© T. M. Whitmore

© T. M. Whitmore

Today

•The Columbian “encounter” continued

•Second Pillar of Latin American societies: Spanish and Portuguese colonialism

© T. M. Whitmore

Last Time -- QUESTIONS? •Latin America & the Caribbean

Very Diverse Physical environment

•First Pillar of Latin American societiesLegacies of Indigenous (pre-Columbian) peoples

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian contributions to global agriculture I

•Some major Foods: Maize (corn)Beans (lima, green, black, pinto,

etc.)PeanutsPotatoes (they are NOT Irish!) Squashes (including pumpkin)Sweet potatoes (what are incorrectly

called yams)ChiliesVanillaCacao (Chocolate - that staff of life)Pecan

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian contributions to global agriculture II•Foods:

PapayaCashewManioc (or cassava, yuca - you may

know it as tapioca)AvocadoTomatoes (what did the Italians do

before 1492?)PineappleGuavaand many, many others (especially

fruits)

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian contributions to agriculture III

•Non-foodsCotton (all commercial types)TobaccoRubber (latex)Coca (source of cocaine)Indigo (blue jeans dye)Hemp/sisal

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian contributions to agriculture IV

•Animals (only a few of importance)Guinea pigLlamaAlpacaTurkeyand very few others

•About 1/3 of the world’s total agricultural crops are Amerindian in origin

© T. M. Whitmore

Pillar # 2: Legacies of Spanish and Portuguese

colonialism•Conquest of Latin America

•Amerindian population collapse

•Colonial economic systems in Latin America

•Other legacies of colonialism in Latin America

© T. M. Whitmore

Conquest of Latin America •Columbus - 1492 (+ 3 other voyages)

•1519 Cortés left Cuba to conquer Aztec state

•Pizarro arrived on Peru coast 1527 and found Inka in civil war => relatively easy conquest in 4 years

•Portuguese conquest confined to Brazil after its “discovery” in 1500 => Brazil speaks Portuguese while most of LA speaks Spanish

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian population collapse

•Caused primarily by infectious disease brought by Europeans, their African slaves, and animals

•Amerindians never exposed to common Old World diseases such as: smallpox, typhus, plague, severe influenza, measles, malaria, yellow fever, and many others 1st exposure infected everyone (called virgin soil diseases)

© T. M. Whitmore

Consequences for Amerindians•Pre-Columbian population of Latin

America ~ 50-60 m

•Horrifying scale of lossAbout 90% of Amerindian pop died in 100-150 yrs

Compare with European Black Death –it killed 25 - 35% in Europe over 100 yrs in 1300s

•Nadir (minimum) population ~ 5 m!

•Contemporary population ~ 40 m

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian Population Collapse

© T. M. Whitmore

© T. M. Whitmore

AMERINDIAN DEPOPULATION

REGIONPRE- COLUMBIAN

POPULATION (millions)NADIR

POPULATION (millions)CURRENT

POP (millions)

NorthAmerica

3 - 4 0.2519thth C

2 - 3

Mexico 17 217thth C

11

CentralAmerica

5 - 6 0.517thth C

6 - 7

Caribbean 3 virtually extinct16thth C

0

Andes 14 - 15 1.5 - 2 17thth C

17

Lowland SouthAmerica

9 217thth C (?)

2

TOTALS MID 50s < 10 NEAR 40

© T. M. Whitmore

Amerindian & Mestizo Populations

•European men and Amerindian women produced mestizos

•Mestizos are a majority in most of Spanish-speaking Latin America

•Large minorities of pop speak Amerindian languages in: Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, PeruE.g., new president of Bolivia speaks Aymara

© T. M. Whitmore

Colonial Economics in LA

•Colonial plantation style economies (mostly in Brazil and Caribbean)

•Colonial hacienda economies (mostly in mainland Spanish Latin America)

•Third colonial economic mainstay: Mining

•Economic legacies of Colonialism in Latin America

© T. M. Whitmore

Plantation style economies:

Brazil and Caribbean sugar cane•Sugar cane needs: lots of land, quality

soils, cheap labor, lots of fuel, and location near transport

•Labor needs met 1st by Amerindian slaves then by Africans transported as slaves

•Sugar dominated by Brazil from 1500 – 1700

•After 1700 N Europeans (French, British, Dutch, Danish) set up sugar on their possessions in the Caribbean (Jamaica & Barbados, Martinique & Haiti, etc)

© T. M. Whitmore

Consequences of the sugar economy

•Largest forced migration in historyCurrent racial makeup reflects this migration; Brazil and Caribbean have populations with African heritage dominant

•Legacy of environmental damage•Establishment of highly unequal

land tenure (ownership), wealth, and social relations that persist to this day

© T. M. Whitmore

© T. M. Whitmore

Slavery In The Americas 1492- 1880Brazil ~ 4.3 million

Spanish America50% To Cuba (900 K)20% To Mexico (360 K)10% To Venezuela (180 K)20% To Other

~ 1.8 million

French AmericaMostly To Martinique & Haiti

~ 1.7 million

English America40% To Jamaica (1.2 M)22% To North America (640 K)20% To Barbados (580 K)13% Other Caribbean (377 K)

~ 2.9 million

Totals are approximate and probably are underestimates. (nearly 5 m to small Caribbean islands)

~ 10.7 million

© T. M. Whitmore

Sugar & Slaves1500s – 1700s

© T. M. Whitmore

Sugar & Slaves in the Caribbean

© T. M. Whitmore

Colonial Plantation Economies –characteristics persist in L.A.

today•Export of cash crops

•Poorly paid labor

•Foreign owned

•Vast gulf between rich and poor (especially for land)

•Few local economic multipliers

© T. M. Whitmore

2nd Colonial Mainstay - Haciendas

•Colonial Spanish Latin America

•Haciendas are also a type of latifundia (vast estates) with very few owners of mostly European heritage; often underused

•Most of the labor done by Amerindian and Mestizo peasant population

•Importance of cattle

© T. M. Whitmore

3rd colonial economic mainstay: Mining

• Initially gold (but small amounts except for 1700s in Minas Gerais, Brazil)

•Silver the most valuableHuge strikes in Mexico, Peru, and

Bolivia Especially Potosí (largest silver strike

in history)

•Mine labor mostly Amerindian or peasant (poorly paid or forced)

•So much silver that it transformed European economy for 100s of yrs

Potosí

M i n i n g

M i n

i n g

Minas Gerais

Mexican colonial silver strikes

© T. M. Whitmore

Economic legacies of Colonialism I

•Very uneven distribution of land ownership due to hacienda and plantation economies

•Extractive economy (e.g., mining & agriculture) organized to enrich “foreign” (or mother) countries

•Huge quantities of wealth removed from Latin America to enrich Europe

© T. M. Whitmore

Economic legacies of Colonialism II

•Mercantile theories of trade led to colonies that were isolated from each other and connected only with mother country Subsequently this led to isolated independent states

•Tradition of exploited labor and vast wealth in the hands of very few

© W.H. Freeman & Co.

Urban wealth contrasts in L.A.

© T. M. Whitmore

Other Legacies of Colonialism I

•Languages: ~ 360 m Spanish speakers

So many that Spanish is now the 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) most spoken language in the world

Can you guess what is #1?~ 190 m Portuguese speakers

Only ~ 10 m in Portugal

© T. M. WhitmoreThe Mesoamerican highlands and the Andes continue to have the largest indigenous populations.

Latin America has ~360 million Spanish speakers and ~190 million Portuguese speakers.

© T. M. Whitmore

Other Legacies of Colonialism I

Diverse Populations •Majority in Latin America are either mestizo or mulatto or other mixed race

•Large Amerindian populations (perhaps 40+ m overall) Guatemala: 40 - 50%Mexico: 10 - 20%Bolivia: 40 - 60%Peru: ~ 45%Ecuador: ~ 25%

© T. M. Whitmore

Other Legacies of Colonialism II

Diverse Populations •Large African origin populations (> 100 m overall)Haiti: 95%Jamaica: 75%Dominican RepublicBrazil: 40%+Belize and the smaller islands of the Caribbean

© T. M. Whitmore

Contemporary Cultural Diversity•Survival of indigenous peoples in

highlands and rainforests.

•Primarily European in Costa Rica and Southern cone countries (immigration in 1800’s).

•Majority are mestizo, of mixed indigenous and European descent.

•Large Afro-latin populations, particularly in former slave-holding countries.

•Small East Asian and South Asian populations.

African Heritage

MestizoAmerindian

EuropeanHeritage

Haiti and Jamaica are majority black, and many other Caribbean states have large black populations. The Garifuna people (pink shade) are of indigenous-African descent.

Note that only Costa Ricans are predominately of European descent in Central America.

African Heritage

Amerindian

EuropeanHeritage

>40% of Brazilians are also fully or partially of African descent.

Only the Southern Cone countries and southeastern Brazil are predominantly European.

© T. M. Whitmore

Other Legacies of Colonialism III

•Religious preferences: ~ 80% claim to be Roman Catholic (>90% in some countries)But Evangelical Protestants gaining

•Highly urban (~ 75%)•Legacy of exploitation of

Amerindians and Afro-Americans•Extractive economy and

environment and resources degradation

Most Latin Americans are Catholic but many are influenced by other traditions, and evangelical faiths are growing.