Book•
The Banana Men: American Mercenaries and Entrepreneurs in Central America, 1880-1930
01 Jan 1995-
TL;DR: The Banana Men as discussed by the authors is a study of modernization, its benefits, and its often frightful costs in Central America from the late nineteenth century until the onset of the Depression, focusing on entrepreneurs, isthmian politicians and mercenaries who dramatically altered Central America's political culture, economies, and even its traditional social values.
Abstract: Ambitious entrepreneurs, isthmian politicians, and mercenaries who dramatically altered Central America's political culture, economies, and even its traditional social values populate this lively story of a generation of North and Central Americans and their roles in the transformation of Central America from the late nineteenth century until the onset of the Depression. The Banana Men is a study of modernization, its benefits, and its often frightful costs.
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01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: Hahn et al. as mentioned in this paper traced the triumph of free labor in the two largest slave societies of the nineteenth-century western world: the United States and Brazil, and concluded that free labor had strengthened capitalism in Brazil and United States, making American industrialists and Brazilian planters more powerful than ever before.
Abstract: This dissertation traces the triumph of free labor in the two largest slave societies of the nineteenth-century western world: the United States and Brazil. Drawing on a range of primary sources from American and Brazilian archives, it reconstructs the intense circulation of transnational agents between these two countries from the 1840s to the 1880s. It shows how these exchanges transformed the political economies of both nations: whereas Brazil attracted American capital and expertise to modernize its economic structure and accomplish a smooth transition from slave to free labor; the United States seized the opportunity to invest, develop, and encourage free labor in Brazil, which had long been under the influence of the British Empire. As vital as chattel slavery had become to the nineteenth-century world economy, a coalition of American and Brazilian reformers proposed that an even more efficient and profitable labor system could replace it. This transnational group of free labor promoters included activists, diplomats, engineers, entrepreneurs, journalists, merchants, missionaries, planters, politicians, scientists, students, among others. Working together, they promoted labor-saving machinery, new transportation technology, scientific management, and technical education. These improvements, they reckoned, would help Brazilian and American capitalists harness the potential of native-born as well as immigrant free workers to expand production and trade. This work concludes that, by the late nineteenth century, free labor had strengthened capitalism in Brazil and the United States, making American industrialists and Brazilian planters more powerful than ever before. Consequently, in neither the United States nor Brazil did the triumph of free labor result in the advancement of social justice. In fact, from the very beginning of their campaign, free labor promoters favored major capitalists: their goal was to concentrate capital, shatter traditional ways of life, and control highly mobile workers. Free labor meant eliminating slavery while, at the same time, reinforcing proletarianization. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group History First Advisor Steven Hahn
116 citations
Book•
28 Nov 2003
TL;DR: Schoonover's "Uncle Sam's War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization" as mentioned in this paper examines U.S. growth from its early nationhood to its first major military conflict on the world stage, also known as the Spanish-American War.
Abstract: The roots of American globalization can be found in the War of 1898. Then, as today, the United States actively engaged in globalizing its economic order, itspolitical institutions, and its values. Thomas Schoonover argues that this drive to expand political and cultural reach -- the quest for wealth, missionary fulfillment, security, power, and prestige -- was inherited by the United States from Europe, especially Spain and Great Britain. "Uncle Sam's War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization" is a pathbreaking work of history that examines U.S. growth from its early nationhood to its first major military conflict on the world stage, also known as the Spanish-American War. As the new nation's military, industrial, and economic strength developed, the United States created policies designed to protect itself from challenges beyond its borders. According to Schoonover, a surge in U.S. activity in the Gulf-Caribbean and in Central America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was catalyzed by the same avarice and competitiveness that motivated the European adventurers to seek a route to Asia centuries earlier. Addressing the basic chronology and themes of the first century of the nation's expansion, Schoonover locates the origins of the U.S. goal of globalization. U.S. involvement in the War of 1898 reflects many of the fundamental patterns in our national history -- exploration and discovery, labor exploitation, violence, racism, class conflict, and concern for security -- that many believe shaped America's course in the twentieth and twenty-first century.
104 citations
Book•
27 Apr 2017TL;DR: In this paper, the challenges of scarcity, sovereignty, and territorial temptation in the ageless age of scarcity are discussed, and the tendency among states to share resources but only when necessary is examined.
Abstract: This powerful book stands on its head the most venerated tradition in international law and discusses the challenges of scarcity, sovereignty, and territorial temptation. Newly emergent resources, accessible through global climate change, discovery, or technological advancement, highlight time-tested problems of sovereignty and challenge liberal internationalism's promise of beneficial or shared solutions. From the High Arctic to the hyper-arid reaches of the Atacama Desert, from the South China Sea to the history of the law of the sea, from doctrinal and scholarly treatments to institutional forms of global governance, the historically recurring problem of territorial temptation in the ageless age of scarcity calls into question the future of the global commons, and illuminates the tendency among states to share resources, but only when necessary.
56 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: The School for Advanced Research (SAR) promotes the furthering of scholarship on human culture, behavior, and evolution as mentioned in this paper and publishes cutting-edge scholarly and general-interest books that encourage critical thinking and present new perspectives on topics of interest to all humans.
Abstract: The School for Advanced Research (SAR) promotes the furthering of scholarship on—and public understanding of—human culture, behavior, and evolution. SAR Press publishes cutting-edge scholarly and general-interest books that encourage critical thinking and present new perspectives on topics of interest to all humans. Contributions by authors reflect their own opinions and viewpoints and do not necessarily express the opinions of SAR Press.
54 citations
47 citations