Central and South America AKA “Latin America” Central and South America EQ: How has culture in Latin America changed over the last 1000 years?

What is Latin America? Northern border of Mexico to the Tierra del Fuego Islands at the southern tip of South America Includes the islands in the Caribbean Sea

Landforms Highlands Lowlands Wide range in elevation creates diverse climate zones in the region

Sierra Madre Mountains

Caribbean Islands Divided into three island groups Bahamas - smaller islands off the coast of Florida Greater Antilles - Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico. Lesser Antilles - Smaller islands southeast of Puerto Rico.

Amazon River Starts in the Andes Mountains and flows to the Atlantic Ocean. Carries more water than any other river in the world -- more than the next seven rivers combined. The Amazon Basin is a significant reservoir of biodiversity (the largest remaining track of tropical rain forest)

Panama Canal – “Bridge to the Americas” Timelapse Video 48-mile ship canal connects the Atlantic to the Pacific The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade

Temperature-altitude zones of M/S America

El Niño The Peru (ocean) Current changes direction every few years Warm water flows from the western Pacific, bringing warm water and heavy rains to parts of the west coast of SA Named El Niño, or “the Christ Child,” by Peruvian fishermen El Niño also has global effects, other parts of the Pacific coast are more dry than usual

Pre-Columbian History Pre-Columbian - means “before Columbus” or before 1492 - The period before Spanish conquerors arrived in Latin America. Aztecs - The Aztecs ruled most of Mexico when the first Spanish arrived there in 1519. Tenochtitlan - The Aztec capital, population 200,000 Built on a lake, with canals for transportation and floating gardens. Today this is Mexico City.

Maya -Spread from Mexico to El Salvador -An extremely advanced society in astronomy, math, and medicine. Why did these remain “pure” archaeological sites?

Inca -Based high in the Andes Mountains -Was the largest empire in pre-Colombian Latin America.

European Conquest Colonization - When one country controls the resources and people of another country. Most of LA was under European rule from the 1500’s to the 1800’s. Treaty of Tordesillas - Agreement between Spain and Portugal to divide their colonies.

Mercantilism – the policy in which European rulers sought to increase the power and wealth of their realm by managing all aspects of production, transport, and commerce in their colonies

South American independence Most won their independence from 1804 -1824. Simon Bolivar: Venezuelan leader of many of South America’s independence wars, his dream of uniting South America still animates political movements in the region today. Crash Course: Latin American Revolutions

Caribbean independence Crash Course: Hatian Revolutions By the 1700’s Haiti, a French colony, was populated almost entirely by Africans who had been enslaved to harvest sugar cane. Toussaint L’Ouverture led a rebellion against France that made Haiti the first free, Black republic in the Western Hemisphere in 1804. Haiti was forced to pay France for lost property (slaves) or else be isolated economically by the U.S. and France. It took over 100 years to pay the debt, crippling Haiti’s economy.

Lasting influences of colonization include: Language Spanish language many still speak indigenous languages. Mexico has 62 languages (Nahuatl, Maya, Zapotec) Portuguese in Brazil. Creole, French and English in Caribbean. Religion - Catholicism. Mestizo - people of mixed Spanish (European), Indian, and African heritage. Caribbean culture - a unique blend of African, Spanish, French, British, and Dutch cultures. Economics - Many of the exploitive economic relationships continue.

Contemporary issue 1. Jobs and globalization Maquiladoras - 1960’s - Zone along the U.S. / Mexico border where U.S. companies set up factories and assembly lines with few government regulations. Problems include: pollution dangerous working conditions low wages for workers.

Continued - Jobs and Globalization NAFTA - North America Free Trade Agreement (1994) Members: Canada, USA, and Mexico Goal: reduce trade barriers, have clear trade rules, improve working conditions Effects: Removed most tariffs that had protected Mexican industry from foreign competition. Unemployment in Mexico increased mostly due to stiff competition from U.S. agribusiness Wages dropped many farmers moved to urban areas to find work. Fueled legal and illegal immigration to the U.S. “Sin maiz, no hay pais”