This page has information to help with the HIST411 course Latin America Since Independence. The time period is beginning 19th century to the present. Area focus is on Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Anyone doing research on this and related historical topics should find this page useful. See also Latin American Art for that particular aspect of Latin American history (art depicts a lot of everyday life and also topics of interest to those commissioning or creating the objects).
| Reference Resources | Terms to Search in Library Catalog | Journals Owned by CSU | |
| Circulating Items | Print Indexes | Web Resources | |
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Cold War Era |
Reference Resources--Encyclopedias & More
Encyclopedias can be a great place to start your research, get an overview of your topic, or help you narrow your area of focus. Morgan Library has a number of encyclopedia sets that may be useful to you as you begin your research. Encyclopedias are located in the Reference collection, so they may not be checked out. General encyclopedias can also be extremely useful.
Circulating Items: Morgan Stacks, Maps
Subject headings are the most efficient search for identifying books in the library catalog. Identify useful books in the library catalog (and the Regional Catalog Prospector) doing a (LC) Subject search for:
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Argentina History |
Cuba History Revolution 1895 1898 Cuba History Revolution 1959 Cuba History Revolution 1959 Personal Narratives Latin America Latin America Civilization African influences. Latin America Foreign relations 1948-1980 Latin America Foreign relations 1980- Latin America History Latin America History To 1830. Latin America History 1830 Latin America History 1898 1948 Latin America History 1948 Latin America History 1948 1980 Latin America History 1980 Latin America History 19th Century Latin America History 20th Century Latin America History 20th Century Sources Latin America History Bibliography Latin America History Chronology Latin America History Sources Latin America History Wars of Independence 1806 1830 Latin America History Wars Of Independence 1806 1830 Causes Latin America History Wars Of Independence 1806 1830 Sources Latin America Politics and government 1948-1980 Latin America Politics and government 1980- Mexico – History Mexico History 1821 1861 Sources Mexico History European Intervention 1861 1867 Mexico History Revolution 1910 1920 Mexico History Spanish Colony 1540 1810 Mexico History Spanish Colony 1540 1810 Sources Mexico History to 1810 Sources Mexico History Wars of Independence 1810 1821 Mexico History Wars of Independence 1810 1821 Sources Revolutions Central America Revolutions Central America History 20th Century |
Terms and subjects will vary from source to source. In addition, terminology changes over time, so it will be necessary to be creative (i.e. know your history) in order to succeed in identifying articles of interest.
Take note that the exact terms and types of terms will vary from index (database) to index. Case (capitalization) does not matter when doing searches. Use Truncation and proximity operators to do advanced searching. When the full text of an article is not available, use the 
button to find out if the article is available full text in another electronic location. Also check for printed versions. If not available at CSU, request the article from Interlibrary Loan.
Free Online Access Databases
Journals--Owned or accessed by CSU
Additional titles (many in Spanish), search the library catalog by subject: Latin America Periodicals; Latin America History Periodicals; Brazil History Periodicals; Chile History Periodicals; Argentina History Periodicals (one title); Central America History Periodicals (one title)
Within Academic Search Premier as of March 2018
-->Click here for information about evaluating Web sites.
Bibliographies General Argentina Brazil Chile Cuba Mexico
Bibliographies on Latin America
Librarians in other libraries and historians at other universities have identified, and in some cases annotated, useful resources. CSU does not own all of the items. Check CSU's library catalog and the regional catalog Prospector for local holdings. CSU affiliates may request items from Prospector.
Latin American Collection: General References. Yale University Library.
Annotated resources in the Yale collection. Extensive. Link goes to General Bibliographies page; the page has links to Biographical Information, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, Research Guides, and Statistics. See also Selected Internet Sources.
General Bibliography. Latin American Studies Center. University of Maryland.
"Inter and Intra-state conflict in Latin America and resoultion strategies." Books, journal articles, Web sites (not linked), and films. Extensive.
Latin America Subject Resource Guide. Elena E. Cevallos. University Libraries. Hofstra University.
This mostly annotated research guide has a large number of general sources listed on it, but there are many that are specific to Latin America. Extensive. Drop down menu at top allows researchers to go directly to desired section of the page. The section on Bibliographies: Guides to the Literature is particularly useful.
Latin American Studies. Melissa Gonzalez. University of West Florida Libraries.
List of resources arranged by type. Check CSU's catalog for ownership.
A Short Guide to Sources for Latin American Studies. Frank Conaway. University of Chicago Library.
Annotated resources arranged by type or subject. Of particular interest is the final section on ethnology.
Gender Studies of Latin America and the Caribbean. Molly Ryan and edited by Rafael Dávila-Franco. International and Gender Studies Resources Website. University of California, Berkeley.
Bibliographies of Andean countries (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela); Brasil; The Caribbean; Central America; Latin America General; Mexico; and Paises del Rio de la Plata -->Reminder for this section of bibliographies: CSU does not own all of the items listed on the Web pages or sites. Check CSU's library catalog and the regional catalog Prospector for local holdings. CSU affiliates may request items from Prospector.
General--Web Pages on Latin America
19th Century Latin America. Internet Modern History Sourcebook. Fordham University. Topics covered are Latin America in the 19th Century: Independence, Political Development, United States Imperialism, and Immigration;
Mexico; Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Colombia/Panama; Cuba; Nicaragua; Peru; and Venezuela. Subsection of Internet History Sources. Links to primary and secondary materials.
Internet Sites with Primary Sources for History: Latin America. Bowling Green State University (BGSU). University Libraries.
An extensive list; unfortunately few, if any annotations. Titles of documents do appear to be descriptive. Bright orange text that could be difficult for some to read. Going out on a limb and saying orange is probably a BGSU color.
Latin America & Mexico. (Section of page.) Alan Liu and a development team. English Department. U. California, Santa Barbara. Voice of the Shuttle.
Links to pages on Latin America topics. Scroll down for individual country and topical links.
Documents (OAS). Organization of American States (OAS).
Founding Charter, Inter-American Democratic Charter, and much more. Publications include International Migration in the Americas (English and Spanish) and In Defense of Human Rights (English and Spanish).
Public Domain Databases (section of Internet Resources for Latin America). New Mexico State University.
Annotated list of databases that were available for free online in 2006. Rest of page has a large number of other links of potential use.
Hispanic Reading Room. Library of Congress.
Page has links to sites of interest. Own site has Online Collections Presentations & Exhibitions that has material available online.
Latin American Pamphlet Digital Collection. Harvard University Library.
Pamphlets from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Most represented are items from Chile, Cuba, Bolivia, and Mexico.
Independence in Latin America. Macrohistory and World Report. Frank E. Smitha.
Summary of events; Latin America's relationship with Spain. Information on juntas of 1810 and 1811 and key events to 1839. Images of some of those involved.
Latin America. casahistoria.net.
Top of the page serves as a table of contents. There are many briefly annotated links. Broad areas are: Catholic Missions; Independence from Spain; 3. Independence Leaders; 19th century: Society & economics; Immigration; British Involvement in Latin America; US involvement in Latin America; Military conflict: Triple Alliance War; (Guano) War; Pacific War; 20th century: Individual country developments; Revolutions; Liberation Theory; Military dictatorships after 1945; Military conflict: World War 1; Chaco War; Malvinas/Falklands War; Indigenous America: Brazil; Chile; Native American Women; Africans in Latin America; and General Latin American.
Slave Movement During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. On-Line Data Archive. ©2008 Data and Information Services Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"This site provides access to the raw data and documentation which contains information on the following slave trade topics from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: records of slave ship movement between Africa and the Americas, slave ships of eighteenth century France, slave trade to Rio de Janeiro, Virginia slave trade in the eighteenth century, English slave trade (House of Lords Survey), Angola slave trade in the eighteenth century, internal slave trade to Rio de Janeiro, slave trade to Havana, Cuba, Nantes slave trade in the eighteenth century, and slave trade to Jamaica."
Sources and General Resources in Latin America. Oberlin College.
Page has two frames. Multiple links (although unfortunately a large number of the attempted links do not work) to sites on the Web. History section divided by: Latin American History: Historiographic and General Resource Sites; Academic Journals; Pre-Conquest Period; General; Andes; Mexico and Central America; "Discovery" and Conquest; Colonial Latin America: General; The "Columbian Exchange"; The Early Colony; Brazil; The Slave Trade and Slavery; Daily Life in Colonial Latin America; Casta Painting; Bourbon Reforms; Late Colonial Revolts; and The Waging and Winning of Independence. Other sections have national periods by country, the church, human rights, and much more.
Independence in Latin America - A Chronology. Marcelo J. Borges. Dickinson College.
Chronology starting in 1778-9 through 1828.
Argentina. CIA World Factbook. (.ar)
Information about Argentina's geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
Timeline Argentina. Algis Ratnikas. Prehistory to the present.
A Brief History of Buenos Aires. Pablo M. Dotro. Buenos Aires: A Subjective Image of a Modern City.
Covers independence years of Argentina. Page is white text on black.
The Great Unraveling: Argentina 1973-1991. Author guess: Klaus (??). PDF.
Apparent research article about the economy of Argentina with extensive footnotes. Some charts.
Reseña Histórica Museo. Museo Histórico Comunal y de la Colonización Judía "Rabino Aarón Goldman."
Images of rooms in the museum (click on "sala" 1, 2, etc.). Museum focus is on Jewish agricultural colonization of Argentina. Most of the descriptions and information are in Spanish.
Link to map of clandestine detention centers, human rights archive, letters, 4 photos and their histories, posters, and more. Members of Memoria Abierta were mothers, relatives, friends of disappeared, former political prisoners, and former exiled. Selected parts of the site are only in Spanish.
Brazil. CIA World Factbook. (.br)
Information about Brazil's geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
A Country Study: Brazil. Country studies. Library of Congress.
Overview of the country. Profile, historical setting, society and its environment, economy, government and politics, national security, science and technology, lengthy bibliography, and more. Chapters have named authors.
Timeline: Brazil. Algis Ratnikas. Prehistory to the present.
The History of Money in Brazil. Ministry of Finance. Banco Central do Brasil.
Very brief history of money from colony to republic--not all links work.
Virtual Gallery. National Historical Museum. Brazil. Site still down as of November 2018 due to the devastating fire early in September. Site will be up again once it is available.
The virtual gallery (English language version) has cartoons, paintings, personal objects, communication equipment, photos of Rio de Janeiro by Juan Gutierrez, interiors, and clocks & watches. The museum itself was started in 1922 and has over 287,000 items.
Bem-Vindo Ao Brasil. Sergio Koreisha. University of Oregon
Take a virtual trip to Brazil. There are sections with Brazil in a nutshell, facts, culture, environment, history, and much more. Extensive. Much of the material is in English, but there are links to items in Portuguese only. Some of the links don't work.
Brazil: History. Global Edge. International Business Center at Michigan State University.
Summary of information about Brazil, with useful information on cultural groups, language, and forms of government.
Chile. CIA World Factbook. (.cl)
Information about Chile's geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
A Country Study: Chile. Country studies. Library of Congress.
Overview of the country. Profile, historical setting, society and its environment, economy, government and politics, national security, lengthy bibliography, and more. Chapters have named authors.
Timeline Chile. Algis Ratnikas.
Prehistory to the present.
Archivo de Fondos y Colecciones. Museo de la Memoria y Derechos Humanos.
Covers 1973-1990. Plataformas digitales found under Recursos e investigacion. See Archivo MMDH (link for this entry); Biblioteca Digital, Archivo Redial, Archivo Prense, Testimonios, and more.
Outstanding actions in our Naval History. Chilean Navy. Archived copy.
Brief summaries of exploits of the Chilean navy beginning with its independence. A few images of ships at sea.
Villa Grimaldi. El Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi
Archivo Documental de Villa Grimaldi has materials online. In Spanish (search box in English, e.g. digital objects).
Cuba. CIA World Factbook. (.cu)
Information about Cuba's geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
Cuba Historia. Administración del Sitio del Gobierno de la Republica de Cuba. In Spanish.
Covers Cuba's history.
Timeline: Cuba. Algis Ratnikas 1492 to the present.
The Empire and the Independent Island. Fidel Castro. Countercurrents.org. August 14, 2007.
Overview of 140 years of Cuba's history. A lot of detail.
Mexico. CIA World Factbook. (.mx)
Information about Mexico's geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
A Country Study: Mexico. Country studies. Library of Congress.
Overview of the country. Profile, historical setting, society and its environment, economy, government and politics, national security, lengthy bibliography, and more. Chapters have named authors. Click on PDF version for updated profile information.
Timeline Mexico to 1969. 1970-1997. 1998-2002. 2003-2008. Algis Ratnikas.
Prehistory to the present; on four separate Web pages.
The History of Coins and Banknotes in Mexico. (PDF) Banco de Mexico. August 2013.
Paper money was first used in the 19th century, so the entire page is of interest to modern Latin American history. Very clear images showing examples of the banknotes ("bills" as a North American would call them), up to and including the present.
Get background on the Cold War (1945-1991) in the Dictionary of American History, Social History of the United States, Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History, Gale Encyclopedia fo U.S. Economic History, and Worldmark Modern Conflict and Diplomacy. The Cold War Reference Library is an entire reference book (6 volumes in print) on the topic. Volume 5 has primary sources and Volume 6 is the cumulative index. There are a good number of entries under Latin America.
America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts. CSU affiliates only. Up to six users at a time for each.
Subject terms: Latin America; Latin Americans; Cold War, 1945-1991 [& subdivisions e.g. Social Aspects]; Insurgency Latin America; Latin America Foreign economic relations United States; Latin America Foreign relations United States; Soviet Union; International relations; Rhetoric; Organization of American States; Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; Latin America Politics & government 1948-1980; Nationalism Latin America; Imperialism; Intervention (International law); United States; Latin American history; Brazil; Chile; Mexico; Costa Rica; Argentina; Nicaragua; Human rights Latin America; History of communism 20th century; Brazilian history Naval Revolt 1964; International relations; Charities; Social services; Cultural policy; Cuban Revolution, 1959.
The Cold War. Foreign Affairs. National Archives.
Site has "federal records and presidential materials that document Cold War era activities and concerns of the United States Government." Not everything is online, but useful for identifying materials.
Cold War History: Home. Phillips Library Mount St. Mary's University.
Library guide with overview, Databases and Websites (good list); Reference (CSU does have the Historical New York Times--Under New York Times 1851-2008 on databases list); Books in the Global Context; and Books (use subject headings identified on this guide to find additional titles of interest). Check CSU Libraries library catalog for local holdings of proprietary databases and books.
Cold War Hoover Institution. Stanford University.
Not everything is online, but useful as a way to identify resources. See collections guides for details.
Cold War in Latin America (NMSUL). Digital Resources on Cold War in Latin America. New Mexico State University Library.
Annotated library guide to items. Check CSU Libraries for access to proprietary databases (CSU has America: History & Life). Books not owned by CSU should be searched in Prospector and if not there, requested from InterLibrary Loan.
The Cold War in Latin America - Oakland Campus. University Library System. University of Pittsburgh.
Guide to course on Cold War in Latin America. Introduction; Books; Primary Sources; Secondary Sources; Government Information (nice selection of declassified documents--check CSUL for access in some cases).
Cold War Intelligence. BrillOnline Primary Sources. Available via CSUL.
" 2,360 formerly classified U.S. government documents (most of them classified Top Secret or higher) provides readers for the first time with the declassified documentary record about the successes and failures of the U.S. intelligence community in its efforts to spy on the Soviet Union during the Cold War." A search in the collection for Cuba brings up 215 results. Argentina brings up 27. Chile 30. Mexico 39. Latin America 84. Brazil 30. Nicaragua 28.
Digital Archive. Cold War International History Project. Wilson Center.
Browse, search by collections, and themes. Themes include Sports, Cold War History, and Nuclear History. Themes have timelines.
Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy: The Cold War. Mount Holyoke College.
Some links don't work, but the name of the source does provide a hint of what to seek. Pre-1945 to 1991. An extensive list.
"Guerrilla Movements in Latin America." Richard L. Worsnop. CQ Researcher July 19, 1967.
Contemporary essay with then current events.
JSTOR. CSU affiliates only.
Topics: Latin American politics; Political corruption; Government corruption; Democracy; Political revolutions; Competitive authoritarianism; Fascism; Communism; Mexican economics; Socialism; Diplomatic relations; Brazilian culture; Cold wars; Imperialism; Nationalism; Latin American governments; International alliances; Political revolutions; Dictatorship; Dictators; Countries; Western hemisphere; War; Third World; National interests;Government; Communist parties; Military aid; Bilateralism; War conflict; Interstate conflict; Territorial disputes; Armed forces; Violence.
Latin America: Primary Sources: Government Documents (HY 430-023). University of Alabama Libraries.
List of useful sources; CSU has a some of the proprietary databases (HeinOnline Foreign Relations of the United States; Congressional Publications (listed as ProQuest Congressional on guide); U.S. Congressional Serial Set), but not others.
The Panama Canal: Riots, Treaties, Elections, and a little Military Madness, 1959-1973. National Archives.
Information about and examples of primary source documents from that era. Available online and should be quite useful. Click on 
to see larger image in PDF.
United States and the Cold War Research Guide: Home. Dr. C.C. & Mabel L. Criss Library. University of Nebraska Omaha.
Created to support a seminar. Government Documents; Primary Source Databases; Journal and Magazine Articles; Internet Resources, etc. Check CSU Libraries for local access and holdings (books, government documents, etc.). If CSU doesn't have a government publication, CU Boulder should have it.
Articles & Books:
See also Cuban Revolution 1953-1989 & Revolutionary Biographies.
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