1. Human geography of latin America: A BLENDING OF CULTURES

2. SECTION 1: MEXICO

3. NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE SPANISH CONQUEST
Many native groups
Toltecs, Maya, and Aztecs are major groups
Spanish Conquest began in 1519 when Hernando Cortés landed
Conquered Tenochtitlán (Aztec capital) by 1521

4. COLONY AND COUNTRY Mexico became a Spanish colony
Independence won in 1821
1822: Agustín Iturbide declares himself emperor
Mid 1800s: Benito Juaréz becomes the first president of Mexico

5. COLONY AND COUNTRY CONTINUED
Porfirio Díaz succeeds Juárez
He was dishonest
Led to revolution led by Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata
1917: new constitution adopted—redistributes land to peasants

6. ONE-PARTY RULE
1929: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) rises to prominence
Did not tolerate opposition
Led to corruption
Ousted in 1997
2000: Vicente Fox becomes first non-PRI president in 71 years

7. A MEETING OF CULTURES

8. AZTECS AND THE SPANISH Aztecs came from northern Mexico
C C.E.: Settled in Tenochtitlán in Lake Texcoco
Performed human sacrifices
1521: Cortés destroys Tenochtitlan and builds Mexico City on top

9. AZTECS AND SPANISH CONTINUED
Spanish brought language, Catholicism
Mestizos: people of mixed Spanish and Native American heritage

10. MEXICAN PAINTERS Painting became public art
Large murals on public buildings
Famous artists: José Orozco, Diego Rivera, David Siquerios, and Juan O’Gorman, Frida Kahlo

11. ECONOMICS

12. LEGAL VS. ILLEGAL ECONOMIES
Legal: agriculture, industry,
transportation, and trade
VS.
Illegal: Drug trade, human
trafficking, gang activities

13. Legal: Agriculture
Farming is the main economic activity in Latin America
Minifundia-small farms
Latifundia-large farm
Cash crops-crops grown in large quantities to be sold or exported. Coffee, bananas, and sugar are cash crops in Latin America.

14. Legal: Industry Most of Latin America’s countries are developing
•Many countries are transitioning from agriculture to industry.
–Ex. Oil industries, Tourism, Manufacturing
•Mexico and Brazil have stronger economies because they have expanded their global trade
Maquiladoras: American and Japanese manufacturing firms build factories in Latin America because the labor is cheaper

15. Legal: Transportation
•Trans-Amazonian Highway-Highway that cuts across the
Amazon Rainforest
•Most major cities have an airport, rail system, and major
roads
•Physical barriers limit railroad use
•Amazon, Paraguay, and Uruguay rivers are very important
for transportation and trade

16. ILLEGAL: DRUG TRAFFICKING
The movement and sale of illegal drugs
• Drug cartel: drug organization
• Drug production and trafficking zones are heavy in crime and violence.
• Latin America is the region with the most drug trafficking and violence in the world.

17. ILLEGAL: HUMAN TRAFFICKING
People are kidnapped, transported around the world, and forced into sex slavery.

18. ILLEGAL: GANG ACTIVITIES
Daily violence between gangs has led to the increased number of illegal immigrants into the United States.

19. Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAfEq80YlWU

20. OIL AND MANUFACTURING Large oil reserves
Manufacturing is the most important
Maquiladoras: factories that assemble imported materials into finished products that are then exported
Many are companies from the U.S.

21. NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement 1994
Goal: eliminate trade and investment barriers between Mexico, U.S., and Canada

22. EMIGRATION, WORK, AND SCHOOL
2000 mile border with the U.S.
Many leave to search for work
Many uneducated in Mexico

23. SECTION 2: CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Native peoples, Europeans, and Africans have shaped the culture of this region.
The economies of the region are based primarily on agriculture and tourism.

24. CULTURAL HEARTH Place from which important ideas spread
Often heartland, or place of culture’s origin
Mayan civilization spread throughout Central America
Unknown why Maya abandoned many cities in 800s

25. MAYA INFLUENCE
Mayans built cities in present-day Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras
Central city was Tikal, in northern Guatemala
City-states were ruled by god-kings

26. SPANISH IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Spain ruled Central America until the 19th century
Mexico ruled it until 1823
United Provinces of Central America declared independence from Mexico
Late 1830s: UPCA split into El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras

27. CARIBBEAN INFLUENCES
1492: Columbus reaches Caribbean islands, thought he’d reached East Indies
Called natives “Los Indios” (Indians)
They were the Taino
Spanish settled and set up sugar plantations
Used Taino as slave--- many died of disease and abuse

28. CARIBBEAN INFLUENCES CONTINUED
African slaves were brought to replace Taino
The Caribbean today is heavily influenced by African life and culture

29. COLONIAL MOSAIC
By 19th century, Spanish, French, Dutch, British, and Danish all had Caribbean claims
They relied on sugar
This brought more and more African slaves

30. CARIBBEAN INDEPENDENCE
1790s: Haiti becomes first independence movement in Latin America
Slave revolt led by Toussaint L’Ouverture
Won in 1804
Cuba independent from Spain in 1898 (Spanish- American War)
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in 1962 from Britain

31. CULTURE OF CENTRAL AMERICA
2 major elements:
1) Native American influence
2) Spanish
Catholicism is major religion

32. CULTURE OF THE CARIBBEAN
Spanish, Dutch, French, British, Danish, African, and Native American influences
Mix of Catholic and Protestant
Santeria – combines African, Catholic elements
Voodoo (Haiti)
Rastafarianism (Jamaica)

33. ECONOMICS: JOBS AND PEOPLE

34. FARMING AND TRADE Caribbean: Central America: commercial farming
Sugar is largest export crop
Bananas, citrus fruits, coffee, and spices also important
Pay is low for workers
Per-capita income low
Central America: commercial farming
10% of world’s coffee, bananas
Panama Canal: canal running through Panama, connecting the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans
important crossroads of world trade

35. WHERE PEOPLE LIVE AND WHY
Central America: Most live in rural areas because most people work on farms
Caribbean: most live in cities
Hope to find jobs in tourism

36. POPULAR CULTURE, TOURISM, AND JOBS

37. MUSIC OF THE CARIBBEAN
Calypso: music that began in Trinidad and combines musical elements from Africa, Spain, and the Caribbean
Reggae: music that developed in Jamaica in the 1960s and is rooted in African, Caribbean, and American music, often dealing with social problems and religion

38. TOURISM AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY
Tourism is important industry in the Caribbean – provides hotels, resorts, restaurants, & guide jobs
Informal economy: jobs outside official channels, w/o benefits for workers
Ex: street vendors

39. SECTION 3: SPANISH-SPEAKING SOUTH AMERICA
Native peoples and settlers from Spain have shaped the culture of South America.

40. INCA Civilization in the Andes (Peru)
Centered in their capital at Cuzco
Empire extended miles at height
Built roads

41. SPANISH CONQUEST Francisco Pizarro conquers Inca empire
Harsh treatment of natives
Inca language Quechua, taken over by Spanish
Quechua is still spoken today

42. INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS
South American countries seek independence in early 1800s
Simón Bolívar led rebellions for Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia
José de San Martín helped to liberate Argentina, Chile, and Peru
Argentina and Chile 1st to gain independence

43. GOVERNMENT BY THE FEW
Oligarchy (rule by few) and military rule are common in S. America
Authoritarian rule—obedience to authority over individual freedom—also is common
Effects of colonialism: strong armies, weak economies, class divisions

44. CULTURAL MOSAIC

45. LITERATURE Gabriel Garciá Márquez (Colombia)
Most famous S. American author
Won Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1982

46. MUSIC Pop music and folk music
Music combines Indian, African, and European elements
Classical music is also very important throughout the region

47. ARTS AND CRAFTS Artisan works popular
Pottery, textiles, glasswork, and metalwork
Mix of aesthetics and usefulness

48. ECONOMICS: RESOURCES AND TRADE
Wide variety of products due to resources, land, climate, vegetation
Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana: crops for export
Colombia and Venezuela: oil, coffee, narcotics
Peru and Ecuador: fishing
Bolivia: tin, zinc, copper
Argentina: grain and livestock
Paraguay: beans, cotton

49. CHILE’S SUCCESS STORY S. America’s economic success story
Engages in global trade
Rich mines (copper is Chile’s largest export)
Fruits and vegetables
Associate member of Mercosur: an economic common market that began operations in (Think of NAFTA)

50. LITERACY IN S. AMERICA Higher literacy rates than Central America
Literacy rate among women is about equal with men

51. LITERACY IN CHILE Literacy rate is 95% in Chile 98% among those 15- 19
Education is highly valued in Chile

52. SECTION 4: BRAZIL
Native peoples, Portuguese, and Africans have shaped Brazil
Brazil has the largest territory and population of any country in Latin America.

53. HISTORY: A DIVIDED CONTINENT
Spain and Portugal were competing for colonies
To avoid conflict, Pope Alexander VI created the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
This divided the world between Spain and Portugal
Portugal got Brazil in S. America

54. PORTUGUESE CONQUEST Colonists arrive early 1500s
1-5 million natives already there
Search for gold and silver was fruitless
Sugar plantations set up instead
Settlement patterns were on the coast
Put natives to work on plantations in interior
Natives die of diseases, so African slaves brought in
Today Brazil is mix of European, African, native ancestry

55. INDEPENDENCE FOR BRAZIL
Napolean invades Portugal in 1807
Napoleon defeated in 1815
Demand for independence
Petitioned the king of Portugal
People asked that Dom Pedro, son of the king, rule the independent Brazil
Sept. 1822: Brazil declared independent

56. A NATIONAL CULTURE
A mix of Portuguese, African, and Native elements…

57. THE PEOPLE OF BRAZIL Only around 200,000 natives remain
Many immigrants
They come from Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, Lebanon, and Syria
Brazil has largest Japanese population outside of Japan

58. LANGUAGE AND RELIGION Speak Portuguese
Catholic majority (largest Catholic population in the world)
20% Protestant
Other: mix of African and Catholic practices

59. AN ECONOMIC GIANT AWAKENS
Brazil is a growing economic power. It has abundant natural resources

60. AN INDUSTRIAL POWER Rich in iron, bauxite, tin, manganese
Gold, silver, titanium, chromite, tungsten, and quartz also available
Hydroelectricity
Large oil and natural gas reserves
One of the most industrialized countries in S. America

61. MIGRATION TO CITIES Large gap between rich and poor
Urbanization occurs to improve life
87% now live in cities

62. MIGRATION TO THE INTERIOR
Capital city of Brasília built in 1957 to attract people to the interior
Commercial agriculture in the cerrado (Great Plains of S. America) draws new jobs to interior

63. BRAZILIAN LIFE TODAY

64. FROM CARNIVAL TO MARTIAL ARTS
Carnival: most colorful feast day in Brazil
Big in Rio de Janeiro
Samba: Brazilian dance with African influences
Capoeira: martial art; blends Brazilian dance; brought from Angola

65. CITY LIFE IN RIO DE JANEIRO
Rio is the cultural center of Brazil
Sugarloaf Mountain, Guanabara Bay, Copacabana Beach are popular tourist sites
Favelas: very poor slums—high crime rate