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  5. History of the Spanish Empire

History of the Spanish Empire

Objectives

a) To know the main characteristics of the Spanish overseas empire (15th to 19th centuries).
b) To identify the main political, economic, social and cultural processes that marked the history of the Spanish empire between the 15th and the 19th century.
c) To know the main historiographical interpretations about the various topics of study.
d) To know the most important bibliography about the different topics under analysis. To develop student´s ability to work with historical documents.
e) To increase student´s ability for written and oral communication, using adequate historical vocabulary and concepts.
f) To acquire knowledge that allow the students to follow advanced courses about the history of the Spanish empire in the early modern period.

General characterization

Code

711051132

Credits

6.0

Responsible teacher

Pablo Ibañez-Bonillo

Hours

Weekly - 4

Total - 168

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

  • BRADING, David, Orbe Indiano. De la monarquía católica a la república criolla, 1492­1867, México, FCE, 1991.
  • GARAVAGLIA, Juan Carlos & Juan Marchena, América Latina. De los orígenes a la independencia, Barcelona, Crítica, 2005 (2 vols.).
  • PEREZ CANTÓ, Pilar, Las Sociedades Originarias y la América hispánica. Una aproximación histórica, Madrid, UAM, 2010.
  • RESTALL, Matthew, Latin America in Colonial Times, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011 .
  • SERRERA, R.M, La América de los Habsburgo, Sevilla, Universidad de Sevilla, 2011.

Teaching method

The class schedule will consist of two two­hour sessions each week. The first part of each session is allotted to lectures by the professor, while the second part is devoted to an oral presentation by students, followed by a discussion. Lectures supplement and complement reading assignments, and introduce problems to be brought up in the discussion period. Discussions cover the reading assignment for each topic, and their aim is to make students investigate problems, analyze interpretations of subjects in the readings and/or lectures. Outlines of lectures, maps and other supplementary material will be distributed to students on the web.

Evaluation method

Continuous assessment - All students must take a midterm and a final examination. Each exam accounts for 35% of the final grade. Participation in class and oral presentation will account for 30% of the final grade.(100%)

Subject matter

1. The discovery and occupation of the overseas lands of the Castilian Crown.
2. The Europeans vis a vis the native American peoples. The doctrinal debate about the status of the native Americans.
3. The political­administrative framework of the Spanish empire (16th­17th centuries).
4. The socio­economic dynamics (16th­17th centuries).
5. The indigenous response to the European intrusion.
6. The ecclesiastical dimension of the Spanish empire.
7. The cultural and artistic dynamics of the Spanish empire.
8. The Bourbon reforms in Spanish America.
9. Complementarity and rivalry between the Iberian territories in America (16th to 18th centuries).
10. Colonial society and identity discourse. The development of American identities.
11. The rupture of the colonial system.