Latin American History

Native Americans

• Mayans and Aztecs dominated Mexico

• Incas dominated Peru

• Sophisticated civilizations…365 day calendar, written language, etc.

Colonialism

• “America’s” were

discovered by Christopher

Columbus …. Landing in the

Bahamas and Puerto Rico

• Spain and Portugal

dominated colonization

Colonialism

• Line of Demarcation (1493)

Slavery

• Import of slave labor into the

America’s to work on

plantations for cash crops

• Most were sent to Brazil

Revolution / Independence

• Spurred by the American Revolution

• Most were violent wars to overthrow colonial rulers

• 1780’s-1914

• Many times wealthy land owners took power

Revolution / Independence

• Rulers still had ties to

Europe and many were

corrupt

• Democracies with

corruption

Today

• Democracies prevail

• Governments are

corrupt….serve only

the wealthy

• Large wealth

gaps…no middle

class

Today

• Mistrust of power

• Fear of dictatorships taking

over…already in Venezuela

(Chavez)

Regional McDonalds

Brazil

Uruguay