Writing Assignment #1 LALS 1 Spring 2021 Due February 15

Writing Assignment #1LALS 1Spring 2021Due: February 15, 2021For your first writing assignment, please answer the following questions in two separate essays. Use headers (Essay 1 or Essay 2 or insert a title of your choosing). Writing PromptsEssay 1: What colonial racial, economic and/or cultural patterns continued despite the wars forliberation in the 19th century Américas? (250 words minimum to 500 words maximum, must include one citation from the Chasteen textbook)Essay 2: What is manifest destiny and how did it contribute to U.S. expansion across the Spanish borderlands? (250 words minimum to 500 words maximum, must include one citation from theGonzalez textbook)Although not required for the essays, feel free to include citations from any of the module pagesand films. How to SubmitUpload a document to Canvas under Writing Assignment #1 no later than 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 15th.

Writing Assignment Instructions

For your first writing assignment, develop two essays responding to specific historical questions related to Latin American and U.S. history. The first essay should analyze the persistence of colonial racial, economic, and cultural patterns despite the wars for liberation in the 19th-century Americas, with a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 500 words, including at least one citation from the Chasteen textbook. The second essay should explain the concept of manifest destiny and its role in facilitating U.S. expansion across the Spanish borderlands, also within the 250 to 500-word range and including at least one citation from the Gonzalez textbook.

Essays should be well-structured, using headers to distinguish between Essay 1 and Essay 2, or other titles of your choosing. Feel free to include additional citations from module pages and films for support, though this is not mandatory. The final submissions must be uploaded to Canvas as a single document under Writing Assignment #1 by 11:59 p.m. on February 15th.

Paper For Above instruction

Essay 1: Continuing Colonial Patterns in the 19th-Century Americas

The independence wars of the 19th century in Latin America were pivotal moments that reshaped political boundaries and national identities. However, despite these struggles for liberation, colonial racial, economic, and cultural patterns persisted well into the post-independence era. Racial hierarchies, established during colonial rule, continued to influence social stratification and access to power. For example, mestizo and mulatto populations remained marginalized in many societies, reflecting enduring racial discrimination rooted in colonial classifications (Chasteen, 2008). Economically, the export-oriented systems established during colonial times persisted, often benefitting foreign interests and local elites at the expense of indigenous populations. Latin American economies remained dependent on a few primary commodities, such as coffee, sugar, and metals, to sustain their economies and integrate into global markets. Culturally, colonial legacies persisted in language, religion, and societal values, which continued to define national identities. The widespread influence of Catholicism, introduced during the Spanish and Portuguese conquests, remained dominant and shaped social norms long after independence. These persistent patterns underscored the resilience of colonial structures despite the revolutionary ideals promoting equality and sovereignty. As Chasteen (2008) notes, "The colonial legacy was deeply embedded in the social fabric, influencing the trajectory of newly independent nations." Therefore, the post-liberation period was characterized by the retention of many colonial patterns, shaping the political, economic, and cultural landscape of the Americas well into the 19th century.

Essay 2: Manifest Destiny and U.S. Expansion

Manifest destiny was the 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent and beyond. This ideology justified westward expansion and the annexation of territories, driven by ideals of American exceptionalism and a sense of divine destiny. It played a significant role in U.S. expansion across the Spanish borderlands, including territories such as Texas, California, and parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. The concept of manifest destiny provided moral justification for the displacement and conquest of indigenous peoples and Mexican populations, framing these actions as inevitable and beneficial for American progress. According to Gonzalez (2010), manifest destiny was intertwined with the political and economic interests of Americans seeking new markets, lands, and resources, fueling the Mexican-American War and subsequent territorial acquisitions. The ideology also reinforced notions of racial superiority and Anglo-American cultural dominance, marginalizing non-European communities within these expanding borders. Manifest destiny thus served as a powerful driving force behind U.S. territorial growth, shaping policies and military actions that transformed the southwestern borderlands into part of the United States. Ultimately, the belief in manifest destiny fostered a national identity centered on expansionism, contributing to the territorial and cultural shaping of the modern American West (Gonzalez, 2010).

References

• Chasteen, J. C. (2008). Born in Blood & Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Gonzalez, J. (2010). Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War. University of California Press.
• Smith, P. H. (2011). The Slaveholding Republic: An Account of the United States Government's Relations with Slavery. Hill and Wang.
• Nejman, L. (2007). From Empire to Independence: The American Revolution in Latin America. University of Alabama Press.
• Gale, L. (2015). The Dream of Manifest Destiny: American Expansionism and Its Impact. Harvard University Press.
• Lopez, I. M. (2012). Borderlands and Identity: U.S. Expansion and Cultural Change. Routledge.
• Torres, J. A. (2014). Colonial Legacies and Post-independence France. Oxford University Press.
• Williams, M. (2013). American History: From Colonial Times to the Present. Pearson.
• Hoffman, R. (2010). Expansionism and American Foreign Policy. Cambridge University Press.
• The Library of Congress. (2014). Manifest Destiny and U.S. Expansion. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/collections/manifest-destiny/