1. Chapter 8 History and Cultures of Latin America

2. Olmec of Southern Mexico 1 st civilization in Latin America 1500 B.C. to 300 B.C.  Each Olmec city focused on a certain activity and they all depended on each other. Some grew maize (corn), squash and beans. Some cities controlled jade and the obsidian trade. Some cities were religious centers with pyramid- shaped stone temples.

3. Maya of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula A Lost Civilization A.D.300 to A.D.900  Maya Indians built huge stone temples in the shape of pyramids with steps.  They were skilled in astronomy and used their knowledge of the stars, moon, and planets to develop a calendar.  They had a number system based on 20.  Used hieroglyphics, a form of writing that uses signs and symbols, to record the history of their kings.  Their civilization collapsed and no one has ever been able to find out the reason

4. Toltec of Northern Mexico Warriors that seized a lot of land from other groups A.D.800 to A.D.1200  They built the city of Tula.  They held a monopoly or sole right to the obsidian trade.  They had the most powerful weapons, obsidian – a hard, glass – made strong weapons.  They were captured by the Aztec and the Aztec adopted some of the Toltec culture.

5. Aztec Civilization Developed a huge city of 250,000 people A.D.1200 to A.D.1500’s  Moved into Tula and captured the city.  Created the city of Tenochtitlan (tay- nawch-teet-lahn), a city built on an island in a lake.  They built huge temples. They built roads and bridges to link the cities and created markets.  Created “floating gardens”, rafts filled with mud that eventually sank and then over time formed fertile islands.

6. Inca of Peru 1400’s Empire stretched more than 2500 miles along the Andes Mountains.  Their civilization was in South American in what is now Peru.  The Inca rulers had military posts and put in place a complex system of record keeping.  Work crews built irrigation systems, roads and suspension bridges that linked regions to the capital of Cuzco.  Machu Picchu is the most famous of the Inca ruins.

7. European Conquests  In 1519,Hernan Cortez landed on Mexico’s Gulf Coast and marched to Tenochtitlan and found a city filled with gold. The Spanish quickly defeated the Aztec. The diseases they brought, measles and smallpox, killed more Aztec than the soldiers. Within 2 years the Aztec were defeated.  In 1532,Francisco Pizarro, another Spanish explorer, went to Peru to get the gold and silver of the Inca. They used cannons and swords to defeat them completely, but disease had already weakened them.

8. Colonial Latin America  Spain – much of South America, the Caribbean and Middle America and parts of the United States  Portugal – Brazil  France, Britain, and the Netherlands – some of the Caribbean Islands and parts of North America

9. Slave Trade When there was a labor shortage due to the Native Americans dying, the Europeans created a new trade route.  They brought enslaved Africans to the New World where they were put to work.  On the return trip to Europe, cotton, tobacco, gold and silver were taken to Europe.  Goods were then taken from Europe to Africa and then the slaves were brought to the New World. Trade routes

10. Forming New Nations in Latin America In 1804, Haiti was formed by the became the 1 st successful revolt by enslaved people. They were led by Francois-Dominque Toussaint-Louverture. In 1959, a young lawyer named Fidel Castro carried out a revolution in Cuba. He set a communist state, a state in which the government controls the economy and society.

11. Largest Cities in Latin America Mexico City, Mexico Sao Paolo, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Buenos Aires, Argentina 80% of people in South America live in large cities 65% of people in Central America & Caribbean live in large cities

12. Where do most Native Americans live in Latin America? Mexico Central America The Andes countries of: Ecuador Peru Bolivia

13. Native Americans and Europeans – There were many immigrants from Spain and Italy in the 1800’s. There are 3 countries in South America that are mainly populated by people of European descent. These countries are: Argentina Uruguay Chile

14. Pope Francis  Our Pope, Pope Francis, is from Argentina, in South America. His parents were immigrants from Italy. His birth name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio and he was born on December 17, 1936. His father emigrated to Argentina from Italy and his mother was born in Argentina of Italian immigrants.

15. Large Asian populations in Latin America Most Asians came to Latin America during the 1800’s to work as temporary laborers. The following countries have a significant Asian populations:  Caribbean Islands  Guyana – ½ of the population is of South Asian or Southeast Asian descent  People of Chinese descent make their homes in:  Peru  Mexico  Cuba  About 1 million people of Japanese descent live in Brazil, this is the largest number of Japanese outside of Japan.

16. Mestizos: People of mixed Native American and European descent Mestizos make up the largest part of the population in the following countries: Mexico Honduras El Salvador Colombia

17. Quechua (Keh-chuh-wuh), the language spoken years ago by the Inca, is the official language of Peru and Bolivia.

18. Pidgin Language – a combination of parts of different languages. Creole, spoken in Haiti, words are French, but sentence structure reflects African languages.

19. Religious Holidays Carnival and Day of the Dead Carnival takes place right before Lent and is marked with singing, dancing and parades. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has a huge Carnival celebration. Mexican holiday in which people honor family members that have died.

20. Mexican Artist – Diego Rivera  Painted murals to help people recall the artistic traditions of the ancient Maya and Aztec peoples