Unit 2 - Take Home Exam

1. Who was the first of Latin American liberators we discussed in class, who launched an independence struggle in the late 1700’s? What country did he help liberate? What happened to the country after liberation?
The first Latin American liberator who launched an independence struggle in the late 1700's was Touissant L'Ouverture. He helped liberate the country of Haiti from the French.

2. Name some of the individuals involved in the struggle for Mexico’s independence.
Some individuals who struggles for Mexico's independence were Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Maria Morelos.

3. Who was Simón Bolívar? What did he achieve? How did he fail?
Simon Bolivar was one the most important leaders who fought for independence from Spain. He achieved the liberation of the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. He failed when he resigned from his presidency when he left for exile in Europe.

4. Who was José de San Martín? What did he achieve? How did his political career end?
He was an Argentine leader and he was a leader of South American independence. He Liberated Chile and was appointed Protector of Peru. His political career ended when Peru was officially independent from Spain on July 28, 1821.

5. In the film The House of Spirits, the character Esteban is meant to represent what class and what economic system? In the film, Esteban comes from little to big things. In the film he represents the upper class- The Creole class. He is also the patron of his farm under the hacienda system.


6. In the film The House of Spirits, who does the character of Pedro represent?
In the film, Pedro represents the working class. He represents the People's Party, and they won the election against the Conservative party, which Esteban had run for.

7. The film The House of Spirits is based on a book by a famous Latin American author. Who is the author and why was her father famous?
The author of House of Spirits is Isabel Allende. Her father, Tomas Allende, was the Chilean ambassador to Peru and he was also first cousin to Salvador Allende, who was President of Chile from 1970-73.


Essay:

In a minimum of five paragraphs, try to answer the following questions:

1. Why did real democracy prove so elusive post independence in Latin America? 2. Why did so many of the newly independent nations of Latin America end up being ruled by Caudillos? 3. Why did political independence not bring economic prosperity to the masses of Latin America?


First of all, Democracy isn't something that we would think would have to deal with Latin America because they have never really had Democracy. For a period of time, the United States never game them the right of Democracy because we would always intervene in Latin American countries and have our military take control of them for a period of time. Or the military would overthrow the government and the country would either be ruled by a Dictatorship or by military.
So in a sense, I've learned from reading and research that Latin America hasn't been given its Democracy yet, maybe one day, but so far their Democracy isn't well known. I think because Latin America never had a way to govern itself, they had to have Caudillos to take over in newly independent nations of Latin America. On a brighter side, Latin America did have a good way of bringing in cash flow in several different countries. Honduras had the bananas, Bolivia had the tin, Ecuador had the cacao, and Guatemala had the coffee. Other countries had other great exports too.
But they let the US intervene in their affairs. For example, the dispute between Panama and Colombia. The only reason Panama broke away from Colombia is because the US said that they would back them up with our military force. Because they had no sense of politics or democracy, They would let the US take over countries with our military and we would stay there for 20+ years. The only reason the US is a good example of Democracy is because we know how to run a country(Apparently, not now because Bush is in office). We have laws that structure our government and we have a sense of authoritization. Latin America didn't have a way to run their independent countries and I guess that's a major factor in why democracy is absent.
Political independence did not bring prosperity to Latin America because most likely after there were economical problems and there were revolutions and they were in search of political leaders to run the countries. And again thats why Caudillos ruled.