Sin Nombre: The Journey to Greener Pastures

America is a melting pot. More importantly, people view it as the land of greener pastures where opportunities abound. America is viewed as the place where people can make something of themselves, where they can live a better and more comfortable life. As such, people from various countries find all ways and means possible to reach the United States of America, even if it means entering the country by illegal means.

The film “Sin Nombre” provides clear evidence of the struggles that immigrants undergo to reach the United States. It chronicles the sacrifices and troubles that immigrants, specifically Mexicans, go through to step in to America and start a whole new life. Immigrants encounter various problems beginning with entry and ending with the establishment of their new life in the country. In “Sin Nombre” viewers are given insight into what these struggles are.

The film documents the journey of immigrants and shows the problems and struggles that they encounter at the various stages of the journey. The first struggle along the journey that viewers are introduced to is the reliance on illegal means to reach the United States. Sayra and her family must ride and hide on trains travelling to the United States. This is a struggle on its own because travelling in such manner presents its own risks. One of such risks is the danger that robber and criminal elements would take advantage of their plight. This was clearly document in the film as Sayra and her family had to deal with Lil’ Mago, Casper, and their gang. Not only are they robbed of whatever money and personal belongings they brought along to help them start their new life in America, the criminal elements even attempt to rape Sayra. Due to the fact that they are travelling illegally on the train, the immigrants do not have the safety, security, and comfort that come with legal travel. However, they all take it in stride since they believe that the rewards that await them in America are worth all the risks and danger. The risks and danger of the immigrants’ journey is further documented by the scenes were the immigrants had to jump off the train and to hide or run from immigration officers. These events all put their lives in danger but they are still willing to take on such risks.

The danger and risks of Sayra and her family’s journey does not end with merely stepping foot in America. Living illegally in a country possesses its own risks as well. For one, although Sayra lives with her relatives, she cannot function or live a life like a legal immigrant. She is not entitled to the same benefits and privileges. She cannot work legally which has its own share of dangers and downsides as well. However for Sayra and many other illegal immigrants currently living in the United States, the benefits and comforts of a life in America far outweigh the risks and dangers of living in the country illegally. The opportunities of America are worth every risk, danger, and sacrifice that they face every day.

The lives of illegal immigrants are far more complicated than their legal counterparts. The film “Sin Nombre” clearly documents the problems and risks associated with illegal immigration. Separation from one’s family, the uncertainty of the journey, and the risk of dealing with criminal elements are some of the problems that beset illegal immigrants. However, these issues do not seem to dissuade illegal immigrants for just like Sayra’s uncle, many of them still make numerous attempts to reach the promised land, the land of greener pastures, the United States of America.
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The contact between the indigenous people of the Americas


The contact between the indigenous people of the Americas started way back in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered these new lands. Before this period there were minimal contacts between the two groups as this land was not known to the Europeans. This led to the wrong impression that Christopher Columbus discovered the American land yet there were people who were already occupying the area. This contact increased during the colonization of the region by the Europeans. (Marder, W. 2005)The 16th century presents an important period as far as the contact between the two groups is concerned. In this paper I will discuss the contacts between the indigenous people of the Americans with the Europeans highlighting the positive and negative influence this had on the people in this region.

The contact between the indigenous people and the Europeans in the Americans brought two groups of people who were totally different in so many ways. The two groups of people perceived the world in different ways and had cultures which were worlds apart. The Europeans could not understand how the indigenous could have so much wealth and yet remain unexploited. They did not comprehend their perception of ownership of land. To the Europeans land was a symbol of wealth and power but to the indigenous it was a community property which was for the benefit of all members. They took from the land what was important at any particular time while leaving the rest and taking good care of it. The misunderstandings between the two groups brought a lot of conflicts between them .The Europeans were more industrialized than the local people and had advanced means to coerce the locals to give away their resources. The dominant European culture forced the indigenous people to change in so many aspects. (Marder, W. 2005)

The contact between the Europeans and the indigenous people in the Americans had considerable influence on the two groups. This influence was both positively and negatively. The early sixteenth century saw the number of Europeans rise in America. It is estimated that more than two hundred thousands Europeans entered this region inspired by the Spanish wealth from its colonies. When these people came to America their first activity was to exploit the vast resources which were found in this area. This led to displacement of the indigenous people. They Europeans had superior weapons than the local people therefore they were able to move them easily with minimal resistance. The locals lost their lands and were moved to areas which were deemed to be unproductive. This disrupted their ways of life as they could not continue with some of activities which were part and parcel of their daily lives. These activities included hunting and gathering in the vast lands which covered most parts of the region. (Crystal, D 2002)

The indigenous people were forced to adopt the Europeans ways of life following the dominations of their areas by the foreigners. They adopted their language and culture; this involved modifying their modes of dressing adopting the Europeans clothes, changing their livelihood, feeding habits among other aspects of their culture. There was an introduction of new crops to the region making the indigenous people to take up the new farming methods which guaranteed increased food production. (Gray, A 1987)
The Europeans not only introduced new crops and clothes, they also brought with them sophisticated weapons which were very effective in hunting. Introduction of guns into the region revolutionized the hunting industry in the area.Indingenous people initially used the less effective tools such as arrows and spears to hunt for meat but with coming of the guns they were able to increase their production. Introduction of these tools enhanced hunting as well as increasing the warfare activities in this region. With the newly acquired tools for fighting the warfare in the region increased and the fatalities increased too. Alcohol was not common in the region, Europeans introduced this drink to the locals who did not know how to use it in moderation; this caused a lot of problems with this group of people as some of them became alcohol addicts. (Marder, W. 2005)

The notable effect of the contact between the two cultures was the decline in population of the indigenous population. There are several factors which have been attributed to this trend with scholars pointing out at increased warfare and introduction of new diseases as the leading causes. The indigenous people were not prone to the some of the diseases which were considered European. (Kent, R 2006) That is these diseases were not common in the region. The locals had not built up enough immunity to be in a position to resist some of the attacks. The Europeans had built good immunity for these killer diseases which have at one time in the history of Europe wiped a huge population. These killer diseases were introduced intentionally to these populations due to the contact between the two groups. One of the killer diseases was the small pox which led to so many deaths such that the entire population of the indigenous people was threatened. The disease alone was responsible for the reduction of the indigenous population from twenty million at the time when the contact between the two groups heightened to less than eight million in the mid sixteenth century. (Jaimes, A 1992) Other diseases include measles, diphtheria and diarrhoea.They equally posed a similar problem for the local population. Some quarters have argued that these diseases were deliberately introduced by the Europeans as a means through which the indigenous population would be reduced so as to ease the process of colonization. This theory has been refuted with the explanation that the locals could not withstand the diseases due to lack of immunity whereas the Europeans only carried the disease causing organism but could not be attacked as they had developed some levels of immunity.

The contact between the two groups changed the way of life for the indigenous people. The changes impacted positively and negatively for these people. This interaction further led to colonization of the region completely changing the face of the Americans.
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Why is the American Continent called America?


The Associated Press reported in 2007 that “[s]ometimes called America’s birth certificate, the map and accompanying 103-page book Cosmographiae Introductio caused the hemisphere to be named for explorer Amerigo Vespucci instead of Christopher Columbus.” Thus one theory of the name is that America was named for Amerigo Vespucci. It has been argued that even though he was not the first person to ‘discover’ the continent (this is attributed to Christopher Columbus), he was the first to realize that it was a new continent and not a part of Asia (the East Indies as Columbus thought). According to the Cosmographiae Introductio, the name of the continent was derived from the Latinized version of the Amerigo Vespucci’s name, Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form, America, since the other continents all have female names (The Associated Press, 2007).

Another theory, presented by Peter MacDonald of the BBC is that America got its name from Richard Amerike (Richard ap Meurig), a Bristol businessman of Welsh descent who lived in the 15th century. He notes that Amerike provided money and wood (for shipbuilding) to John Cabot’s voyage from England to Newfoundland in 1497. Based on this MacDonald argues that “Amerike sought reward for his patronage by asking that any new-found lands should be named after him.”

A third theory is presented by Cohen, J. (n.d.), who argues that the most credible theory of the name of the American continent is the so-called Amerrique theory which was first advanced in 1875 and he notes reappeared in the late 1970s in an essay by Guyanan novelist Jan Carew, entitled ‘The Caribbean Writer and Exile.’ According to this theory, the name America was brought back to Europe from the New World. That is, America was not named after Vespucci, but vice versa: Amerigo Vespucci changed his name to reflect the name of his important discovery.
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Period of the Independencies in Latin America


Period of the Independencies in Latin America
Before the declaration of independence of various countries in Latin America, it was under the occupation of the Spaniards who conquer over many countries that soon on declared independence as well. The Spaniards, as wise as they were, took advantages of the riches of Latin America by hording all its resources and depriving the Latin Americans of their own land’s riches. The Latin Americans could no longer tolerate the oppression done by the Spaniards. As early as the 1700s, small rebellion groups rose up against the Spaniards but were easily defeated by their strong invaders. “In Peru, where Indian rebellion of 1780 broke out, local militia first stood by and watched, and then suffered severe defeat” (Bethell, 2002).  Independence of Latin America took place in simultaneous areas. However, Latin America was not united yet they fought for each country’s independence (Bethell, 2002).

In the year 1778-1779, The Inconfidencia Mineira rebellion group in Brazil plotted against their occupants yet failed (Borges, 2004).  Followed by the slave revolt of the Haitians in Saint Dominique, over the French colonial rule (Bethell, 2002). The Haitians were able to abolish slavery and establish their very first repulic but were still unable to break free of the French colony’s rule. In the year, due to the aid of Napoleon and his plans of his emperial expansion, Haiti was able to declare independence on the year 1804.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, an activist named Francisco de Miranda led in the plot to bring independence to Venezuela. Miranda’s efforts bore only short victory as Spain, headed by Napoleon, later on became an ally of Britain. Miranda became a victim to political sabotage and was sentenced to imprisonement where he died in his prison cell. On the following year, Napoleon invaded Portugal and decided to move the royal family to Brazil (Borges, 1971). On the year 1810 autonomous governments were emerging simultaneously throught the Spanish-ruled America.

During this time in Mexico, a priest, Father Miguel Hidalgo, led a small group of insurgents to revolt against the Spanish rule. The small rebellion group only made it halfway through and were driven back. With Father Hidalgo captured and executed, the people sought for new leaders that continued their battle for independence which they achieved in the year 1820. Spain formally recognized Mexico’s independence on August 24, 1821. While on the year 1818, Chile declared its independence after the victorious battle of Maipu. Later on, the independence of Colombia was recognized and led by Simon Bolivar. On 1822, Simon Bolivar and San Martin held a confidential meeting with regards to the independence movement. San Martin later expressed his disregard for the movement and detached himself from it. During this year, Brazilian independence was proclaimed by Emperor Pedro I. The continuous campaigns of Simon Bolivar along with Surce led to two victorious battles and the independence of Peru.

Spain lost majority of their colonies to Napoleon but they remained control of Cuba and Puerto Rico  (Bannon, 1963). Insurgencies in Cuba rebelled against the Spanish rule and was later granted independene in 1902. While Puerto Rico had a population that were composed of nationalist forces. Puerto Rico became independet as a result of the rebellions in Cuba. Both Cuba and Puerto Rico became protectorate of the United States. As an analysis to this topic, I have observed that the Spanish occupation was highly inclined on slavery, a society of classes, power and profit maximization. Due to their lack of compassion, Latin America could not stand the oppression and thus fought for their own freedom and rights.
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Latin-American Studies