Gerald Leung
Book Review
Daily Life in Colonial Latin America by Ann Jefferson and Paul Lokken explores how people lived their daily lives in the American colonies of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns from the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century. We get a taste of how their everyday lives shaped the history of the region. Ann Jefferson and Paul Lokken illustrate a society that faces adversity with poor living conditions however much of society can’t do much to change it. Lokken and Jefferson argues that social barriers set by the History in Latin America has forced citizens to live the lifestyles they live.
The book is broken up into several chapters with a final conclusion. Some of the contents include family, relationships, …show more content…
Jefferson and Lokken reveal that colonial society was based on the patriarchal extended family. Families and their generations of couples, children, grandchildren, all lived on the same land and property. This form of family structure emerged in Colonial Latin America and is still seen today in Latin America. In chapter one, Ann Jefferson and Paul Lokken talk about marriage, home and family. The chapter shows family's social life and the expectations of the church for maintaining social order through the promotion of marriage. Also, the authors briefly go over male respect and standards for women. In the chapter it looks at women’s roles and how that factored into a patriarchal family. For example, “As descendants of Eve, women were seen by Roman Catholic Church as slaves to passion who had caused the fall from paradise. Therefore, women required the constant vigilance of the patriarch to keep them on the straight and narrow path of righteousness.” (Lokken and Jefferson pg 5). This helped further examine the standard norms of a patriarchal extended family and the role of the women in a society such as this. As the male has authority in the household and …show more content…
Jefferson and Lokken states that children were seen as “the future guardians of the property of the patriarchal family” (pg. 47). Children in Colonial Latin America entered the labor force as early as the age of 6 or 7. Many did not receive the education we receive here in the States. “The modern-day concept of adolescence did not exist in Colonial Latin America; for most people, the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood came early.” (Lokken and Jefferson pg 47). These students were educated on how to hunt and work in the fields. Sometimes children were given to the government as a form of tribute and sometimes they were sacrificed to the gods. This reinforces the idea of human sacrifice which was evident in chapter 5 of Latin America Colonial Times by Restall and Lane. The Aztecs and Inka’s were empires that used the concept of human sacrifice. Here in America, the closest thing to human sacrifice was the military draft. For those children who were lucky enough to not be sacrificed, they were placed in a social rank as early as 6 years old. Children who worked were considered adults. In European tradition, their established adult age is 21 but these children started early. In the text it was said that, “Indigenous people clung to their old patterns of child rearing and training of young people for adult life, and in some ways, their understanding of children
Book Review
Daily Life in Colonial Latin America by Ann Jefferson and Paul Lokken explores how people lived their daily lives in the American colonies of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns from the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century. We get a taste of how their everyday lives shaped the history of the region. Ann Jefferson and Paul Lokken illustrate a society that faces adversity with poor living conditions however much of society can’t do much to change it. Lokken and Jefferson argues that social barriers set by the History in Latin America has forced citizens to live the lifestyles they live.
The book is broken up into several chapters with a final conclusion. Some of the contents include family, relationships, …show more content…
Jefferson and Lokken reveal that colonial society was based on the patriarchal extended family. Families and their generations of couples, children, grandchildren, all lived on the same land and property. This form of family structure emerged in Colonial Latin America and is still seen today in Latin America. In chapter one, Ann Jefferson and Paul Lokken talk about marriage, home and family. The chapter shows family's social life and the expectations of the church for maintaining social order through the promotion of marriage. Also, the authors briefly go over male respect and standards for women. In the chapter it looks at women’s roles and how that factored into a patriarchal family. For example, “As descendants of Eve, women were seen by Roman Catholic Church as slaves to passion who had caused the fall from paradise. Therefore, women required the constant vigilance of the patriarch to keep them on the straight and narrow path of righteousness.” (Lokken and Jefferson pg 5). This helped further examine the standard norms of a patriarchal extended family and the role of the women in a society such as this. As the male has authority in the household and …show more content…
Jefferson and Lokken states that children were seen as “the future guardians of the property of the patriarchal family” (pg. 47). Children in Colonial Latin America entered the labor force as early as the age of 6 or 7. Many did not receive the education we receive here in the States. “The modern-day concept of adolescence did not exist in Colonial Latin America; for most people, the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood came early.” (Lokken and Jefferson pg 47). These students were educated on how to hunt and work in the fields. Sometimes children were given to the government as a form of tribute and sometimes they were sacrificed to the gods. This reinforces the idea of human sacrifice which was evident in chapter 5 of Latin America Colonial Times by Restall and Lane. The Aztecs and Inka’s were empires that used the concept of human sacrifice. Here in America, the closest thing to human sacrifice was the military draft. For those children who were lucky enough to not be sacrificed, they were placed in a social rank as early as 6 years old. Children who worked were considered adults. In European tradition, their established adult age is 21 but these children started early. In the text it was said that, “Indigenous people clung to their old patterns of child rearing and training of young people for adult life, and in some ways, their understanding of children