U.S.-Latin America Relations Syllabus

The intertwined history of the United States and Latin America — from Spanish colonization to corporate intervention to Cold War coups to modern immigration battles — and the deep roots of Hispanic communities in America. Nineteen courses. Two hundred twenty-nine chapters. University-level content, open to everyone.

19Courses
229Chapters
1,500+Topics

Colonial Origins

The Spanish roots of the American Southwest and the era when the hemisphere's futures were first entangled.

1 Spanish Roots: The Hispanic Southwest Before the U.S. 12 ch.
  1. The Spanish Arrive: Conquest and First Contact
  2. The Mission System: Faith, Labor, and Control
  3. Presidios and Pueblos: Military and Civilian Settlement
  4. The Peoples Already Here: Indigenous Nations of the Southwest
  5. Mestizo Culture: The Blending of Worlds
  6. Santa Fe and the Northern Frontier
  7. Texas Under Spanish Rule
  8. Alta California: The Last Frontier
  9. The Rancho Economy: Land, Cattle, and Labor
  10. Trade Routes: The Camino Real and Beyond
  11. Law and Society in the Spanish Borderlands
  12. The End of Spanish Rule: Independence and Transition
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2 Latin American Independence and the Monroe Doctrine 12 ch.
  1. The Colonial Order Crumbles: Causes of Independence
  2. Simon Bolivar: The Liberator's Vision
  3. San Martin and the Southern Liberation
  4. Mexico's Path: From Hidalgo to Iturbide
  5. Brazil's Unique Transition: Empire Without Revolution
  6. The United States Watches: Early American Reactions
  7. The Monroe Doctrine: Origins and Intent
  8. European Powers and the New World Order
  9. The Doctrine's Early Applications
  10. Latin America After Independence: Fragmentation and Conflict
  11. U.S.-Mexico Relations: From Recognition to Conflict
  12. The Doctrine's Legacy: Foundation for Empire
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Expansion and Empire

How the United States expanded across the continent and then overseas, absorbing territory and peoples.

3 The Mexican-American War: Conquest and Consequence 13 ch.
  1. Texas: From Mexican Province to Flashpoint
  2. Manifest Destiny: The Ideology of Expansion
  3. Polk's War: Presidential Ambition and Provocation
  4. The Military Campaign: From the Rio Grande to Mexico City
  5. American Dissent: Opposition to Mr. Polk's War
  6. African Americans and the War
  7. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Terms of Surrender
  8. Mexicans Becoming Americans: Promises and Betrayals
  9. The Gadsden Purchase: Finishing the Border
  10. The War's Impact on the Slavery Debate
  11. Mexican Memory: A National Trauma
  12. American Memory: Forgotten War, Lasting Consequences
  13. The Border That Crossed Them: Long-Term Legacies
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4 The Spanish-American War and American Empire 12 ch.
  1. Cuba's Long Struggle: The Fight for Independence
  2. Yellow Journalism: Manufacturing War Fever
  3. Remember the Maine: Explosion and Exploitation
  4. The Splendid Little War: Military Operations
  5. The Treaty of Paris: Spain's Empire Ends, America's Begins
  6. Cuba: Liberated or Occupied?
  7. Puerto Rico: Colony by Another Name
  8. The Philippines: Empire and Insurgency
  9. The Anti-Imperialist Movement
  10. Insular Cases: The Constitution Doesn't Follow the Flag
  11. The Roosevelt Corollary: Monroe Doctrine Weaponized
  12. 1898's Long Shadow: Empire as American Identity
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The Intervention Era

How corporate interests and Cold War ideology drove repeated American intervention across Latin America.

5 Banana Republics: United Fruit and the Intervention Era 12 ch.
  1. The Rise of United Fruit: Building a Corporate Empire
  2. Dollar Diplomacy: Business Interests and Foreign Policy
  3. The Marines Land: Occupation of Nicaragua
  4. Haiti: The Longest Occupation
  5. The Dominican Republic: Intervention and Control
  6. Smedley Butler: War Is a Racket
  7. Guatemala: The First CIA Coup
  8. Honduras: The Ultimate Banana Republic
  9. Labor Resistance: Workers Fight Back
  10. The Panama Canal: America's Strategic Prize
  11. Patterns of Intervention: What the Era Revealed
  12. Legacy: The Roots of Anti-Americanism
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6 The Good Neighbor Policy: FDR's Latin American Reset 12 ch.
  1. Repudiating Intervention: A New Approach Takes Shape
  2. Withdrawing the Marines: Ending Occupations
  3. The Montevideo Conference: Non-Intervention Formalized
  4. Testing the Policy: Mexico Nationalizes Oil
  5. Cultural Diplomacy: Winning Hearts and Minds
  6. Pan-Americanism: Building Hemispheric Institutions
  7. World War II: Hemisphere United Against Axis
  8. The Dictator Problem: Friendly Tyrants
  9. Economic Relations: Trade and Investment
  10. The Policy's Limits: Continuity Beneath Change
  11. The End of an Era: Cold War Pressures
  12. Assessment: A Brief Thaw in a Long Winter
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7 Cold War Latin America: Coups, Containment, and the CIA 12 ch.
  1. The Cold War Comes South: A New Framework
  2. Guatemala 1954: The Template for Intervention
  3. The National Security Doctrine: Training Repression
  4. The Alliance for Progress: Reform as Counterinsurgency
  5. Brazil 1964: The Military Takes Power
  6. Dominican Republic 1965: Johnson Sends the Marines
  7. Supporting Dictators: The Anti-Communist Priority
  8. The CIA's Secret Wars: Operations Across the Hemisphere
  9. Reform Movements Crushed: Labor, Peasants, Students
  10. Guerrilla Movements: Armed Resistance Emerges
  11. The Human Cost: Victims of Cold War Policy
  12. Questioning the Policy: Dissent Within the U.S.
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8 The Cuban Revolution: From Batista to Bay of Pigs 12 ch.
  1. Cuba Before Castro: The Batista Dictatorship
  2. The 26th of July Movement: Castro's Revolutionary Path
  3. Guerrilla War in the Sierra: The Struggle for Power
  4. Victory and Transformation: The Revolution Takes Power
  5. The American Response: From Recognition to Hostility
  6. Planning the Invasion: The CIA's Cuban Operation
  7. The Bay of Pigs: Disaster at Playa Giron
  8. The Cuban Missile Crisis: Brink of Nuclear War
  9. The Embargo: Economic Warfare Begins
  10. Exile Politics: The Cuban American Community Forms
  11. Cuba's Revolutionary Society: What Castro Built
  12. Legacy: Cuba and America's Unfinished Conflict
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9 Chile 1973: Allende, Pinochet, and American Complicity 12 ch.
  1. Chile's Democratic Tradition: A Unique Path
  2. Allende's Election: A Socialist Wins Democratically
  3. Nixon and Kissinger: 'Make the Economy Scream'
  4. The Chilean Road to Socialism: Allende's Reforms
  5. Polarization: A Society Comes Apart
  6. September 11, 1973: The Coup
  7. American Involvement: What Washington Knew and Did
  8. Pinochet's Terror: The Machinery of Repression
  9. The Chicago Boys: Neoliberal Experiment
  10. Exile and Solidarity: Chile's Global Diaspora
  11. The Transition: From Dictatorship to Democracy
  12. Justice and Memory: Reckoning with the Past
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10 Operation Condor: State Terror Across the Southern Cone 12 ch.
  1. The Southern Cone Dictatorships: A Regional Pattern
  2. Creating Condor: The Intelligence Alliance Forms
  3. The American Connection: CIA Knowledge and Support
  4. Argentina's Dirty War: The Most Lethal Partner
  5. Cross-Border Operations: Hunting Exiles Everywhere
  6. Assassination Abroad: Condor Goes Global
  7. The Methods: Torture, Disappearance, and Execution
  8. Uruguay and Paraguay: The Smaller Partners
  9. Brazil and Bolivia: Supporting Roles
  10. Survivors and Witnesses: Testimonies of Terror
  11. Uncovering the Truth: Archives and Investigations
  12. Justice Delayed: Prosecuting Condor Crimes
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11 Central American Wars: Reagan, the Contras, and the Refugees 12 ch.
  1. The Roots of Conflict: Inequality and Repression
  2. Nicaragua: The Sandinista Revolution
  3. The Reagan Doctrine: Rolling Back Communism
  4. The Contra War: Funding the Counterrevolution
  5. Iran-Contra: The Scandal That Nearly Brought Down Reagan
  6. El Salvador: Civil War and Death Squads
  7. Guatemala: Genocide Against the Maya
  8. Honduras: The Aircraft Carrier
  9. American Solidarity: The Movement Against the Wars
  10. The Refugee Crisis Begins: Fleeing North
  11. Peace Processes: Ending the Wars
  12. Legacies: Why Central America Still Sends Refugees
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Economic Integration

How trade policy and economic forces reshaped migration patterns.

12 NAFTA and Its Discontents: Free Trade and Migration 12 ch.
  1. The Promise of Free Trade: Selling NAFTA
  2. The Opposition: Labor, Environmentalists, and Critics
  3. The Maquiladora Model: Factories on the Border
  4. Corn and Consequences: The Death of Mexican Agriculture
  5. The Peso Crisis: NAFTA's First Test
  6. American Workers: The Costs of Free Trade
  7. Migration Surge: The Unintended Consequence
  8. Border Hardening: Enforcement Responds to Migration
  9. Winners and Losers: Assessing NAFTA's Impact
  10. The Drug Trade: An Unintended Consequence
  11. Renegotiation: From NAFTA to USMCA
  12. Lessons: What NAFTA Teaches About Globalization
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Hispanic American Communities

The distinct histories of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban communities in the United States.

13 The Bracero Generation: Mexican Labor and the American Economy 12 ch.
  1. Origins: War Creates a Labor Shortage
  2. The Journey: Leaving Home for El Norte
  3. In the Fields: Work and Living Conditions
  4. Exploitation: Broken Promises and Stolen Wages
  5. Health and Safety: The Physical Toll
  6. Resistance: How Workers Fought Back
  7. Families Divided: The Social Cost
  8. Operation Wetback: Deportation Alongside the Program
  9. The Program Ends: Termination and Aftermath
  10. Legacy: What Braceros Built
  11. Memory and Justice: Honoring the Braceros
  12. Echoes: Guest Worker Debates Today
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14 Boricua: Puerto Rico and the Mainland 12 ch.
  1. 1898: From Spanish Colony to American Territory
  2. Neither State Nor Nation: The Colonial Arrangement
  3. Operation Bootstrap: Industrialization by Invitation
  4. The Great Migration: Puerto Ricans Come to the Mainland
  5. El Barrio: Building Community in New York
  6. Nuyorican: A New Identity Emerges
  7. Activism and Resistance: The Young Lords and Beyond
  8. Economic Decline: Puerto Rico in Crisis
  9. Hurricane Maria: Disaster and Response
  10. Status Debates: Statehood, Independence, or Something Else?
  11. Diaspora Today: Puerto Ricans Across America
  12. The Colonial Question: America's Unfinished Business
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15 Cuban Exiles: Mariel, the Rafters, and the Diaspora 12 ch.
  1. The First Wave: Cuba's Elite Departs
  2. Operation Pedro Pan: The Children's Exodus
  3. The Freedom Flights: Organized Departure
  4. Building Miami: The Cuban Transformation of a City
  5. The Mariel Boatlift: Chaos and Consequences
  6. Exile Politics: Anti-Castro Organizing
  7. The Balsero Crisis: Risking Everything on Rafts
  8. The Cuban Adjustment Act: Special Status
  9. Cuban Americans in U.S. Politics
  10. Generations: How Exile Identity Evolves
  11. Normalization and Reversal: Obama to Trump
  12. The Cuban American Story: Exile, Success, and Ambivalence
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Contemporary Issues

The drug war, the border, immigration policy, and the politics that keep these issues unresolved.

16 The Drug War Era: Narcos, Policy, and Consequences 12 ch.
  1. Declaring War: Nixon and the Birth of Drug Policy
  2. The Colombian Cartels: Pablo Escobar's Empire
  3. Reagan Escalates: The 1980s War on Drugs
  4. Plan Colombia: Counternarcotics as Foreign Policy
  5. The Rise of Mexican Cartels
  6. The Merida Initiative: Partnering with Mexico
  7. Calderon's War: Mexico's Catastrophic Escalation
  8. Collateral Damage: Communities Caught in the Crossfire
  9. Mass Incarceration: The Domestic Cost
  10. The Opioid Crisis: When Drugs Come from Pharmacies
  11. Alternative Approaches: Decriminalization and Legalization
  12. Assessment: Fifty Years of Failure?
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17 The Border: A History of the Line 12 ch.
  1. Drawing the Line: The Border's Creation
  2. A Porous Boundary: The Border Before Enforcement
  3. The Border Patrol: Creating an Enforcement Agency
  4. The Bracero Years: Managed Migration
  5. Twin Cities: Life on Both Sides
  6. Militarization: The Border Hardens
  7. Death in the Desert: The Human Cost
  8. The Wall: Symbol and Reality
  9. Commerce and Contraband: What Crosses the Border
  10. Asylum at the Border: A System in Crisis
  11. Border Culture: Art, Music, and Identity
  12. The Future of the Border
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18 Immigration Battles: From Amnesty to DACA 12 ch.
  1. The 1986 Amnesty: Reagan's Immigration Reform
  2. California's Proposition 187: The Anti-Immigrant Backlash
  3. The 1996 Laws: Enforcement Takes Priority
  4. After 9/11: Immigration as Security
  5. The Failed Reforms: 2006-2007
  6. Deportation Nation: Enforcement Under Obama
  7. DACA: Protecting the Dreamers
  8. The Dreamers: A Generation in Limbo
  9. Trump's Crackdown: Enforcement Unchained
  10. Sanctuary: Cities and States Push Back
  11. TPS: Temporary Protection That Became Permanent
  12. The Path Forward: What Immigration Reform Might Look Like
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19 The Immigration Wedge: How a Policy Became a Political Weapon 12 ch.
  1. The Wedge Issue Playbook: How Politics Manufactures Division
  2. Proposition 187: The Template Is Created
  3. From Economic to Cultural: Changing the Frame
  4. Talk Radio and Fox News: The Amplification Machine
  5. The Caravan: Manufacturing Crisis on Cue
  6. Election Cycles: Immigration on Demand
  7. The Replacement Theory: From Fringe to Mainstream
  8. Why the Problem Is Never Solved
  9. Comparing Playbooks: Immigration and Abortion
  10. The Real Costs: What Wedge Politics Does to Policy
  11. Resistance: How Immigrants and Allies Fight Back
  12. Breaking the Cycle: Can Immigration Escape Wedge Politics?
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