HIST/LAS 3401W (FALL 2009): PAPER # 1 TOPICS
The first paper will be due in class on Thurs. Oct. 15. You are required to incorporate in a substantial way at least one written primary source, and have the option also to draw upon visual primary sources. Primary documents include Columbus’s journal, the accounts on the conquest of Mexico (Díaz, Cortés, indigenous accounts), the letter of Lope de Aguirre, the selection from Guaman Poma’s Chronicle, the Requerimiento, the encomienda grant, texts by Las Casas and Sepulveda (but not the script), the will and testament of Ana Juana, and images from the time period (e.g. painting of “America”). Some sources are mentioned specifically in relationship to particular topics, but most topics could draw upon a variety of sources.
If you choose the research paper option, you must turn in a paper proposal (250-300 words) and bibliography. Note: your bibliography must have at least 8 items (this may include a few pertinent readings from the course) and must include at least one primary source and at least 2 journal articles; it may not include textbooks.
Suggested Topics:
The following suggestions are topics; you still need to come up with your own focus and thesis statement. In some cases topics include several questions as examples; you do not need to address all the questions.
1. Write an essay evaluating both the promise and difficulties of using various primary sources for trying to accurately reconstruct and analyze the early encounters and relations between Spaniards and Native Americans. You may draw upon several examples or you may choose to do a focused comparative analysis of the differing accounts on the Mexican case.
2. Keeping in mind the particular perspectives and biases of each source, draw upon the various accounts of the conquest of Mexico to construct an argument about that conflict and its outcome. For example, what were the different conceptions and tactics of warfare on each side? How did each side try to forge and maintain alliances to strengthen their forces? Which factors do you think best explain the outcome?
3. Spanish conquistadors, and later other colonial subjects, often appealed directly to the king in order to justify their (sometimes unauthorized) actions and request rewards. Compare and contrast the letters that Hernán Cortés and Lope de Aguirre wrote to Castilian monarchs. What can these sources tell us about the mindset of the conquistadors and that of their royal patrons, how they had to adapt their expectations to conditions in the Americas, and/or their rhetorical strategies in addressing the Crown? Alternatively, compare Guaman Poma’s chronicle (often called his “Letter to the King”) to one or both of the mentioned Spanish letters. What are the similarities and differences in their strategic appeals to the Crown?
4. Write an essay about the situation of women in the early colonial period. For example, what is the significance and meaning of the ways in which women are represented in primary documents of the period? What strategies do women pursue for surviving and in some cases improving their situation during this period of change? How do the experiences of Malintzin compare to those of more ordinary indigenous women like Isabel Sisa and/or Ana Juana?
5. You may choose your own topic in consultation with the professor or T.A. If you do this you must discuss your topic with the professor or T.A. in person.
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