Monday, June 19, 2006
Still wracked from all the emotion following last week's expulsion from Oaxaca. Flying to Oxaca Monday after a sleepless night, returning to San Antonio Thursday after another all-nighter, after the turmoil Wednesday (new experience with tear gas!) leaves one feeling dislocated, up in the air.
Chose air-conditioned car over bicycle this morning to assuage my fragility. Spotted Mel on cell in hallway to SAC computer lab. Hugged Melissa, my rooftop pal. Denise arrived to let us in our room. Jewelette absent due to family affairs. Alex arrived feeling ill, went back home. The team is not complete. Mary brought a Thursday edition of a Oaxaca paper. Want to peruse it more thoroughly. My limited comprehension of Spanish slows me down. I finally got out the dictionary to help me understand more completely and accurately Wednesday's Oaxaca newspaper. Also went to imparcialenlinea, the paper's website. Couldn't help thinking the tons of "trash" collected after Wednesday's debacle consisted of toys, bedding, tents, tarps, and other personal belongings of the teachers ousted from the streets of the city.
Hadn't checked my PALS mail, so Karen's questions came as a surprise. Shame on me. I've been neglecting classwork while trying to research and understand just what has been going on in Oaxaca.
We discussed:
1) How does leisure status advance a civilization?
allows one time to create and specialize
2) What are the common charecteristics of a civilization?
We came up with government, religion, agriculture, means of exchange, language.
Written language distinguished civilization from culture.
The following 9 characteristics define a civilization:
1) written language/literature 2) government/law 3) religion 4) trade 5) agricultural production 6) art and architecture 7) buildings-architecture and engineering 8) metallurgy, one characteristic none of us thought of, and 9) conflict with other groups (conquest) which we didn't come up with either
3. Do you think the Zapotecs and Mixtecs created civilizations? Why or why not?
Natch. Their cultures included all the definitive characteristics of a civilization.
4. How did Hernan Cortez change the history of Mexico?
His arrival marked the entry of an entirely different civilization which impressed a different language, religion, government, and ways of doing things on the multitudinous native cultures who no longer fought for dominance amongst each other.
5. What was the role of missionaries in Mexico?
Their job was to convert the indigenous people to the Spanish Catholic religion so they could become productive citizens of New Spain.
6. How did life change for natives under Spanish rule?
The natives had to learn a new language, convert to a different religion, learn new crafts, and submit themselves to the rules of the invading culture. Their numbers were decimated and decimated again by diseases to which they had no immunity.
7. What is the significance of September 16, 1810?
EL GRITO! When Fr. Hidalgo proclaimed, "Viva Mexico! Viva the
Virgen of Guadalupe! Death to the Gachupines!" in Dolores, Guanajuato, the fight for Mexico's freedom from Spanish rule began.
8. ....activities of Santa Ana other than the Alamo.
military commander of Vera Cruz, "Victor of Tampico" against Spanish force reinvading from Cuba in 1829, "Liberator of the Republic", "Conqueror of the Spaniards", president 11 times, lost war he declared on the USA resulting in the loss of 2/5 of Mexico's territory, "His Serene Highness" sold parts of New Mexico and Arizona with the Gadsden Purchase.
9. What issues began the Mexican Civil War of 1858-1861?
Three reform laws: Ley Juarez abolished "fueros", separate military and church courts; Ley Lerdo outlawed excess corporate (church) landholdings; and Ley Iglesias transferred most church power to the state. These added to the Constitution of 1857 attacked the privilege and power of the clergy, generals, and corporate landlords which led to the three-year long War of the Reforms.
10. What is the significance of Benito Juarez in Oaxacan and Mexican history?
As a pure-blooded Zapotec indian rose to become governor of Oaxaca and President of Mexico. A reform leader known as the "Abraham Lincoln" of Mexico is one of my favorite people in history. He opened hundreds of schools and teachers' academies and almost wiped out the state debt. He continued to perform his presidential duties under French occupation. He got the coffee industry going when cochineal income declined.
11. Is Porfirio Diaz a hero or villain?
I believe he's a flawed hero. When he stood against the entire faculty at the Institute of Arts and Sciences in Oaxaca when they supported Santa Ana, he demonstrated the courage of his conviction. He did follow through on his "No reeleccion" promise at first. He became highhanded, "Matelos en caliente". The "Pax Porfiriana" allowed order and progress to triumph for 34 years. Foreign investment built railroads, and factories, mines and mills, so much of Mexico was modernized. However the poor got poorer and the rich got richer.
Culture does not have to be sacrificed to progress. The inability or unwillingness to change lends the power of inertia in the face of modernity.
12. How did Oaxaca interact with the Big Four?
When rebels pushed Porfirios Diaz' nephew Feliz from the governorship of Oaxaca Villa was attacking towns in Chihuahua, Zapata and company attacked hacendados in Morelos to recover village lands, and Venustiano Carranza and Alvaro Obregon led rebellions in the north. Oaxacans declared themselves a "sovereign republic", but Carranzista battalions invaded Oaxaca. After 3 years the Constitution of 1917 was enacted, basically lasting to the present.
13. How did Pres. Calles deal with Mexico's issues during the 1930s depression?
He united 3 major constituencies: the country poor of CNC, the workers of CTM, and the middle class CNOP into a giant political party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) which dominated politics in Mexico for 60 years.
The birth of Mexican nationalism is said to have been in the 1930s. There was then a shift toward acceptance of the indigenous people.
14. How did Oaxacan Gov Cano fare in the 1950s?
Merchants resenting new taxes and students resenting his interference in the university got together to occupy the state government palace. Federal troops came to occupy the city and Gov. Edmund Sanchez Cano was forced to resign.
15. What are the major issues facing Mexico since the 1960s?
How to use income from the production of oil to benefit the country, how to provide the legally required education for every child, how to stamp out corruption, how to manage the drug problem, and how to provide jobs for the burgeoning population.
Terms we should know:
metate - grinding stone for corn
cochineal - a bright red dye made from an insect which lives on the nopal cactus
mestizo - mixture of Spanish and indigenous Mexican
criollo - person of pure Spanish ancestry born in the New World
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - the agreement between the US and Mexico after Mexico lost the1846-48 war engineered by Santa Ana in which Mexico lost 2/5 of its territory
UCIRI - Union de Comunidades de la Region del Istmo, an organization of small coffee growers who work together in production, transportation and sales and have come together for cooperative self-education and run a savings bank, a clinic, and cooperative grocery, hardware, and drug stores.
maquiladoras - plants in Mexico near the US border whose products are not subject to duties when exported
COCEO - Coalicion de Obreros, Campesinos, y Estudiantes de Oaxaca who banded together to support the rights of sidewalk vendors, villagers, city workers, and squatters.
Zapatista - member of the Ejercito Zapatista Liberacion Nacional (EZLN) in Chiapas who fought for indigenous rights
Other terms I want to know:
COCEI - Coalicion Obrero, Campesion, y Estudiantil del Istmo which organized strikes, boycotts, marches, and demonstrations in opposition to local caciques and city hall cliques which led to improved working and living conditions for the poor.
latifundista - an owner of huge areas of land purchased as an unintended consequence of the Ley Lerdo promulgated by the reform government of 1857, not so predominant inOaxaca
.
Chose air-conditioned car over bicycle this morning to assuage my fragility. Spotted Mel on cell in hallway to SAC computer lab. Hugged Melissa, my rooftop pal. Denise arrived to let us in our room. Jewelette absent due to family affairs. Alex arrived feeling ill, went back home. The team is not complete. Mary brought a Thursday edition of a Oaxaca paper. Want to peruse it more thoroughly. My limited comprehension of Spanish slows me down. I finally got out the dictionary to help me understand more completely and accurately Wednesday's Oaxaca newspaper. Also went to imparcialenlinea, the paper's website. Couldn't help thinking the tons of "trash" collected after Wednesday's debacle consisted of toys, bedding, tents, tarps, and other personal belongings of the teachers ousted from the streets of the city.
Hadn't checked my PALS mail, so Karen's questions came as a surprise. Shame on me. I've been neglecting classwork while trying to research and understand just what has been going on in Oaxaca.
We discussed:
1) How does leisure status advance a civilization?
allows one time to create and specialize
2) What are the common charecteristics of a civilization?
We came up with government, religion, agriculture, means of exchange, language.
Written language distinguished civilization from culture.
The following 9 characteristics define a civilization:
1) written language/literature 2) government/law 3) religion 4) trade 5) agricultural production 6) art and architecture 7) buildings-architecture and engineering 8) metallurgy, one characteristic none of us thought of, and 9) conflict with other groups (conquest) which we didn't come up with either
3. Do you think the Zapotecs and Mixtecs created civilizations? Why or why not?
Natch. Their cultures included all the definitive characteristics of a civilization.
4. How did Hernan Cortez change the history of Mexico?
His arrival marked the entry of an entirely different civilization which impressed a different language, religion, government, and ways of doing things on the multitudinous native cultures who no longer fought for dominance amongst each other.
5. What was the role of missionaries in Mexico?
Their job was to convert the indigenous people to the Spanish Catholic religion so they could become productive citizens of New Spain.
6. How did life change for natives under Spanish rule?
The natives had to learn a new language, convert to a different religion, learn new crafts, and submit themselves to the rules of the invading culture. Their numbers were decimated and decimated again by diseases to which they had no immunity.
7. What is the significance of September 16, 1810?
EL GRITO! When Fr. Hidalgo proclaimed, "Viva Mexico! Viva the
Virgen of Guadalupe! Death to the Gachupines!" in Dolores, Guanajuato, the fight for Mexico's freedom from Spanish rule began.
8. ....activities of Santa Ana other than the Alamo.
military commander of Vera Cruz, "Victor of Tampico" against Spanish force reinvading from Cuba in 1829, "Liberator of the Republic", "Conqueror of the Spaniards", president 11 times, lost war he declared on the USA resulting in the loss of 2/5 of Mexico's territory, "His Serene Highness" sold parts of New Mexico and Arizona with the Gadsden Purchase.
9. What issues began the Mexican Civil War of 1858-1861?
Three reform laws: Ley Juarez abolished "fueros", separate military and church courts; Ley Lerdo outlawed excess corporate (church) landholdings; and Ley Iglesias transferred most church power to the state. These added to the Constitution of 1857 attacked the privilege and power of the clergy, generals, and corporate landlords which led to the three-year long War of the Reforms.
10. What is the significance of Benito Juarez in Oaxacan and Mexican history?
As a pure-blooded Zapotec indian rose to become governor of Oaxaca and President of Mexico. A reform leader known as the "Abraham Lincoln" of Mexico is one of my favorite people in history. He opened hundreds of schools and teachers' academies and almost wiped out the state debt. He continued to perform his presidential duties under French occupation. He got the coffee industry going when cochineal income declined.
11. Is Porfirio Diaz a hero or villain?
I believe he's a flawed hero. When he stood against the entire faculty at the Institute of Arts and Sciences in Oaxaca when they supported Santa Ana, he demonstrated the courage of his conviction. He did follow through on his "No reeleccion" promise at first. He became highhanded, "Matelos en caliente". The "Pax Porfiriana" allowed order and progress to triumph for 34 years. Foreign investment built railroads, and factories, mines and mills, so much of Mexico was modernized. However the poor got poorer and the rich got richer.
Culture does not have to be sacrificed to progress. The inability or unwillingness to change lends the power of inertia in the face of modernity.
12. How did Oaxaca interact with the Big Four?
When rebels pushed Porfirios Diaz' nephew Feliz from the governorship of Oaxaca Villa was attacking towns in Chihuahua, Zapata and company attacked hacendados in Morelos to recover village lands, and Venustiano Carranza and Alvaro Obregon led rebellions in the north. Oaxacans declared themselves a "sovereign republic", but Carranzista battalions invaded Oaxaca. After 3 years the Constitution of 1917 was enacted, basically lasting to the present.
13. How did Pres. Calles deal with Mexico's issues during the 1930s depression?
He united 3 major constituencies: the country poor of CNC, the workers of CTM, and the middle class CNOP into a giant political party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) which dominated politics in Mexico for 60 years.
The birth of Mexican nationalism is said to have been in the 1930s. There was then a shift toward acceptance of the indigenous people.
14. How did Oaxacan Gov Cano fare in the 1950s?
Merchants resenting new taxes and students resenting his interference in the university got together to occupy the state government palace. Federal troops came to occupy the city and Gov. Edmund Sanchez Cano was forced to resign.
15. What are the major issues facing Mexico since the 1960s?
How to use income from the production of oil to benefit the country, how to provide the legally required education for every child, how to stamp out corruption, how to manage the drug problem, and how to provide jobs for the burgeoning population.
Terms we should know:
metate - grinding stone for corn
cochineal - a bright red dye made from an insect which lives on the nopal cactus
mestizo - mixture of Spanish and indigenous Mexican
criollo - person of pure Spanish ancestry born in the New World
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - the agreement between the US and Mexico after Mexico lost the1846-48 war engineered by Santa Ana in which Mexico lost 2/5 of its territory
UCIRI - Union de Comunidades de la Region del Istmo, an organization of small coffee growers who work together in production, transportation and sales and have come together for cooperative self-education and run a savings bank, a clinic, and cooperative grocery, hardware, and drug stores.
maquiladoras - plants in Mexico near the US border whose products are not subject to duties when exported
COCEO - Coalicion de Obreros, Campesinos, y Estudiantes de Oaxaca who banded together to support the rights of sidewalk vendors, villagers, city workers, and squatters.
Zapatista - member of the Ejercito Zapatista Liberacion Nacional (EZLN) in Chiapas who fought for indigenous rights
Other terms I want to know:
COCEI - Coalicion Obrero, Campesion, y Estudiantil del Istmo which organized strikes, boycotts, marches, and demonstrations in opposition to local caciques and city hall cliques which led to improved working and living conditions for the poor.
latifundista - an owner of huge areas of land purchased as an unintended consequence of the Ley Lerdo promulgated by the reform government of 1857, not so predominant inOaxaca
.
# posted by gmarsch @ 8:00 PM 
