Week 5 Project 5a

In a paragraph, tell us what "Independence Period' means: Latin American Wars of Independence (1808–1826). The wars of independence in Latin America were watched with considerable interest in North America. Apart from the prospective commercial benefits that might flow from the end of Spain's trade monopoly, U.S. sympathy for an independent Latin America was grounded in the view that the wars of independence reflected the same republican ideals of freedom and liberty that had animated the creation of the United States.

Tell us why you chose the topic: I chose to Juan Diego because I never heard of that name before and I would like to know who this person is. Hopefully I will learned a lot from this person that I’ am going to research about.

Tell us 3 interesting facts about your topic in 3 separate paragraphs:
Saint Juan Diego (1474 – May 30, 1548) was an indigenous Mexican who reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. He had a significant impact on the spread of the Catholic faith within Mexico. The Roman Catholic Church canonized him in 2002, as its first indigenous American saint.

Among the various visions of Jesus and Mary Juan Diego's case is somewhat unique in that it produced a "physical artifact" that has survived for centuries. While other visionaries such as Maria Valtorta and Stefano Gobbi have produced large amounts of (at times dictation-like) text that they attribute to Jesus or the Virgin Mary, their visions or interior locutions have not been accompanied by a physical artifact. Juan Diego's tilma is thus unique in that it has survived and is venerated to this day.

Interestingly, the years 1532 to 1538 which saw a large number of people join the Catholic Church in Mexico based on Juan Diego's vision, were right in the midst of the period of Protestant Reformation of 1521 to 1579 in Europe. Hence as a large number of people left the Catholic Church in Europe, a large number of new Catholics appeared in Mexico, maintaining the overall strength of the Catholic Church. To this day, Latin America remains a major pillar of the Catholic Church.

Cite your sources used for this component and tell us why these sources are credible.
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_American_Wars_of_Independence
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Diego_Cuauhtlatoatzin