Dawson, Intro and Chapter One

As a reader and as someone who is relatively un-knowledgable about the history and culture of Latin America, this weeks reading provided a fascinating insight into the history of Latin America and where it has gone today. I found the that history itself is fragmented by the views of many different people an interesting one; similar to the idea that history is written by the victor, the history of Latin America has come from both European sources as well as local primary sources. Whilst over the years many scholars and politicians have dreamed of a united Latin America who had the both the power and resources to stand against Europe and the United States of America, the individual nature of the Latin America countries does not conduce well to inter-state cooperation on a grand scale. As clearly stated in the introduction, whilst the majority of Latin American's are Roman Catholics, the practice of this religion differs from community to community, from country to country. I am looking forward to reading further readings that don't provide the history of Latin America from single point of view but rather from many sources. I agree completely that history is fragmented and this approach should be used for other moments in history around the world. It should be impossible to create a single narrative without questioning what is written to be 'truth'.

Chapter 1 creates the idea that Latin America did not 'fight for its' independence' like the United States did or other countries around the world have done, but, as individual countries who rose up against their colonizers at different time. Whilst most shared similar views of oppression and a willingness to fend for themselves, these views were not shared by all at the same time. When one country overthrew their colonizers, the revolutions continued to spread like wild fire. This idea of a spreading revolution can also be seen in modern times during what is now known as the 'arab spring'. I think what occurred in Latin America was a natural reaction of human nature when they are oppressed and their freedom is robbed.