Mr. Bennett
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Latin America is a region of widely diverse physical
features, climates, and cultures.

Physical features and climate have influenced the
patterns of settlement in the region.

Latin American cultures are a mixture of Native
American, African, and European traditions.

Advanced civilizations, including those of the
Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas emerged in the Americas.

3 major regions
 Caribbean- islands in the Caribbean Sea
 Central America- From Mexico to Panama
 South America- Below Panama

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Geographically diverse  cultural diversity
Climate varies: tropical  extreme cold

Mountains (barriers)
 La Cordillera
 Sierra Madre
 Andes

Lowlands
 Pampas- grassy plains that stretch from
Argentina into Uruguay.

Mountains and tropical rainforests act as
barriers.
 These features limited contact among areas and
contributed to regionalism- strong local
traditions that divide people within a country or
region.

Three major systems provide transportation
routes:
 Amazon
 Orinoco
 Rio de la Plata


Starts in the Andes mountains.
4,000 miles long.
 Rich in lumber and minerals.
 Ships use the river to transport goods.

Lush, tropical rainforests to frozen
wastelands.

¾ of Latin America lies in the tropics.

Temperate climates- Paraguay and Uruguay

Dry climates- Northern Mexico and Argentina

Minerals: gold and silver. Chile- copper, Bolivia- tin.

Energy resources: oil, natural gas

Agricultural resources:
 Bananas, sugar, tobacco, coffee, and rubber, lumber.

Problems of economic dependence:
 Rely on only one cash crop.

Native Americans:
 Spoke many languages, had diverse cultures.

Europeans and Asians:
 Spanish and Portuguese mainly.

Africans:
 1,500-1,800 slave traders brought millions of Africans to the
Americas. Worked on plantations and mines.

Ethnic and cultural mix:
 Mix of natives, Europeans, and Africans.

Limited farmland:
 Climate and rugged terrain left 6% of land
suitable for farming. Forests cleared for farmland
but soil not suitable for farming.

Difficult communication
 Landforms and climates made it hard for contact
between culture.

Tierra caliente Hot land. Closest to sea level. Grow bananas and sugar
cane.

Tierra templada- plateau
 Andes valley. Above 3,000 feet.

Tierra fria Cold lands. Above 6,000 feet sea level. Grow wheat
barley, and potatoes.

What is el Niño?
 Current of warm water.
 Can be a disaster flooding

Why are scientists trying to learn more about it?
 People can be more prepared for the hazardous
weather.


Pre-Columbian Civilizations
P/S/E
 Mayan
 Aztec
 Inca

Incas and Aztecs reached
peaks around the year
1500.

Columbus discovered
the New World in 1492.

Soon after,
conquistadors started
following Columbus to
the Americas in search of
gold.
 Mankind (30:00, episode 6,
Survivors).

Landed on coast of Mexico in 1519.

Set out to conquer Aztec empire.

Within two years, 600 men, 16
horses and 14 cannons were able to
defeat the mighty Aztecs.

Did so easily. Why?:
 Smallpox wiped out Aztecs
 Moctezuma didn’t fight the Spanish
 Saw Cortes as a god.
 horses

By 1535, Pizzaro
controlled the
entire empire.
 He used:
▪ Trickery
▪ Violence
▪ Disease

Destroyed much of
the wealth of the
Inca Empire.

Spain and Portugal built rich empires in L.A. based
on the labor of Native Americans and enslaved
Africans.

A rigid class structure developed in L.A.

The Roman Catholic Church dominated life in L.A.
and served as a unifying force.

In the 1800s, L.A. countries won independence but
had trouble building stable governments.

Columbus discovers New World for Spain.

Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean.

Magellan names the Pacific Ocean.

By mid-1500’s, Spanish ruled an empire
from Mexico to Peru.

Government
 Ruled by a viceroy- an official who rules in place
of a king.
 Towns governed by cabildos- councils

Mercantilism An economic system where a country’s economic
strength depended on increasing its gold supply
and by exporting more than it imported.
▪ Colonies existed as a source of raw materials.
▪ Colonies existed as a market to sell finished goods.
▪ Mother country would protect the colony

Europeans gain gold and silver

Plantation (haciendas) economy develops.
 Colonies grow cash crops.

Slave labor
 Originally used encomienda system.
▪ Forced Native American labor in return for land.
 Deaths of native populations.

A slave system
 To protect natives, began using Africans instead.
 Slavery had existed in Europe.
 African slaves were working in the Caribbean.

Atlantic Slave Trade
 Euros thought Africans were better workers.



Grew sugar
Used slaves on their plantations.
Grew sugar, cotton and coffee.

Products from the Americas spread
throughout the world.
 Global exchange of people, goods and ideas.

From Americas ==> Europe
 Corn, potatoes, squash, chocolate, peanuts,
tomatoes.

Unintended Consequence=disease.

1820s- Spain wants to reclaim its colonies

US institutes Monroe Doctrine to keep
European countries out of the Western
Hemisphere.

Mexican War
 Mexico gives up almost half its territory

Spanish-American War
 Cuba becomes independent, U.S. grabs Puerto
Rico and the Philippines.

Panama Canal
 Roosevelt buys the right to dig.

What are the three regions in Latin America?

How do these geographic features affect the
development of Latin America?

What is deforestation and what does it do to
the land?

What are two ways the Incas adapted to their
geography?

What were the significant achievements of
the Mayas?

Do barriers like mountains and rainforests
make it easier or more difficult to unite
people?

How did the Aztecs adapt to their physical
geography?

Where were the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs
located?

Tenochtitlan and Mach Picchu were what?

Who were the conquistadors and what were
they after in Latin America?

What were two reasons why the Spanish
were able to easily conquer the peoples of the
Americas?

What was the purpose of the encomienda
system?

What Spanish conquistador was responsible
for the fall of the Aztec Empire?

How is the Italian dish, spaghetti, a perfect
example of cultural diffusion?

What is the best evidence that Spain was the
dominant colonial power in Latin America?

What were two effects of colonialism in Latin
America?

Who was at the top of the social class system
in colonial Latin America?

What were the demographics of this class?

Jose de San Martin, Simon Bolivar ad
Toussaint l’Ouverture wanted what for their
respected nations?

What did the Cuban Revolution and
Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua seek to
do?

Why is communism attractive to people?

What did Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro have
in common?