Zolov No. 111: National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, Central America in Revolt: A Reagan Administration View (1984) No. 112: Ronald Reagan, The Fear of Communism in Central America (1984) No. 113: CIA, Teaching Sabotage (1984) No. 115: International Court of Justice, The U.S. Condemned, (1986) Optional: Browse photographs by US photojournalist Susan Meiselas from Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s ( Week 13: Activists Across Borders T, 11/21: Solidarity Activists, Human Rights Workers, and Evangelical Advocates TH, 11/23: NO CLASSS THANKSGIVING BREAK Discussion Question: What constitutes solidarity? How have those who saw themselves as solidarity activists, past or present, understood the term? 1) Margaret Power, The US Movement in Solidarity with Chile in the 1970s, Latin American Perspectives, Vol.36, No. 6 (Nov. 2009), pp [CANVAS] 2) Susan Bibler Coutin and Hector Perla, Jr, Legacies and Origins of the 1980s US-Central America Sanctuary Movement, Refuge, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp [CANVAS] 3) Primary Sources, from Holden and Zolov: No. 104: US Congress, Human Rights and Foreign Aid (1975 & 1978) No. 117 Audrey Seniors, Solidarity, (1986) No. 120: Eduardo Galeano, We Say No, (1988) No. 131: Commission for Historical Clarification, Truth and Reconciliation in Guatemala, (1999) Week 14: After the Cold War T, 11/28: The End of History? Free Trade, Migration, Drug Wars, and the Harvest of Empire TH, 11/30: 21 st Century Hope & Anxiety. Or, No, Donald Trump Is Not Hugo Chávez + Wrap Up 12

13 Discussion Questions: What policy within current U.S.-Latin American relations today (for example, the war on drugs, trade, immigration policy, military policies, etc.) do you think could most benefit from a deeper understanding of Latin America-U.S. history? What sorts of changes in those policies might result from a deeper engagement with this history? Finally, does empire remain a useful category of analysis for understanding U.S.-Latin American relations today? Why or why not? 1) David Bacon, How US Policies Fueled Mexico s Great Migration, The Nation (2012) [CANVAS] 2) Teo Ballvé, The Dark Side of Plan Colombia, The Nation (2009) [CANVAS] 3) Christy Thornton and Adam Goodman, How the Mexican Drug Trade Thrives on Free Trade The Nation (2014): [CANVAS] 4) Alejandro Velasco, Looking for the Left Turn, NACLA Report on the America [CANVAS] 5) Primary Sources from Holden and Zolov No. 123: Governments of the US, Mexico, and Canada, North American Free Trade Agreement, (1994) No. 124: The Zapatista National Liberation Army, Insurgency after the Cold War, (1994) No. 125: Proposition 187 (1994) No. 129: Organización Regional Interamericana de Trabajadores, Sweat-Shop Labor (1996) No. 132: Governments of Colombia and the U.S., Plan Colombia, (1999) No. 135: Governments of Mexico, Central America, the DR, and Colombia Unauthorized Immigration in the U.S., (2006) No. 136: Evo Morales, We Indigenous People, (2006) No. 137: Hugo Chávez, The Devil Came Here Yesterday, (2006) Week 15: Exam Prep & Final Exam T, 12/5: Exam Review TH, 12/7: Final Exam 13