How did hegemony affect colonialism?

HW #12 “A Power Called Hegemony” Research Paper 
Background:

Both the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns had limited resources for colonization.  Neither had large military forces in the American colonies.  Iberian colonizers and their American-born descendants were a small minority even in the central areas, so how did  they maintain control over so much of the hemisphere for three centuries?

 

Task:

Choose one of the examples of cultural hegemony control (listed below) and conduct research via internet and databases online (see link on class blog).  Discuss information revealed in your search and summarize your findings.  Prepare to read 1 page summaries.

Database Link: http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/african/

 

EXAMPLES OF CULTURAL HEGEMONY

 

Catholicism

o      Inquisition kept a list of banned books that people were not allowed to read

o      Church controlled time: tolling of bells signaled the hours of work, rest and prayer

o      Successive Sundays marked the 7-day week

o      Baptism cards = status

 

Patriarchy

o      fathers rule, male hierarchy of the church

o      husbands legal control of wife

o      a man can support more than one woman heightened their social existence

 

Race Mixing/Caste Systems

o      one category – wholly European

o      second category – African descent

o      third category – Mixed

o      fourth category – European father and an indigenous mother

o      fifth category – Indigenous and African mix

·            sixth category – indigenous and other (people in between)