Latin America

Spanish and Portuguese brought their language and customs

What does this leave out?

Why is it called “Latin America?”

THE SPANISH EMPIRE IN THE NEW WORLD

Maya (Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala)

Aztec (Mexico)Inca (Peru)Many other

smaller indigenous groups throughout

Indigenous People

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNG2TU2hRg8&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

http://www.rutahsa.com/KC603-8.jpg

Sophisticated civilizations

Africans were brought to Latin America

Caribbean nations in particular, but also parts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil had large slave populations

African Slaves

Criollos- European ancestry

Mestizos: European and indigenous ancestry

Colonizing vs. Conqueror: was Latin America colonized or conquered?

People of Mixed Origin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuD4vchi3ho&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

CONQUEST

A NEW PEOPLE

Does race matter in Latin America?

Hacendados- wealthy landowners

Peons- unskilled peasants

How might this social system affect Latin America today?

Social Class – Colonial times

ENCOMIENDAGrant by the

Spanish king to an individual of land and the labor of any inhabitants living on it.

Led to much abuse of the Indians, as landowners were far away from crown’s authority and not easily accountable.

BRAZILDivided into

‘captaincies’ Military officers

received enormous grants of land that they had to settle at their own expense.

Few prospered.Few Portuguese

women migrated.

SPANISH TOWNS Council of the Indies drew

up ‘Laws of the Indies’ which spelled out:

How Indians were to be addressed and treated

Rules for founding and naming new ‘discoveries.’

Strict rules for laying out new towns and cities.

Had to be in fertile valleys, not too high

Had to have central plaza and streets off it at right angles.

Mercantilism- a system in which a colony's only

purpose is to provide raw materials and act as a

market

Revolutionary uprisings with criollos fighting on both sides

Independence is achieved

Independence

SPANISH SOUTH AMERICA

Latin America

Caudillo- strong man, military leader

Many nations in Latin America experienced constant coups

Militaries often dominated political life

19th Century- Rise of the Caudillo

What ideologies are likely to emerge?

How might these social, political, economic patterns

effect Latin America?

Huge gaps between wealthy and poor make communism appealing to many

Although growing today, many Latin American nations lack a strong middle class

Communism in Latin America

The US has intervened militarily in: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador,

Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Grenada, Dominican Republic, Haiti

Reasons: protect US economic interests, fight communism, war on drugs

US Intervention in Latin America

What does the Mexican writer, Carlos Fuentes, mean here?

"Alas, poor Mexico. So far from God. So close to the United States." –Carlos

Fuentes

Huge neighbor to the north

Over reliance on single commodity

Agrarian economies

Lack of education

Economic development

North American Free Trade Agreement

Lowered tariffs between USA, Mexico, and Canada

NAFTA

Economic immigrants seeking opportunities in US

Difficulties assimilating

US born children of migrants face challenges as well

Immigration

Comparison- Why are they so poor?AfricaTribalismGovernment

corruptionColonialismSlaveryOver reliance on

single exportGeography

Latin AmericaMercantilismCorruptionColonialismOver Reliance on

single exportSlavery