Until this reading, I was unware that Latin America had such a large population of slaves. In school in the United States, and probably Canada as well, we were never taught much about the history of other places and our classes made it sound as if the United States was the main cause of the slave trade in the Americas. We were barely told anything about slavery in Latin America and it was made to sound like a minor issue. From this class, however, it appears very possible that it was an even bigger issue in much of Latin America than it was in the United States. It seems that there was a larger population of slaves in much of Latin America, especially Brazil, than there was in the United States. It is interesting to me that we were never told anything about this and how one’s perception of history can be so different based on the details they are taught.

It was also interesting to read both of the feminist letters and compare them. Maria Eugenia Echnique and Josefina Peliza were from the same period in history and they both discussed feminist ideas. However, their ideas of what feminism should be are completely different and contradictory. Echnique believed that women were equal to men and should have the same rights. She thought they should be able to choose the kind of life they wish to live. Peliza believed that women were different from men and should not have the same rights. She believed that they are better suited to being caretakers for their husbands and children and that this is the life every woman should lead. The two women express entirely different ideas and yet both ideas are considered feminism.