Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
1
The Colonial Legacy: Basic Facts Lecture 2 Week 1
2
Structure of this class The region’s shared history shaped its current development Reasons for settling in Latin America Institutions: - Encomienda - Church - State Conclusion: Colonizers to be blamed for underdevelopment?
3
Spain and Portugal in Latin America in the 16 th Century Treaty of Tordesillas signed in 1494: Brazil granted to the Portuguese
4
Reasons for settling in Latin America
5
Institutions
6
Labor under encomienda system
7
2. The Catholic Church
8
3.- The State
9
Crown Council of Indias (Legislative) Viceroy (Executive) Audiencias (Judiciary)
10
Institutions’ power erosion Geographical distance & weakening Iberian powers Centralization via “the house of trade” became untenable Monitoring trade became increasingly difficult as volumes increased Revenues collapsed Ineffective and increasingly complicated tax structures Upsurge of smuggling and corruption
11
Colonizers’ legacy to be blamed for underdevelopment today? Two alternative views: (1) Yes! *Engerman, Stanley, and Kenneth Sokoloff (1984), and*Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson (2001) (2) No! *Coatsworth, John H. (1998), Bulmer-Thomas, Victor (2003) So, for next class: Review today’s lecture material very quickly in Topic 2: Cardoso, Eliana, and Ann Helwege (1992) Chapter 2: Historical Roots, Sections 1 – 4,pp. 23 – 37; Franko, Patrice (2003), Chapter 2: Historical Legacies, Patterns of Unequal and Unstable Growth. (pp. 29 – 36), and Gibson, Charles (1966), Spain in America, Harper Colophon Books. Chapter 3:Encomienda, Chapter 4: Church and Chapter 5: State. And read starred material topic 3 on (1) above.
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.