Unit 2 Take Home Exam

Here are the questions & answers for the Unit 2 Take Home Exam:

Short Answer:

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 Latin American liberator who launched an independence struggle in the late 1700's was Toussaint L'ouverture. He helped liberate Haiti. At the end of the liberation in Haiti, there was an economic collapse caused by years of war, inexperience, and loss of trading partners lead to brutal dictatorship.

2. Name some of the individuals involved in the struggle for Mexico’s independence.

Mestizo and Indio people, Fr. Miguel Hidalgo (Criollo priest), Fr. Jose Maria Morels, Guerroro, and Augustin Iturbide.

3. Who was Simón Bolívar? What did he achieve? How did he fail?

Simón Bolívar was a liberator of Venezuela, Columbia, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.
He also became president on December 17, 1819 after achieving Independence for these countries. He failed at trying to protect small places.

4. Who was José de San Martín? What did he achieve? How did his political career end?

José de San Martín was liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. He brought Cuba to independence in 1903. His political career as people started to say he was corrupted, like too caught up in the position, so he resigned.

5. In the film The House of Spirits, the character Esteban is meant to represent what class and what economic system?

In the film The House of Spirits, the character Esteban is meant to represent the Criollo Class and the economic system that was represented was the Hacienda System.

6. In the film The House of Spirits, who does the character of Pedro represent?

In the film The House of Spirits, the character of Pedro represents someone of the Mestizo or Indio class(lower class).

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 film The House of Spirits is based on a book by a famous Latin American author, Isabel Allende. She is the daughter of diplomat, Tomás Allende, the Chilean ambassador to Peru. He was also the cousin of Salvador Allende, the president of Chile from 1970 to 1973.

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?

Independence was something that Latin American countries really tried for. But there was one thing tried in Latin America that didn't seem to work. Some may say that tthere was democracy in Latin America but not really. Also, there were some nations that were newly independent, but why did they end up being ruled by Caudillos? Another thing that would be explained in this essay is why political independence did not bring prosperity to the masses of Latin America.

First of all, let's talk about democracy. Democracy is a form of government in which the people rule directly by assembly in meetings in order to elect representatives who will so act for them. Now with that definition in mind, think about if the countries in Latin America, like Cuba or Chile, truly have democracy. Countries like Cuba may have claimed independence and tried democracy but did it work? Democracy for Latin American countries was never really given to them seeing how the United Stated always found a way to intervene and have U.S. military take control or appoint a dictator after overthrowing the nation's government.

Now, why did so many of the newly independent nations of Latin America end up being ruled by caudillos? First of all let's look at what is a caudillo. As explained in class, a caudillo is boss of a country (strong man) could be military leader (powerful). So my reason for Latin American countries ending up being ruled by caudillos is because they couldn't really do it on their own, so they looked for help from other countries. And what country was the one who seemed to pop up and be at rescue? The United States. An example of this would be in 1903. During this time Panama was trying to break away from Columbia. The only reason they did break away was because of the instigation and then protection of the United States. The U.S. said that they would back them up with U.S. military forces all because of the simple fact that the United States had an interest in Panama as a site for the construction of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This is how Panama ended up being ruled by caudillos; U.S. military forces (powerful strong man) coming in to "help" Panama break away from Columbia and taking over.

As far as political independence bringing economic prosperity to the masses of Latin America, it didn't. It didn't bring economic prosperity because of the people who were fighting for independence were not for the people of the lower class. The lower class really didn't have a say in certain situations. So basically everything that was being done wasn't to really help the people of lower class, so the lower class was still struglgling and suffering with trying to provide or obtain food, clothes, and things they needed in their lives.