This course examines the colonial era of a region now called Latin America. It will begin with the period preceding the arrival of Christopher Columbus and end with the early nineteenth-century wars of independence. Focusing on the interactions between Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans, we will explore the evolution of a number of multiethnic societies. We will consider how colonialism survived for 300 years, why the system collapsed, and what legacies it left behind. [GM2, SS] Prof. Pite