1. How did independence for South America become a national obsession in the
United States? Why did so many white, Protestant American citizens celebrate
the antislavery Catholic rebels of Spanish America?
2. How did African Americans argue for equality in the United States based on
examples or evidence from neighboring independence projects in the Americas?
What were the specific examples of racial promise did they draw upon from Latin
American independence?
3. How did anti-imperial struggles in Latin America inspire new naming practices
in the United States? What other symbols of solidarity did Americans embrace?
Did these differ based on region or race, and if so, why?
4. Who was Simn Bolvar, and why was he a compelling figure to U.S. audiences?
To whom did he compare? To the contrary, what were American depictions of
Haiti, and why were Haitians not seem as triumphant equals with similar values?
5. Why did hemispheric enthusiasts celebrate far-off South America more than they
celebrated neighboring Mexico? How did the inter-American goodwill of the
1810s and early 1820s arguably help to fuel manifest destiny, filibustering, and
war with Mexico by the 1840s and 1850s?
6. How did rhetoric about Latin America, and insinuations about the inspiration for
its independence, inform evolving notions of U.S. exceptionalism? How was the
development of the Monroe Doctrine break with Latin American autonomy, and
exacerbate American exceptionalism?

Use 1-inch margins, single-spaced lines, and 12-point Times New Roman font. Papers must be five pages in length. Correct grammar and spelling matters. Use a clean, academic writing style. Avoid colloquialisms, contractions, repetitions, and direct quotations of the book. In your direct references to the book use parenthetical citations of only the page number at the end of the sentence/paragraph (that is, do not use footnotes/endnotes). Papers must begin with an introductory setup, a thesis, and a clear statement of your direction within the opening paragraph. A clear, concise conclusion should recap your thesis, summarize your evidence, and draw broader connections. Develop the body paragraphs of the paper around answers to the following questions, each of which pertain directly to discrete sections of the book. Specificity equals credibility.