Readings for January 21

Hello everyone,

There are two assigned texts for Wednesday's class, and both will give you a great overview of several important themes as we make our way quickly through the colonial period. For the most part, these pieces are looking at the economy and its impact on the relationship between Crown and colony. Studying the colonial economy is especially relevant to the modern period because it helps us understand the origins of the social hierarchies that persist to the present and how they were initially legitimized. In class, I will run through the colonial economy by giving you a sense of which goods were produced and extracted and where, the type of labor system associated with each, and how the nature of the larger economy shifted over time.

When reading both texts, pay attention to the following:

1) How did the Crown organize the colonies (in terms of government), and how was this related to the economy?

2) THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. What was happening in Europe in the 18th century that made Spain economically depressed? What were the Bourbon Reforms and what were their objectives (there are many reforms, so pay the most attention to the economic reforms)?

3) What were the Pombaline Reforms (again, there are many, but try to understand what Pombal wanted to acheive in Brazil, and what his economic ideas were designed to do).

*This is going to be a very dense week, but try to do your best and get the most you can out of the readings. I will fill in the gaps in class and make sure you understand what was going on between 1650 and 1810. By next week, I want to be in the modern period, so we are rushing through the most important colonial themes to form a basic foundation. This forces us to skip a lot and treat many topics superficially, but anything you guys can pull out of this week will help you grasp subsequent periods much better. Everything should be much more interesting soon. Good luck!