THE “HACIENDAS” IN THE COLONY (WEEK10)

An hacienda is a really big house were slaves are contained, there were separated by ranches, each one of does had one encomended who lead the ranch. The hacienda had one big boss that commanded the encomendeds. The encomendends weren’t able to take territory away from the slaves so they started to take territories from Indian communities, big towns were formed with the nucleus of the haciendas. The biggest the hacienda, the most money the owner had and other economic activities, like cocoa, fruits vegetables, gold mines and also animals. As the book (Colombia Imagenes de su Diversidad) says “La hacienda era un simbolo de patrimonio, riqueza, de bienestar y de poder”. (page 112).

When in Europe they saw and taste the cooffe, the haciendas grew more and they started to export to Europe and soon to all the world. When this happened some plants died so they started to make fruit trees for them to give shadow and channels of water for the place to be more humid. This incremented the crops. Before this there were two collecting times a year, with this situation incremented to 4 times a year. But when there were good times there were also bad times and crisis. Some times some haciendas didn’t produced nothing for a year.

I think that the crops were and have been all this time our strength, over all the coffee and the bananas. Without that were would you think Colombia would be?

Black Slaves in America (week9)

In America, Europeans started to bring black slaves for their houses. Between 1550 and 1792 entered like 123 000 black persons to the continent. They were all African descendants. They had to work in mines constructing or even fishing. Their owners had to provide them with cloth and alimentation but sometimes they just provide them with seeds which they had to cultivate on their free time and sell some of it to buy cloth. Women were sometimes used as hores for the owner’s economic situation. Many of these slaves develop many kind of disease, like lepra or physical disease like blinded, deft, without hand, without a leg etc. most of the seek slaves died.

I think that if the owners couldn’t maintain the slaves and kill them why would they bring them. I think the owners should be allowed to have 5 or less slaves in their houses not 30 or 50, who needs that? As always an still the racism is the is a big source of death or even the biggest.

When there was a murder, black people were found guilty for it and were killed. Even most of the black people were treated like animals there were some families that treated their slaves as workers as treated today. After the independence that was the main cause of civil wars in La Nueva Granada.

AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD (Week 7-8 a)

This movie is about a group of Spanish colonizers betray Spain and go on the search of “EL DORADO” by their own. Because they were on their own the named an Emperor which commanded the boat, they followed all Spanish rules as if they were there. They sailed capturing Indians and asking them for gold and El Dorado. (There was an Indian that translate them). In this movie the director likes to make as see the movie as if we were there and that why he when the characters are wet the camera gets wet to, when someone is killed blood gets to the camera and things like that.
The principal characters were:
Aguirre: he was like the one all fear even the Emperor, he killed his commander and replace him.
Her daughter: she was the only one he loved and treated well.
Lope de Vega: he was the commander before Aguirre, Aguirre killed him.
Lope de Vega’s wife: when Lope de Vega was killed she enter in a deep depression and in one stop in the jungle she disappeared in the woods.
There was another like 20 soldiers that died some of hunger or murdered by Indians cannibals. There was also a black slave that was used to scare Indians because he was black.
I don’t like that they stay too much time in one place showing the same thing if. I don’t like either the effects. What I like from this movie is the topic because its very interesting how they show that it wasn’t easy for Spanish here in America. I also like because it is very realistic, how they treated the Indians, like if they weren’t humans, also their believing
My favorite part is when they make a trail like in their country to kill Lope de Vega, because it show haw they still respected their country even when they had betray it.

INDIAN POPULATIOIN IN AMERICA (week 6)

Since Spanish came here they tried to low Indian population, they didn’t allowed Indians to have communities of more than 300 people.
This table shows the Indian population in those times. I’ve obtain it on the book “Colombia Imagenes de su Diersidad” (page 82).

Regions
Indian Population
Percentage
Region Caribe 2.565.376 23.70

Region Andina Oriental 2.423.728 25.20
Occidental 3.170.160 33.00
Alto Magdalena 120.000 1.25
Region Llanos 500.000 5.20
Region Amazon 720.000 7.50
Region Pacific 120.000 1.25
Totals 9.619.264 100.00
Pre Hispanic population in Colombia 1500
The population since then lowed so much that the Quimbayas were1500 Indians and low to 47 and then to 0. Many Indians extinguished, but some others survived and live now days.
When Spanish got here they needed food quickly so they saw that the Indians had very nice crops so they steeled and sell them. They also took as much gold as the Indians had, and when it was over they tortured the caciques till death. But that wasn’t all, they also sell the Indians itself, they started selling then at 564 pesos but raised 1,931. And when there was a murder or a robbery Indians were accused (although, it was probably them). Many Indians also committed suicide. All of this low the Indian population.
For centuries and centuries the racism has been on of the mayor causes of murders and wars. Like the world wars, the Germans discriminated Jews, in us the black people were very discriminated for many years, and here Indians were discriminated. Even now a days the racism exists. Sometimes without knowing I discriminate other people, and it might happen to you to.

WHAT COULD A SPANISH CITIZEN SAY ABOUT COLOMBIAN HISTORY (week 4)

Hey again,

Today I’m going to start talking about Spanish colonialism in America. When Spanish boats came to America they were amused by all our gold. Not just that, they were also surprised for our food, animals, and different places like the beaches, jungles and mountains. Hermes Tovar cites a text written by a Spaniard conqueror describing this situation: “El Rey llevaba un pectoral de oro sobre su pecho, colgado de una cadena de oro, y una mascara de oro, y en sus pies cuatro campanillas de oro que pesaban un marco cada una, y con el iban veinte indios, todos con mascaras de oro sobre sus rostros, sonando matracas de oro de treinta marcos de peso” (Colombia Imágenes de su Diversidad, page 42).


The Spaniards started to make up stories in each region about fantastic animals and cultures. Because of that, more and more Spanish sailors started coming and invading all America. Colombia, Peru, and Mexico were very good producers of gold and precious rocks, more then other countries in America. When Indians refused to give gold and stones, Spanish men started to take it by force. They started killing, stilling and taking prisoners.

Today, after investigating and knowing what I know, I wonder what a Spanish citizen could think about the colonization period. Many bad things happened to our native cultures. I now wonder if the Spanish people regret what happened more than 500 hundred years ago or they just think it is a situation that has to stay in the past and be forgotten.

COLOMBIAN NATIVE CULTURES (WEEK 3)

Todays topic is going to be about Colombian Natives before the Spanish colonization, their culture and religion. In Colombia there were many kinds of Cultures such as Muiscas, Tumaco, Tairona, Quimbayas and Senues. Every one of these cultures had a strength that we will se today.

Muiscas and Guanes: they were known for their knitting’s; they lived on “Altiplano de Nariño”

Tumaco: they were known for their ceramic figures.

Tairona: they were known for their collars, they lived on La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Quinballas: they were known by their gold figures.

Senues: they were known for their iconography with gold.

When Spanish colonies step in Colombia they saw that every community had its treasure so they started to take control of every community for their gold. They took casiques (the leaders) and torture them to give them the location of the gold. They took lots and lots of gold. And so does the legend of “El Dorado” born along with some others. El Dorado was a place in which many gold was stored in a secret place known only by it s owners which died. Many Spanish came here just to look for it.

In conclusion Spanish took our biggest strength (Gold) and stole it from us. With that gold Colombia could be richer in the present.