Noah, Lilly, Vu, Will, Jordan
1.) One essential concept to understanding the 20th-21st century is imperialism. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through military force, aggression, and coercive diplomacy. Imperialism was mainly used as a mechanism to extract resources and labor to grow the wealth and domain of imperial powers. Imperialism holds many implications to modern era. This can be seen through the conditions in many formal imperialized states. For example, in many African and Latin American states, there is much instance of political corruption, as well as social inequality and racial hierarchies. This is a result of lack of infrastructure left behind by imperial powers as well as the lingering affects of racism and a sense of social superiority. Imperialism can also be seen as a cause of war, as states were fighting for more domain and territory.
2.) In your opinion, to what degree was Latin American imperialism similar to that of African imperialism, and in what ways were they different?
Similar: Both used violence as a way to control indigenous populations; Both resource based economies; As a result, both experienced extreme poverty, as well as social and political tension
Differences: Latin America had a larger religious base, More cultural syncretism, Latin America had more imported slavery/labor, A lot more politically motived (A result of communism) // Africa was used a lot more in proxy wars, used labor through indigenous populations, demographic political turmoil as a result of a greater surviving indigenous population