Revista de Historia Iberoamericana

Controversy Surrounding the Theory of Evolution in the Pages of the “A Província de São Paulo” Newspaper from 1875 to 1889

Danilo Brancalhão Berbel — 2017-12-31

This article’s objective is to discuss the results of research into public controversy over the theory of evolution from 1875 to 1889, as expressed in the newspaper “A Província de São Paulo”, currently known as “O Estado de São Paulo”. Empirical research methods were employed in the study of digital material of the aforementioned publication and analysis was conducted within the framework of science, technology and society (STS) studies and, specifically, the Empirical Programme of Relativism. Study results determined that representatives of different social organizations, such as members of the ascendant agrarian elite, intellectuals associated with positivism, Darwinists and religious leaders were among the opponents of the theory. The newspaper dedicated more space to arguments in favor of the theory of evolution and even published their own translations of European exponents of evolutionist theory in the paper. Those voicing arguments against the theory were characterized as mistaken. Throughout the debate, both epistemological and non-epistemological arguments were presented from opposing sides of the argument.

The Historic Formation of condueñazgos and joint Ownerships of Land in the Huastecas Regions of Mexico and in the High Plateaus of Jujuy, Argentina

Cecilia A. Fandos — 2017-12-31

In this article, we submit a comparative analysis of the origin of condueñazgos y/o joint ownerships during the republican period within the Mexican Huasteca region, and the “highlands” of the extreme Andean northeast of Argentina. The analysis was based on examinations of historiographical production and (primarily) secondary sources on the subject matter. Following the legislative sequence and the historic circumstances that intervened in the formation of such corporate property rights and productive and associative community forms, the article seeks to reexamine the liberal project in Latin America, particularly with respect to agrarian confiscation and disentailment of communal indigenous property. With this primary intention, the subject of indigenous agency is examined within the framework of the nineteenth century nation-state constitution, ascribing to the idea that the configuration of these joint forms of ownership, by which these sectors were active participants, was a reaction based on the defense of their territoriality. The comparative approach seeks to raise the scale of analysis and to intertwine the facts and approximations of a history that is undoubtedly shared.

Veiled Whiteness in Nineteenth-Century Honduran Constitutional Law & Citizenship

Jose I. Lara — 2017-12-31

Race has always been central to the regulation of political membership and constitutional rights in Honduras. This study demonstrates how and why citizenship in Honduras was both restrictive in nature and based on racialized criteria. A nuanced analysis of nineteenth-century constitutions reveals that while governmental leaders did not refer to any racial groups in these legislative documents, they did describe the ideal citizen in implicitly racial terms. The provisos required for the status of citizen, including property ownership, morality and literacy, were built on concepts that have historically been racialized; notions associated with racial difference, Western values and accumulated privileges of systemic white supremacy. By delimiting citizenship in such terms, Honduran leaders characterized it as “white” and used the highest law of the State to exclude most non-European peoples from membership in the polity.

Saint Thomas the Apostle in America, According to Accounts of Early Jesuits of Brazil and Paraguay

Carlos A. Page — 2017-12-31

The history of Saint Thomas the Apostle preaching in America was debated from the time it became a widely discussed topic of conversation during the sixteenth century. Although there is reliable evidence that the story began with the arrival of Columbus to the supposed “Indies”, where the apostle did preach, the Jesuits are attributed for its invention. Undoubtedly, religious leaders arriving in 1549 embraced the story to justify and validate their evangelizing project, taking storytelling to the extreme. Even though Christian hagiographies had ruled it out, by the end of the eighteenth century the story was still being written about. Therefore, we will focus our analysis on the writings of the Jesuits; from internal documents and publications of Jesuit chroniclers - to the expelled; this, with the aim of demonstrating the importance given to a myth that facilitated the pastoral objective of religious-cultural intermixing.

The Seductive Waters of the West: Rivers and Waterfalls in the Struggle for the Transfer of the Federal Capital to Central Brazil (1892-1953).

Andre Vasques Vital — 2017-12-31

This article analyzes the role of rivers and waterfalls in propaganda efforts of intellectuals in the state Goiás, who favored the move of the Brazilian capital to the Planalto Central region, delimited by the Misión Cruls (1892-1894). One of the arguments most commonly used by the elite Goianas to promote state communication and economic possibilities during the first half of the 20th century, related to the possession of the source of the major river basins of South America (Plata, Amazon, San Francisco). Through the examination of articles published in a wide range of media, especially in the magazines A Informação Goyana and Oeste, this article explores the weight given to rivers and waterfalls in the Planalto Central region and the Brazilian divortium aquarum, a strategic territory with an abundance of potable water and significant hydroelectric potential.

The DNA of Chileans and their Genetic Origins

Julio Aguilar Hidalgo — 2017-12-31

Es reseña de:
- El ADN de los chilenos y sus orígenes genéticos
  
  Soledad Berros del Solar
  
  Santiago, Chile : Editorial Universitaria, 2016

Circulation and Appropriation of Religious Images in the New Kingdom of Grenada, XVI-XVIII Centuries

Leidy Paola Bolaños Florido — 2017-12-31

Es reseña de:
- Circulación y apropiación de imágenes religiosas en el Nuevo Reino de Granada, siglos XVI-XVIII
  
  María Cristina Pérez
  
  Bogotá, Colombia : Universidad de los Andes, 2016

Return from Exile: Comparative History of Post-dictatorship Politics of Reception in Argentina and Uruguay (1983-1989)

Marcos Gonçalves — 2017-12-31

Es reseña de:
- Retornar do exílio: história comparada das políticas de recepção nas pós-ditaduras de Argentina e Uruguai (1983-1989)
  
  María Soledad Lastra
  
  La Plata, Buenos Aires : Universidad Nacional de la Plata, 2016

Interethnic Violence on the Northern Colonial Border and Mexico. XVII-XIX Centuries

Gilberto López Castillo — 2017-12-31

Es reseña de:
- Violencia interétnica en la frontera norte novohispana y mexicana. Siglos XVII-XIX
  
  José Marcos Medina Bustos (coord.), Esther Padilla Calderón (coord.)
  
  Hermosillo, Sonora México : El Colegio de Sonora-Zamora, 2015

Paisanos Chinos. Transpacific Politics among Chinese Immigrants in Mexico.

Patricia Palma — 2017-12-31

Es reseña de:
- Paisanos Chinos. Transpacific politics among chinese immigrants in Mexico
  
  Fredy González
  
  Oakland, CA, Estados Unidos : University of California Press, 2017