NAME: __________________________________
October 2010
Latin America Vocabulary
Put the following vocabulary terms into your own words and/or draw a picture!
TERM
DEFINITION
1
L’Overture
Leader of the Haitian Revolution.
Born in Saint Domingue, in a long
struggle for independence Toussaint
led enslaved Africans to victory over
Europeans, abolished slavery, and
secured native control over the
colony in 1797.
2
Bolivar
South American political leader.
Together with José de San Martín,
he played a key role in Latin
America's successful struggle for
independence from Spain. He was
President of Gran Colombia from
1819 to 1830. Bolívar is credited
with contributing decisively to the
independence of the present-day
countries of Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Bolivia
and is revered as a national hero in
them.
3
San Martin
Argentine general and the prime
leader of the southern part of South
America's (Argentina’s) successful
struggle for independence from
Spain.
4
Porfirio Diaz
President of Mexico from 1876 to
1880 and from 1884 to 1911, and
one of the most controversial figures
of the country, as his presidency was
one filled with corruption.
5
Cash crop
economy
An economic system based on the
exportation of certain crops (usually
only one or two) such as sugar,
cotton, and coffee. The producing
country’s livelihood depends on
these crops.
REPHRASE/SUMMARY
DRAW A PICTURE
NAME: __________________________________
Spanish word (caudilho in
6 Caudillo
Portuguese) usually describing a
political-military leader at the head
of an authoritarian power. It is
usually translated into English as
"leader" or "chief," or more
pejoratively as warlord, "dictator" or
"strongman". Caudillo was the term
used to refer the charismatic populist
leaders among the people.
7
Peninsulares
In the colonial caste system of
Spanish America, a peninsular was
a Spanish-born Spaniard or
mainland Spaniard residing in the
New World, as opposed to a person
of full Spanish descent born in the
Americas (known as creoles).
8
Creoles
Creoles are the native-born
descendants of early French,
Spanish, and Portuguese settlers in
Latin America, the West Indies, and
the southern United States.
9
Mestizos
Spanish and Portuguese (Mestiço)
term that was used in the Spanish
Empire and Portuguese Empire to
refer to Latin people of mixed
European and Amerindian ancestry
in the Americas.
10 Mulattos
Denotes a person with one white
parent and one black parent or a
person who has both black ancestry
and white ancestry.[1] The term may
be perceived as pejorative in some
cultures and situations.[2] Its current
usage varies greatly.
October 2010
NAME: __________________________________
Mexican priest and a leader of the
11 Hidalgo
Mexican War of Independence. In
1810 Hidalgo led a group of
indigenous and mestizo peasants in a
revolt against the dominant
peninsulares under the banner of the
Virgin of Guadalupe. After clashes
with the creoles and Mexican
townspeople the group disbanded.[4]
Hidalgo was captured on 21 March
1811, and executed on 30 July.[
Mexican Army General who built a
12 Iturbide
successful political and military
coalition that was able to march into
Mexico City on 27 September 1821;
decisively ending the Mexican War
of Independence. After the liberation
of Mexico was secured, he was
proclaimed Constitutional Emperor
of the new nation, reigning briefly
from 19 May 1822 to 19 March
1823, and is generally credited as
the original designer of the Mexican
flag.
Better known as Pancho Villa, was
13 Francisco
“Pancho” Villa one of the first Mexican
Revolutionary generals along with
Ramiro Cervantes and Uriel
Carrasco. As commander of the
División del Norte (Division of the
North), he was the veritable caudillo
of the Northern Mexican state of
Chihuahua which, given its size,
mineral wealth, and proximity to the
United States of America, gave him
great popularity.
14 Emiliano
Zapata
Leading figure in the Mexican
Revolution, which broke out in
1910, and which was initially
directed against the president
Porfirio Díaz. He formed and
commanded an important
revolutionary force, the Liberation
Army of the South, during the
Mexican Revolution.
October 2010
NAME: __________________________________
A politician, writer and
15 Francesco
revolutionary who served as
Madero
President of Mexico from 1911 to
1913. As a respectable upper-class
politician he supplied a center
around which opposition to the
dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could
coalesce. However, once Díaz was
deposed, the Mexican Revolution
quickly spun out of Madero's
control. He was deposed and
executed by the Porfirista military
and his aides that he neglected to
replace with revolutionary
supporters.
16 Encomienda
System
Trusteeship labor system that was
employed by the Spanish crown
during the Spanish colonization of
the Americas and the Philippines. In
the encomienda, the crown granted a
person a specified number of natives
for whom they were to take
responsibility. The receiver of the
grant was to instruct the natives in
the Spanish language and in the
Catholic faith. In return, they could
exact tribute from the natives in the
form of labor, gold or other
products, such as in corn, wheat or
chickens.
October 2010