Latin America Cultural Exchange

Relations between the United States and Latin America were not confined to diplomatic policies and economic transactions. Cultural exchanges also occurred. These exchanges took a variety of forms, both positive and negative. They were the inevitable result of people travelling throughout the Americas either looking for work or seeking adventure and bringing elements of their native cultures with them and taking back elements of those foreign cultures they had encountered. The social interactions were, in many ways, equally as important as the political and economic relations and led to, perhaps, even longer lasting effects.
One of the various forms through which cultural elements were shared was the Santa Fé Trail, running from the U.S. into northern Mexico. While its primary purpose was economic trade, aspects of both cultures were also interchanged. A negative interaction that occurred in the same area was the Taos Rebellion in 1847, in which the natives of New Mexico retaliated against the U.S. presence through forms of resistance taken along racial and cultural lines. New Mexicans specifically targeted U.S. citizens and hung many of them. Another cultural exchange occurred during the U.S. and Mexican War …show more content…
Civil War, thousands of southerners immigrated to Brazil, as that was the last country in the Americas where slavery was legal. Known as Confederados, they were welcomed by the Brazilian government and were incorporated into society. Latin American elites furthered cultural exchange by sending their sons to universities in the United States, who brought back ideas and practices of the culture they been immersed in. One Latin American, Domingo Sarmiento, wrote that he left the United States, which he likened to an extravaganza, with half his illusions damaged. José Martí, a Cuban journalist who had lived in New York City, expressed the opinion that the character of American citizens had steadily declined since independence and was now less