Few have a complete understanding of the recent history of Panama, markedly since the signing of the Carter-Torrijos Treaties in 1977. Although the Treaty set the stage for the country to finally control all of its territory, little is known about how Panama has fared, both as a manager of a major waterway and as a sovereign nation in a unique region. Authors Michael L. Conniff and Gene E. Bigler seek to fill this major gap in Latin American history with Modern Panama, a thorough account of the recent political and economic developments in Panama. Despite the country's continued struggle with political corruption, Conniff and Bigler argue that changes since the turnover of the Canal have been largely positive, and Panama has emerged into the twenty-first century as a stable, functioning democracy with a growing economy, improved canal management, and a higher standard of living.

A New History of Modern Latin America provides an engaging and readable narrative history of the nations of Latin America from the Wars of Independence in the nineteenth century to the democratic turn in the twenty-first. This new edition of a well-known text has been revised and updated to include the most recent interpretations of major themes in the economic, social, and cultural history of the region to show the unity of the Latin America experience while exploring the diversity of the region's geography, peoples, and cultures. It also presents substantial new material on women, gender, and race in the region. Each chapter begins with primary documents, offering glimpses into moments in history and setting the scene for the chapter, and concludes with timelines and key words to reinforce content. Discussion questions are included to help students with research assignments and papers. Both professors and students will find its narrative, chronological approach a useful guide to the history of this important area of the world.

Few have a complete understanding of the recent history of Panama, markedly since the signing of the Carter-Torrijos Treaties in 1977. Although the Treaty set the stage for the country to finally control all of its territory, little is known about how Panama has fared, both as a manager of a major waterway and as a sovereign nation in a unique region. Authors Michael L. Conniff and Gene E. Bigler seek to fill this major gap in Latin American history with Modern Panama, a thorough account of the recent political and economic developments in Panama. Despite the country's continued struggle with political corruption, Conniff and Bigler argue that changes since the turnover of the Canal have been largely positive, and Panama has emerged into the twenty-first century as a stable, functioning democracy with a growing economy, improved canal management, and a higher standard of living.

This book seeks to explore, in a single, short convenient text, the complex relationship between Africa and the Americas from the early sixteenth century through the end of the twentieth century. Beginning with a preview of the relations between Africa and Europe prior to 1500, the work covers chronologically the transatlantic slave trade, domestic slave trading, slave systems, the abolition movements, and the aftermath of emancipation throughout the Americas. Several chapters provide sweeping surveys of broad regions such as British North America, the Caribbean, Mesoamerica, the Andean countries and Latin America. Others deal with specific territories such as the United States, Venezuela, Cuba or Brazil. The book begins with a chapter on African antiquity and early contacts with Europe. It continues with a comparative history of the slave trade and emancipation. Other topics include the role of free blacks throughout the Americas, women and gender relations, and African-American relations with Europeans and Native American populations. Finally, the book concludes with chapters on modern race and economic relations in the Americas and a chapter on the continuing ties between African Americans and Africa. "On the whole Africans in the Americas accomplishes its purpose well, there is a great deal of fascinating information here. A very useful text." The International Journal of African Historical Studies 28, 633-65 (1995) Michael L. Conniff earned degrees at UC-Berkeley and Stanford (Ph.D. 1976) and has published a number of books on modern Latin American history, most recently A History of Modern Latin America (with Lawrence Clayton) and Populism in Latin America. Thomas J. Davis, Ph.D., J.D., teaches history and law at Arizona State University in Tempe, focusing on race and the law, civil rights, and U.S. constitutional and legal history. His most recent publications include "Race, Identity, and the Law: Underlying Questions in Plessy v. Ferguson," in Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American History (2002); "The Community of Africans in the Americas: Colonialism to CARICOM and TransAfrica" Research and Diversity Journal (2002) and "Conspiracy and Credibility," William and Mary Quarterly (2002). CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Patrick Carroll ▪ David Eltis ▪ Patience Essah ▪ Alfred Frederick ▪ Dale Graden ▪ Linda Heywood ▪ Richard Lobban ▪ Colin Palmer ▪ Joseph Reidy ▪ John Thornton ▪ Ronald Walters ▪ Ashton Welch ▪ Winthrop Wright TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface PART I - Africa, Europe, and the Americas 1. Africa to 1500 2. Africa and Europe before 1700 3. Early African Experiences in the Americas PART II - The Slave Trade and Slavery in the Americas 4. Africans in the Caribbean 5. Africans in Brazil 6. Africans in Mainland Spanish America 7. Africans in the Thirteen British Colonies PART III - Ending the Slave Trade and Slavery 8. Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade 9. Emancipation in the Caribbean and Spanish America 10. Emancipation in the United States 11. Emancipation in Brazil PART IV - Africans in the Americas since Abolition 12. African Americans in Postemancipation Economies 13. Race and Politics in the United States 14. Race and Politics in Latin America 15. The Americas' Continuing Ties with Africa AFTERWORD GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHORS

This new edition of "Panama and the United States," examines how relations between Panama and the United States have always pivoted on the issue of transportation across the country's narrow isthmus and delves into the future of those relations now that Panama controls the canal. Historically, Panamanians aspired to have their country become a crossroads of the world, while Americans sought to tame a vast territory and protect their trade and influence around the globe. The building of the Panama Canal (1904-1914) locked the two countries in their parallel quests but failed to satisfy either fully. Michael L. Conniff explores the implications of Panama's newly acquired opportunities and how events since the 1989 U.S. invasion have provided a rich environment for the emergence of new parties, a new generation of politicians, and more democratic business procedures. Panama is now able to re-create its own nationhood relatively free from outside pressures.

Drawing on a wide array of sources updated for this edition, Conniff considers the full range of factors--political, social, strategic, diplomatic, economic, intellectual--that have bound the two countries together. He conveys the viewpoints of leaders in each country but also follows the shifting currents of public opinion. As he shows, the many layers of decision making, opinion, communication, and administration that affected the construction, operation, and turning over of the canal have made relations slow and sometimes impenetrable.

This collection of essays--which also includes a previously unpublished narrative by an original settler-- examines the fascinating experiences of southern Confederate exiles in Brazil and their continuing legacy.

During the late 1860s Southerners dissatisfied with the outcome of the Civil War and fearful of the extent of Union reprisals migrated to Brazil to build a new life for themselves. The" Confederados"--the great majority from Alabama and Texas--began a century-long adventure to establish a new homeland and to preserve important elements of their Old South heritage.

For more than a hundred years, descendants of the original settlers have largely maintained their language and customs while contributing to Brazil's economy and society. Here, scholars from many fields examine every aspect of this unique mingling of cultures within the larger historical and cultural context.

"Modern Brazil," a collection of original essays, views the largest country in South America through the multiple lenses of political science, economics, telecommunications, and religion. The editors, Michael L. Conniff and Frank D. McCann, have provided a frame for this analysis of a complex society by centering on the elites, those who run national affairs, and the masses, those poor and working-class people who have little direct influence on them.
Discussing the political elites from regional, national, and military standpoints are, respectively, Joseph L. Love and Bert J. Barickman, Conniff, and McCann. The economic elites, notably businessmen and industrialists, are analyzed by Steven Topik and Eli Diniz. The masses are considered in chapters by Eul Soo Pang, Thomas Holloway, and Michael Hall and Marco Aurelio Garcia. Sam Adamo views the historical situation of blacks and mulattos in Brazil. In the final section, examining connections between the elites and masses, Robert M. Levine writes about how the former perceive the povo, Joseph Straubhaas looks at the mass media; and Fred Gillette Strum ex-amines religion in Brazil. The editors have included a general introduction, an epilogue focusing on Brazil in the late 1980s, and a glossary.