Chapter 12
Latin American History
Pre-Columbian America
• Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492 and
found a world very different from his world in Europe, he and
many other Europeans that followed him felt that the Native
American were sub-human and were not on the same level of
the Europeans
• The truth was that the Native American societies were as
advanced as the Europeans and more advanced in some areas
• Maya: a tribe of Native American that dominated the southern
part of Mexico from 250 – 900 CE
• Sometime after approximately 900, the Mayans disappeared
and were no longer a power in Central America
• The Mayan civilization was the first to identify the number 0,
and to recognize that there are 365 days in a year and they
used a language based on system of hieroglyphics
• Hieroglyphics: a system of writing using signs and symbols
Mayan Empire
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Aztec
• The Aztecs stepped onto the scene in Mexico around
1200 and in 1325 they built the capital city of
Tenochtitlan
• Aztec: Native American tribe that dominated Mexico
from the 1300’s until the Spanish Conquest
• Tenochtitlan: the ancient Aztec capital and site of
Mexico City today
• the ancient Aztec capital and site of Mexico City today
• The Aztecs were one of the most advanced
civilizations on earth, with the city of Tenochtitlan
having a population of over 200,000 people
• The Aztecs did practice human sacrifice and in one 4
day feast period they sacrificed over 2,000 people to
the gods
Aztec Empire
Human Sacrafice
Aztec Warrior
Huitzilopochtli – God of the Aztecs
Aztec Calendar
The Incas of South America
• While the Aztecs and Mayans dominated Mexico and Central
America, the Incas dominated South America
• Inca: peoples of South America who built a civilization in the Andes
Mountains in the 15th and 16th centuries
• The Incas built their capital at Cuzco in Peru, and their empire ran
for over 2,500 miles and they built the first system of roads in
South America
• Cuzco: a village in the Andes that became the Incan capital
• The Incas were lead by their strong emperor named Topa Inca,
and he helped build up their empire
• Topa Inca: Emperor of the Incas
• Like the Mayans the Incas developed things unseen anywhere in
the world including the world’s first census
• Census: an official count of all the people in an area and how they
make a living at
• Quipus: knotted strings on which they recorded information
Manchu Picchu
Inca Empire
Inca flute player
Life of the Incas
• The Incas had their own language which is still spoken
in Peru, Bolivia and Chile
• Quechua: the language of the Inca Empire now
spoken in the Andes highlands
• The Incas created a system of roads to spread
information and goods throughtout its empire and a
system of aqueducts to send water to the people
• Aqueducts: a pipe or channel that carries water from a
distant source
• Like the Aztecs and Mayans the Incas were
polytheistic and worshipped multiple gods but the god
Viracocha was the creator of the gods
The coming of the Europeans
• The Europeans started coming to the Americas in 1492
when Christopher Columbus thought he got to Asia but
instead he “Found” a whole New World
• Christopher Columbus: Italian explorer, first European to
arrive in America
• After Columbus arrived in America, Spain and Portugal the
two great European powers split the Americas
• During the 15th century, Spain and Portugal were the two
largest sea powers in Europe and were doing the most
exploring to stop them from fighting over the “New World”
the Pope made them sign the Treaty of Tordesillas
• Treaty of Tordesillas: a treaty signed by Spain and
Portugal in 1494 that gave Portugal control over Brazil
The Treaty of Tordesillas
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Conquering of the Natives
• In 1519 Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes landed on the
coast of Mexico and then moved inland
• Cortes made alliances with other native tribes opposed to
the Aztecs and when he was received by Moctezuma of
the Aztecs, they thought he was a god
• Moctezuma: ruler of the Aztecs
• Cortes marched into Tenochtitlan and took Montezuma
prisoner, the Aztecs revolted but they were no match for
the Spanish, though it took the Spanish 3 years to conquer
Tenochtitlan
• In 1525, six years since Cortes first landed the Spanish
conquest of Mexico was complete
• Cortes: conqueror of the Aztecs
• Cortes and men that followed him in conquering Latin
America were known as the Conquistadors
• Conquistador: conquerors of Latin America
Spanish vrs. Aztec
Cortes
Cortes gold
Moctezuma’s revenge
• According to legend before he died Moctezuma
put a curse on the water in Mexico where as
any foreigner that would drink the water would
get diarrhea from it
• So remember whenever you are in Mexico
• DON’T DRINK
THE WATER!!!!!!!
The Conquering of the Incas
• After Cortes went out and conquered the Aztecs,
Francisco Pizzaro and 120 men overthrew the Incas
• Pizzaro: conqueror of the Incas in South America
• Pizzaro followed Cortes model by taking the Inca
emperor prisoner, the Incas offered Pizzaro a room
filled with gold and silver but Pizzaro killed the
emperor and the Incas gave in
• Pizzaro actually conquered the Incas with an army of
less than 200 men
Pizzaro
Life after the conquistadors
• When the Spanish came to Latin America they brought their
language, culture and the Catholic religion
• Many Spanish settlers also mixed with the Native Americans
and a new class of people were created the mestizos
• Mestizo: a person of mixed Spanish and Native American
heritage
• Mestizos were higher on the social order than Native
Americans, but were considered lower than the white Spanish
peninsulares and criollos
• Criollos: people who had Spanish parents but had been born in
Latin America
• Many mestizos were poor but some where able to become as
wealthy as the white Spanish peninsulares,
• Unfortunately many mestizos and Natives worked on haciendas
• Hacienda: a plantation or large farms owned by the Spaniards
or the Catholic Church
Independence movement
• As the 1700’s drew to its close, the people who lived
in Latin America were under either Spanish,
Portuguese or French control for more than 200 years
and they wanted to be free
• The first people wanting their freedom were the slaves
on France’s colony of Haiti
• Toussaint L’Overture: leader of the Haitian revolution
• L’Overture never lived to see Haitian independence
but in 1804 Haiti became the 2nd independent nation in
the Americas
Toussaint L’Overture
South American Independence
• The people of South America were inspired by the
American and French Revolutions and they wanted to
throw out the Spanish
• Simon Bolivar: Liberator of Colombia, Venezuela,
Ecuador and Bolivia
• Jose de San Martin: Liberator of Argentina, Chile and
Peru
• Even though Bolivar and San Martin were believers in
democracy and the right of the people to rule, in many
South American countries authoritarian dictators took
over and trampled the rights of the people known as
caudillos
• Caudillo: military officers who ruled strictly
Bolivar
Jose de San Martin
After Independence:
• After gaining independence from their colonial rulers many of
the nations of Latin America were left with weak inexperienced
rulers who then turned to the military for help thus many
caudillos became dictators
• Dictator: rulers with complete power
• Many times the dictators were overthrown by a new ruler who
promised democratic change but instead a dictator took over
• To support themselves the people of Latin America made
money off selling their goods such as bananas and coffee
• Export: to send products from one country to be sold in another
• Unfortunately the nations of Latin America were very dependant
on the nations of Europe and US for manufactured goods
known as imports
• Import: is to bring products into one country from another
Foreign involvment
• To support themselves many Latin American nations
were forced to have foreign nations and their
businesses invest in their nations
• The United States became heavily involved in Latin
America, especially in 1904 when the American
government wanted to build the Panama Canal
• Thus because of US investing in their nations, the
countries of Latin America accumulated a lot of foreign
debt
• Foreign debt: money owed to other countries
Reforms of the nations
• To enforce their help pay of their debts the nations of
Latin America began to make reforms to help pay off
their debts and new regimes took over in many
nations
• Regime: a particular administration or government
• These new regimes said that they were not
responsible for their debts and they could start over
again