Latin America
Done by Roberto Preza
Political
- Both the Aztec(1521) and the Inca(1535) Empires fell due to the Guns, Germs, and Steal which the Spanish brought to the New World.
- Viceroyalties: Spain organized its management and governance of the New World with viceroyalties, geographical regions would be administered by a viceroy, a direct representative of the Spanish crown who had executive, legislative, judicial, military, and ecclesiastical power. Established in 1535, the Viceroyalty of New Spain which included what is now present day Mexico, Central America, Florida, and S.W. United States under its control. The Viceroyalty of Peru was established in 1543 including most of the territories in S. America.
Economy
- Trade was done through a triangular cycle which began in the Americas with the raw goods which were sent to Europe and became finished goods which were then sent to Africa who then sent slaves to the Americas.
- Encomiendas: plots of land issued to people coming from Spain, included a group of indians to work the land.
- Mita: labor for land
- Mercantilism: the finding of silver in Latin America caused inflation throughout the globe, most pf the silver ended up in China. The silver was trade for goods such porcelain and silk from China.
Religion
- Christianity: Missionaries came from Spain in order to teach the indigenous people about the religion Christianity. Teaching was only successful to some extent since not many Indians would take up Christianity, but if they did they would usually still practice their own religions. For this reason some priests began to see the Indians as lesser people, but other priest’s sought to protect the rights of the Indians.
Society
- Peninsulares: The outcome of the Spanish living in new world, Spanish babies born in the new world.
- Conquistadors: Spanish soldiers.
- Creoles: Spanish descent born in new world
- Mestizos: The result of European men marrying and having children with indigenous women.
- Mulattoes: The result of the European’s (Portuguese) mixing with African American slaves, they could go up in social status.
- For the most part male’s were dominant.
Innovations
- The use of the slave trade leads to interaction between continents; this spreads crops such as potatoes and tobacco. African slaves were cheap sources of labor and helped in plantations which produced crops.
- Spanish: The Spanish teached Spanish to Indians for better communication, this caused the combination of Indian languages with Spanish, languages evolved into unique identities for the people of both the old and new worlds.
Architecture/Art
- Missions: Built to assimilate the indigenous people into the Spanish way of life, they were given chores to help with this.
- Paintings: Paintings were a blend of European and native influence, there was a clear dominance of European styles present though.
Near Geographic
- Latin America stretches for 5,500 miles starting at the Rio Grande River in Mexico al; the way to Cape Horn at the southern end of South America.
- Mostly made up of Mountains and Highlands. Also made up of the Amazon basin.
- Lies between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Both oceans serve as important trade routes for Latin America. The Caribbean Sea is another important body of water in Latin America.
Sources
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/719165/Latin-American-architecture/277087/The-first-Spanish-viceroyalties-and-their-capitals
http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25447
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/NNL/NNL_10.pdf
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/79-104/Readings/Gallery/3.html
http://biglicknews.blogspot.com/2012/07/chronology-on-history-of-slavery-and.html
www.cttech.org/.../The%20Geography%20of%20Latin%20America.ppt
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/map/
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World. 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.
http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25447
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/NNL/NNL_10.pdf
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/79-104/Readings/Gallery/3.html
http://biglicknews.blogspot.com/2012/07/chronology-on-history-of-slavery-and.html
www.cttech.org/.../The%20Geography%20of%20Latin%20America.ppt
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/map/
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World. 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.