Research Question: Why has Latin America continued to lag behind North American countries and more recently East Asian countries in terms of economic and social development?
Thesis: The primary reason for Latin America’s stagnation in terms of wealth, power, and prosperity is the legacy and style of governance left behind by the Spanish.
Sections:
Section 1
Outline the controlling overly bureaucratic aristocracy developed in New Spain and how it favored complacency amongst the few elite, limiting education of the masses, and erecting barriers for economic mobility
Section 2
Revolutions generally just replaced the old aristocracy with a new one rather than constructing new institutions. Provide examples of this were revolutionaries became the new establishment and personally profited off of their position of power and didn’t improve the lives of everyday people. Also provide examples of exceptions like a successful democracy in Costa Rica.
Section 3
Discuss ;how foreign investment is generally a driver of economic development: however, poor management by government that was heavily bureaucratic and corrupt in part due to the trends set forth by the Spanish, allowed US companies and the few elite within a country to take advantage of the raw materials and resources available in Latin America
Talk about United Fruit Company and how they took advantage of government structures in Latin America to profit from Latin American Countries and extracting wealth without returning any value.
Section 4
Talk about feminism and feminist movements during the 20th centenary in Latin America and how the legacy of the church has limited women’s rights. Also discuss how this impacted the economy with women playing a smaller role in the workforce.
Section 5
Talk about existing structure of a current self serving elite allowed the US government to easily and continuously intervene and install governments in Latin America when economically beneficia
Section 6
Talk about how this fostered leftist revolutionary movements that were financially detrimental to the countries economy generally.
Provide examples
Section 7
Discuss the tendency towards internal conflict apposed to conflict between nations and how that impacted economic developments. Talk about how war with other nations tends to beget economic development in a country.
Section 8
Talk about the differences and similarities between Latin America and the fast growing United States from 1900 to today
Culture
Economic policy
Relationships to other countries and trade partners
Section 9
Talk about the differences and similarities between Latin America and fast growing East Asian countries
Culture
Economic policy
Relationships to other countries and trade partners
Section 10
For both sections 8 and 9 Relate it back to how the Spanish set up an environment that led Latin America to the position it is currently in
Requirements:
10 pages
Double spaced
Times New Roman, font size 12
4 primary sources
8 secondary sources
Chicago style
2 footnotes per page minimum
Must write about each section as it pertains to the thesis and reseat are how question
Must focus primarily on the years 1845-2015
Prompt:
For your papaer you will write a 10 page double-spaced research paper on a topic in Latin American history during the long 20th Century (1845-2015). This will be an argumentative history paper rooted in primary and secondary sources. A minimum of 12 sources is expected, and, as a general rule, at least two footnotes are expected per page. Your argument should question or elaborate on a debatable topic within Latin American history, and answer a specific historical question. Check Storey’s Writing History book for advice on formulating a historical research question. The paper is to be written in Chicago style with footnotes and a bibliography.
