Latin America: Cultural Diversity Amidst Iberian Conquest - Research Paper

Introduction

Latin America is commonly understood to comprise the entire South America continent, in addition to Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean islands whose residents speak Roman language. The inhabitants of this area experienced Spaniards and Portuguese colonization starting late 15th up to 18th century. However, there exist enormous differences among these people; their cultural and social characteristics vary as per the constitution of their early occupants before the conquest of Iberian. It is, at a point, suggested that Iberoamerica could be a right term than Latin America since Portuguese and Spanish deep routed in the regional history. This article examines the Latin American and Caribbean history on their social and cultural life before the Europeans.

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Background View

The pre-Columbian conditions and the 15th century Iberia both are beyond the Latin American scope of history. Therefore, consideration must give in connecting the two because the geography of America pre-contact not only persisted but both indigenous and new arrival inhabitants retained their characteristics (Hanke 2000). During Columbus time up to the late 15th century and forward, Portuguese and Spaniards called the American inhabitants Indians. The term by its origin was not by error and did not correspond to any form of the kind to the indigenous people's mind. The inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere did not have a word, and the majority of them did not seem to adopt any character. Any word referred to them as commonalities were seen to be from outside but not to the American inhabitants themselves. The indigenous inhabitants varied greatly from the Europeans, and they spread all over the area, being aware of one another from one region to the other.

The inhabitants were closely related to each other in biological terms, languages, and general features but did not seem to have one origin. All people dad a common share of isolation from the large mass of human inhabitation of Eurasia and Africa, who at a point, contacted each other. The American inhabitants all lacked disease immunities, which was common in Europe and Africa. They carried out impressive innovations that included the domestication of Mesoamerica and Andes plants, keeping all of them apart from firearms, steel-wheeled vehicles horses, and long distant shipping. As a result, indigenous inhabitants were much vulnerable once in contact with the outsiders. Epidemics emerged whenever there was an appearance of intruders.

The Europeans lived sedentarily in nations and districts which comprised distinctive borders, relying on intensive agriculture permanently in the sustainment of a variety of people living both in urban and rural (Borras & Saturnino 845-872). The large population, which was indigenous Americans were based in Mesoamerica and Andes and were also sedentary. The kind of these peoples and Europeans seem to have standard features as compared to other indigenous American people. There was another group called semi-sedentary of the indigenous people; they lacked permanent sites for agriculture and did not have fixed borders of sedentary people. They were less numerous but practiced shifting agriculture and sizable farming involving frequent moving and settlement mostly found in temperate forest areas. There was the third category of inhabitants who were established as non-sedentary people. They had no agricultural practices, and they moved annually in small groups hunting and gathering over the vast territory. They were found in primary areas with no existing technologies for agriculture; they were mainly in dense tropical forests and plains.

The Sedentary People

The sedentary peopled shared not only an agricultural base with the Europeans, but also hereditary rules, territorial estates, specialized craft groups, and regularized tributes (Borras & Saturnino 845-872). Large political structures emerged among the sedentary groups, empires were established, tributes were collected, and long-distance trades were carried out. The most popular groups are the Inca Empire, located in the Andean region, often called the Aztec empire, when it comes in Mexico. Their empires did not form nations, but they established their centers in one ethnic state then started exercising dominance over many large similar countries. The subject state did not change their ethnic identity, rule of the general land way of living despite owing tribute to the empire. These subject entities were everywhere in different locations with different names; their structures varied but formed a small principality that can function within the European framework.

Among the sedentary people of indigenous America, household-owned land worked on it, and pay taxes as the Iberian system and women were subordinate in one way or another. In both cultures, they could own, and hold personal and real properties which made them carry out various economic activities and retaining rights within the family. On marriage matters, it was crucial across the society, and the rank of a woman with her property was essential to the man's property.

Semi Sedentary People

On the side of semi-sedentary people, some structures in sedentary people missed out. They lacked social classes and depended on age and gender as their primary social distinctions (Borras & Saturnino, 845-872). They comprised a different family structure and household; settlement shifted from one location to another over a small period. The house was the most abundant active defined unit comprising people that were related by blood marriage, headed by an eldest male, and the societal duties lay upon the internal of the household. Among the sedentary, men did more extensive agricultural work, and women-only helped at times of peak workload, who were principled in processing and distribution. On the side of semi-sedentary people, men were mainly hunters; they only cleared the fields, and women did the bulk agricultural work.Welfare was highly developed in both stationary and semi-sedentary people, but more mobile in semi-sedentary people. Semi sedentary protected themselves better in forests plus other hazardous environments because they had effective weapons. Their foods did not make attraction to Europeans, and at each time, they were few in numbers, also having less surplus.

Non-Sedentary People

The non-sedentary people did not practice any form of agriculture. There was no agricultural store available, and there was no one ready to do agricultural work. The people were few in numbers and spread over extensive territory being able to over long distance for short notice. Their military power was much higher than semi-sedentary peoples. Because they had little incentives, they had few contacts with the Europeans but had a great ability to resist the conquest.

The Iberians

The Iberians were consolidated into three kingdoms, Portugal, Aragon, and Castile, the last two being united by royal marriage (Sanabria 2019). The essential entity was the city for affiliation and organization being attached to the vast territory. More people engaged in both pastoralists and agricultural activities in society to pursue everything else. Each province had to focus on the city where professional, craft personnel, and commercial assembled apart from the government. The town council represented the prominent families of the entire region, thus not dividing it in rural and urban lines, rather prevailing strong solidarity making the center success. The cities which Iberians established had the same characteristics, and they became means of organizing territories at European settlers.

The family of Iberians differed with the northern European family, thus creating a different relation between the Iberians and the indigenous people (Sanabria, 2019). In the tradition of Iberian, families were malt-linear, existing in different levels. The marriage did not seem extent for the subordinate of the wife's family in north Europe. A woman did not change their maiden names even after the wedding, and the endowment remained their property after giving them. Some pairs of children could take one parent's name, the choice usually being determined by social rankle. The counting that generally flows from father to son to grandson was not considered as the Iberians also kept in the track female line. Formal marriage was only undertaken when partners especial the male believe themselves established fully. Men generally married late while women married early. Many numbers of couples did not marry at all; therefore, their children were illegitimate while late marrying men could have children born in informal unions by having relationships with the lower rank women.

A complex practice arises in the treatment of a woman having children in an informal union. Under this situation, a man had to provide something inform of the dowry when he finally decides to marry so that she could get herself married to a person of lower rank. The also might recognize children of this informal union and give them his name together with protection. In Western Hemisphere, the lower-ranking women whom Iberians had informal unions were always indigenous, resulting in a mixed-race of children. Still, the Iberian treatment was equal in terms of social and cultural contact.

Conclusion

The societal and cultural set of Latin America and the Caribbean before the Europeans were mainly agricultural activities and hunting. There three major distinctive indigenous groups of people, the sedentary people who were much closer to the Europeans and shared almost everything. The semi-sedentary people who mainly involved in agriculture activities, and finally, the non-sedentary people involved primarily on hunting. There was also the Iberians were consolidated in three kingdoms; their household formed the basis of societal culture.

Works Cited

Borras Jr, Saturnino M. "Land grabbing in Latin America and the Caribbean." The Journal of Peasant Studies 39.3-4 (2012): 845-872.

Hanke, Lewis, and Jane M. Rausch, eds. People and Issues in Latin American History: The colonial experience--sources and interpretations. Markus Wiener Pub, 2000.

Sanabria, Harry. The anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean. Routledge, 2019.