The Power of Persuasion : Week of 11.29
As we have seen through out the entirety of this semester, many letters were written during the development of Latin America, and included the very important technique of persuasion. These letters written by Columbus, Cortez, or even Simon Bolivar all rely on persuasion to sway their audience to their side of the Americas. Persuasion was used by Columbus to show that he was worthy of more money and a longer blessed stay in the New World. Cortez wrote to the King in order to show them that he shouldn't be considered a fugitive, and what he was doing was for the best of the whole empire. Simon Bolivar however had to use persuasion to persuade the English to help for the fight of independence of Latin America. Just like the Americans writing to the French in order to fight the British in the American Revolutionary War, Bolivar wrote to the "enemy" of the Spanish, in which Venezuela wanted independence from. The British were looking to down size the monopoly of colonies that the Spanish had, and Bolivar knew just how to convince the British to help his situation. Just like what I do when I want my sister to go somewhere with me, I use the power of persuasion and make this endeavor seem like it will be more beneficial to her if she just helps me out a little bit. Society is built on how one person can persuade another to do something.
Hello, Illy! I agree that persuasion played a huge part in the history of Latin America. On the other hand, I think persuasion wasn't necessarily the driving force behind the success of Columbus, Cortes, and Bolivar. All three of them, in short, wanted some form of power over the Americas. To gain any bit of control, the three men used persuasion and other tricks to their advantages. Persuasion is an effective tool to gain power, which is why I think it was a common denominator throughout Latin American history. I love how you found a connection between Columbus, Cortes, and Bolivar.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post, Illy. The connection you make between the letters of Columbus, Cortés and Bolívar is very relevant and demonstrates strong critical-thinking skills. Indeed, all of them used their writing to persuade their readers. I also like the analogy between Bolívar and the leaders of the American independence, who were also trying to rally international support to their cause.
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