World Systems Theory
In
the 1970’s Immanuel Wallerstein set forth his World
Systems Theory
Your
place in a world system is determined by your function
Core/center
Periphery
Semi-periphery
Ancient
Two
world systems
Inca
world system
Mesoamerican World System
Four
core areas
Aztecs
Tarascans
Mayans
Peripheral
areas
Semi-peripheral
How the Mesoamerican world system functioned
Cores
zones demanded luxury goods--preciosities
Used
to
1)
2)
3)
Tribute
Peripheral
areas
Core
established a relationship with the local elite in order to exploit the
population
of the periphery
Pattern
of exploitation continues to this day
Semi-peripheral
areas
Xicalanco
Frontier
areas
Aztecs
Most
significant core zone
Tenochtitlán
Supreme
ruler of Aztecs—tlatoani
Religion
Tied
religious traditions to
Quetzalcoatl
Represented
Topiltzín Quetzalcoalt—legendary
priest ruler of the Toltecs
Left
Central Mexico in 9th century for East coast
Huitzilopochtli
Symbolized
Nature of human sacrifice
Two
types of sacrificial victims
War
captives
Domestic
victims
Inauguration
of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlán in 1487
1%
of population every year
Cannibalism
After
war captives were sacrificed, their bodies were eaten
Spiritual
communion
Domestic
sacrificial victims
Taste
for human flesh was highly developed
Recipe:
Michael Harner in an
articles entitled "The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice" claims
The
elites found a way to take advantage of this:
Other core zone in Mesoamerica
Functioned
similar to the Aztecs
Tarascans
Mayans
and Oazacans
Inca World System
Situated
in the Andean highlands in what today is
Maintained
tighter control over periphery
State
would imposed liens on the sources of their wealth
Key
to doing this were the kurakas
1)
2)
3)
Other indigenous people in Frontier
Two
kinds:
Semi-sedentary
people
Hunting
and gathering people
Conclusion:
Patterns
of hierarchy and exploitation set by indigenous societies
For almost 500 years the Spanish had been warring against the
Moors
As a result of this long war the Spanish developed
characteristic and values that they
brought to the
1)Considered
themselves to be in the service of God
Part of the reason Isabella and Ferdinand
financed the voyages of
Isabella & Ferdinand sincerely dedicated
conquering the
convert the Indians
Bartolomé de Las Casas
2)Society
highly stratified and land ownership extremely concentrated
3)Centuries of war made the
values of the warrior-noble dominant
Conclusion:
Similarities
Hierarchical
Economies
based on exploitation
Differences
Religion
Technology
In Feb 1519 Hernando Cortés landed on
the east coast of
In 1531 Francisco Pizarro left
empires of the Aztecs and Incas?
1)
Conquistadors were audacious
Cortés
Others:
Expeditions of thousands of miles throughout
North, Central, and
De Soto, Cabeza de Vaca, and Coronado
Several others explore
Orellana
Compare to North Americans
2)Sense
of a mission
3)Thirst for gold
Aztec’s account
Cortés said it all
Film Aguirre,
The Wrath of God
The dream was
4)Technological superiority
Implements of war
Tactics
5)Horse and dogs
6)People in the exploited periphery
ready to cast off their oppressors
7)Centralization of the empires
8)Disease
Outbreak of smallpox hit Tenochtitlán
during its siege by Cortez
9)The cosmology of the Ancient America
Both Aztecs and Incas believed that a god was to
return someday to claim his
kingdom
Aztecs—Topiltzin
Quetzalcoatl
Incas—Viracocha
Montezuma
received Cortez as if he were a god
Incas considered the Spanish to be the Viracochas—sons of the divine creator
Fall of Tenochtitlán of
the Aztecs and
Araucanians in southern
Economic system
Colonies existed solely for the purpose of producing wealth for
the metropolis
Exploitation carried out
1)Imbalance of trade
2)Tribute from Indians
3)Indian Labor
Methods:
1)Slavery
Indian Slavery
African Slavery
2)Encomienda--“the
entrustment”
3)Repartimiento
4)Debt-peonage
Demographic decline of the Indian resulted
in:
1)
2)
Gave
rise to the Haciendas
2)Then,
5) Wage Labor
4)Mines
Spanish initially primarily interested in precious
metals
Advantages
Quinto
5)Others ways of siphoning off the
wealth
Alcabala
Royal monopolies
Conclusion:
Hispanocentric
Pure
unmixed Spanish blood
Peninsulars
Creole
Gente de razón
Literate
professions of law, priesthood, and medicine
Middle level Spaniards
Gente baja
Mixed blood
Mestizo
Ladino
Zambo
Pure blood
Free
Blacks
Indians
Gente sin razón
Indian nobility—principales
Low class Indian--macebuales
Slaves--At the
bottom
Conclusion:
Corruption
Crown often tried to implement policies that were
against the economic interests
of the colonial elite
Obedezco pero no cumplo
As a result, corruption became a structural part of LA
government and society
Elites like it this way
Did the missionaries really believe in the absolute need for
conversion to Christianity?
Yes, but they disagreed as to the methods:
1)Majority
2)Franciscans were pro-imperialist but anti-colonists
3)Bartolomé
de Las Casas believed that the end, Christian
evangelization, did
not justify
the means, violent conquest
Las Casas was a
Spanish adventurer turned Dominican priest
“A Brief Relation of the Destruction of the
Missionaries were
seemingly very effective at the beginning
Disillusionment
Some disillusionment set in when the missionaries
realized
Indians strongest identification has always been to
their community
The way they perceived of religion also
Result was a
syncretism
Priests then began to attribute the
shortcomings of Indian Christianity to
shortcomings
in the Indians themselves
Ritual use of alcohol
In the middle of the 18th
century
Creoles were not happy with Spanish rule, but afraid of
exploited
Indians—60% of the population
Mixed races—22%
Limited and exploited
Simmering discontent becoming explosive
Creoles always relied on the Spanish: the
administration—to keep the exploited class in check
Changes the Creoles wanted were totally different from
what the Indian wanted
Creoles
Indians and some of the mixed races
Saint-Domingue 1791
Proclaimed a new state of
Precipitated great fear among the Creoles
Napoleon invades
Deposed
both Charles IV and Ferdinand VII and installed his brother Joseph as the
king of
A Revolution officially begins in Sept 1810
Insurrection of Indians and mixed races
Father Miguel Hidalgo
Issued Grito de Dolores
Violent war of retribution
Rebellion swept across
Spanish army with Creoles defeated
one of
Independence Day
Plan of Iguala
Set forth by a Spanish general and the leader of the
Indian rebels
Treaty of Córdoba
Conclusion:
Creoles, stood to gain a lot from independence
Creoles did not declare independence to create another
With independence
Simón Boívar, the liberator of
Creoles grievance with
So Creoles felt like they had to declare
independence
Life in
The rich live well
The middle class is very small
The poor constitute the vast majority of the
Conclusion to Background: