Term
| Why does it matter how many people lived in the Americas before the conquest? |
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Definition
The idea of the pristine myth - that the Americas were an untouched virgin land. Makes conquest seem nastier
- idea that free market/development were not Europe's gift to the Americas,
- Columbian exchange
- environmental policies today |
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Term
| Why does it matter if there were significant human interventions in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans, or not? |
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Definition
-them shaping and controlling their environment gives permission to people today to do it (in eyes of environmentalists)
-indians survived by exploiting their environments
-they changed their environments thru fires, terra preta creation |
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Term
| Explain how divination, omens, and prophecies ordered the Mesoamerican cosmos. |
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Definition
| "A person's life was fated from the moment of birth". unlikely events were interpreted as omens or prophecies, ex) omens in the florentine codex before the arrival of cortes |
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Term
| according to the aztecs, why should a sacrificial victim or a soldier not be overcome by despair? |
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Definition
-must contribute to the order of their world
-they are fulfilling the role preordained to them
-idea of collective |
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Term
| Todorov distinguishes between two forms of communication. Explain how in privileging the human-world type the aztecs weren't able to use human-human communication to defend themselves. |
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Definition
| Moctezume ceased to speak, admitted failure. He went mute. |
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Term
| Why did you think La Malinche was esteemed by SPanish conquistares, Cholulans, and Aztecs alike? |
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Definition
-loyal follower of Spanish
-crucial link between the two worlds
-Native's only way of communicating with the spanish, she was a person you'd want on your side (both sides wanted her) |
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Term
| what did the spanish do that contributed to their victory, what did the tlaxcalans, cholulans and aztecs themselves do that contributed to the defeat of the aztecs? |
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Definition
| The spanish allied with the other tribes, cortes promised to make them rich. moctezuma couldn't make up his mind and was a disadvantage. |
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Term
| what impresses and what disgusts diaz del castillo in tenochtital? |
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Definition
impressed: wealth, grandeur, genorosity, jewels, gold, food, advanced urban planning, marketplace, causeways, bridges
disgusts: idol worshipping, human sacrifice, cannibalism, blood stained temples |
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Term
| what specifically done diaz's reaction tell us about the spanish? |
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Definition
shock that spanish felt, thought to be 'wild,' not expected. impressed, compares it to spanish cities, use their standards as highest standards. ethnocentric
-only impressed by materialistic things, not art
-on mission: they are different, make ppl Christian |
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Term
| "intransigence always defeats tolerance" explain. |
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Definition
monotheism of christianity prevents the spaniards from compromising in any way
-while aztecs were flexible and willing to incorporate the image of the christian god, spanish condemned multiple representations of god
-binaries oversimplify. not so simple |
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Term
| cortes was a master of manipulation thru language, information, and spectacle. examples. |
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Definition
cortes = first to have political and historical consciousness
-exploitation of the native story of quetzalcoatl and his return
-never show dead horses
-charts and compass = magic
-massive weapons for show
-cempoala and tax-collectors
-bilingual pageboy spy
-material reward for info |
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Term
| Why Alvarado's massacre puts in relief the effectiveness of Cortes |
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Definition
-Cortes's genius was that he was able to manipulate so avoided violence. Cortes manipulates Moctezuma so that he believes Cortes didnt have any part in it.
-made it so the aztecs lived in fear, didn't know who to trust anymore
-cortes had tried to keep a positive image |
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Term
| the americas were continually recreated as pristine nature, edenic, pastoral. explain the principle characteristics of this ideological representation. what purpose did it serve? |
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Definition
New world as virgin landscape, full of bountiful resources, ripe and ready for the taking. managed to leave people out of descriptions (VOn humboldt)
-erased histories of people who lived there already |
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Term
| the capitalist vanguard recreated the americas as backward and neglected. give the fullest critique possible of this representation |
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Definition
they saw unexploited nature as "troubling or ugly" and a sign of need for european intervention. idea of indigenous populations as lazy. remember: chinampas, Incas terracing, tenochtitlan.
-sought to industrialize America |
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Term
| how are the representations of the americas elaborated by teh social exploratresses different than the former two? |
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Definition
the rejection of sentimentality and romanticism in both SE & CV
-CV = linear, conquest, goal directed narrative. reactive, judgmental
-SE = interprative cetripetal analytical approach
-"Since they were free of any religious, royal, or entrepreneurial interests they were able to view American from a perspective that did not involve regional potential or productivity but rather independent social empowerment
-role is empathetic rather than paternalistic, her intent is not to intervene
-idea of self-awareness, bourgeois women trend
-wrote about political events, focus on gaining knowledge |
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Term
| Why do modern anthros take more from SE? |
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Definition
-gain knowledge
-self-awareness
-non-intervening
-free of religious or royal or entrepreneurial interests |
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Term
| how does print capitalism come about? |
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Definition
1) print capitalism: vernacular bible, national novels, newspapers
2)education
3) pilgrimage and migration
4) class legitimacy
5) legitimacy of state power |
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Term
| Bolivar believes America to be abyss of abomination. explain |
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Definition
-no good faith, treaties = scraps of paper, nothing taken seriously
-everything is decided by force or bribery
-only corrupt leaders
-seeks something "worthy of our people" |
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Term
| describe the historical conflict between latins and anglo-saxons as vasconcelos presented. |
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Definition
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