MIDDLE AMERICA I(chapter 4: 197-216)

INTRODUCTION TO MIDDLE AMERICA

DEFINING THE REALM– MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN

ISLANDS

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES– FRAGMENTED - PHYSICALLY AND

POLITICALLY– DIVERSE CULTURALLY– POVERTY IS ENDEMIC

REGIONS OF MIDDLE AMERICA

Mexico

Central America

Greater Antilles

Lesser Antilles

MIDDLE AMERICA

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

LAND BRIDGEARCHIPELAGO– GREATER AND LESSER ANTILLES

NATURAL HAZARDS– EARTHQUAKES– VOLCANOES– HURRICANES

I wonder why?

WORLD TECTONIC PLATES

DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOES

WORLD HURRICANE TRACKS

CULTURE HEARTHSOURCE AREAS from which radiated ideas, innovations, and ideologies that changed the world beyond.

MA HearthsAztecsMayans

MESOAMERICA

CULTURE HEARTHS– MAYA CIVILIZATION

• 3000 BP• CLASSIC PERIOD 200-900 AD• HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, BELIZE, YUCATAN

PENINSULA• THEOCRATIC STRUCTURE

– AZTEC CIVILIZATION• 1300 AD• VALLEY OF MEXICO• TENOCHTITLAN (>100,000 PEOPLE)

SPAINSPAIN

FRANCEFRANCE

BRITAINBRITAIN

COLONIAL HERITAGE

THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISMLand was appropriated - colonial commercial interestsLands devoted to food crops for local consumption were converted to cash cropping for exportLand Alienation induces:– Famine– Poverty– Migration– Little agricultural diversity

COLONIAL SPHERES

MAINLAND/RIMLAND FRAMEWORK

MAINLAND– EURO-INDIAN INFLUENCE– GREATER ISOLATION– HACIENDA PREVAILED

RIMLAND– EURO-AFRICAN INFLUENCE– HIGH ACCESSIBILITY– PLANTATION ECONOMY

MAINLAND – RIMLAND DISTINCTION

MAINLAND vs RIMLAND

Location greater isolation greater accessibility

Climate altitudinal tropicalzonation

Physiography mountains islands

Culture Euro/Indian African-European

Race Mestizo Mulatto

Landholding Patterns haciendas plantation

MAINLAND RIMLAND

HACIENDA vs PLANTATIONHACIENDA– SPANISH INSTITUTION– NOT EFFICIENT BUT SOCIAL PRESTIGE– WORKERS LIVED ON THE LAND

PLANTATION– NORTHERN EUROPEAN ORIGINS– EXPORT ORIENTED MONOCROPS– IMPORTED CAPITAL AND SKILLS– SEASONAL LABOR– EFFICIENCY IS KEY

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

PlantationPlantation•Production for exportProduction for export•Single cash cropSingle cash crop•Seasonal EmploymentSeasonal Employment•Profit motive $$$Profit motive $$$•Market VulnerabilityMarket Vulnerability

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

PlantationPlantation HaciendaHacienda•Production for exportProduction for export•Single cash cropSingle cash crop•Seasonal EmploymentSeasonal Employment•Profit motive $$$Profit motive $$$•Market VulnerabilityMarket Vulnerability

•Domestic marketDomestic market•Diversified CropsDiversified Crops•Year round jobs Year round jobs •Small plot of landSmall plot of land•Self-sufficientSelf-sufficient

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

PlantationPlantation HaciendaHacienda•Production for exportProduction for export•Single cash cropSingle cash crop•Seasonal EmploymentSeasonal Employment•Profit motive $$$Profit motive $$$•Market VulnerabilityMarket Vulnerability

Ejido

•Domestic marketDomestic market•Diversified CropsDiversified Crops•Year round jobs Year round jobs •Small plot of landSmall plot of land•Self-sufficientSelf-sufficient

•Small surplusesSmall surpluses•Land “ownership”Land “ownership”•Communal villageCommunal village•CollectiveCollective

MIDDLE AMERICA I(chapter 4: 197-216)