Ancient History of Latin America

Ancient History Ancient History

of Latin of Latin AmericaAmerica

Ch. 9 Sec. 2

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Olmecs: 1400 BC-500 BC

–Mxn Gulf Coast–Ruled by priests & royals/elite

• No mention of military?–Known for giant stone heads (40

tons)–Mastered crafts- rubber, jade, stone

carving

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Mayan: 250-900

–Southern MX/ Northern CA (Guatemala/ Yucatan Pen.)

• Tikal & Chichen Itza major cities–Ruled by priests & nobles

• Priests performed sacrifices for good harvests, war success

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Mayan cont’d

–Extensive farming techniques/terracing• Lots of maize pop. grew quickly

–Dev. glyphs for recording hist. & honoring gods (Spanish burned most books many left untranslated)

–365 day solar calendar

Tikal (Guatemala)

Chichen Itza

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Aztecs: 1300s-1520s

–Founded Tenochtitlán in C. MX Island in Lake Texcoco• Chinampas- floating islands• Foods shared with world

–maize (corn)–chocolate (xocoatl)- only for elite

though- “Food of the gods”–tomatoes

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Aztecs cont’d

– Ruled by emperor military, then majority (farmers), last were criminals & slaves

– Priests had own class• Human sacrifices to sun god to rise ea. day

– Tens of thousands: mostly P.O.W.s and some noble family members

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Inca: 1430s-1530s

–Andes Mtns, Ecuador Chile–Ruled by emperor (Sapa Inca)

• Then military (very oppressive)–Extensive road network thru mtns

(rivals Romans)• Runners to warn of rebellion, invaders• All roads went thru Cuzco

Original Incan road

Machu Picchu

Ancient EmpiresAncient Empires• Inca cont’d

–Used quipu for record keeping (for traders)

–Spoke Quechua (dev. into ethnic grp.)• No written lang.

–Masters of terracing & irrigation from Pac. Ocn.

–Domesticated alpacas & llamas

Quipu

Terracing

Decline of EmpiresDecline of Empires• Olmecs: ?? (volcano, absorbed)• Mayan: ?? (frequent war??,

overpop. over farm??, plagues??)• Aztecs: Span. conquistador Hernán

Cortés (1521)• Inca: Span. conquistador Francisco

Pizarro (1535)

European ConquestsEuropean Conquests• From 1500s-1700s

–Colonizing for power and resources for home country• Columbian Exchange

–As disease killed many Natives, they began enslaving Africans to meet labor shortages

Latin Latin American American

RevolutionRevolutionss

Sources of Discontent- Sources of Discontent- Late 1700sLate 1700s

1. Viceroys- Spanish governors2. Peninsulares- Spaniards living in LA3. Creoles- straight Euro. descent4. Mestizos- Native + Euro. 5. Mulattoes- Afn. + Euro. 6. Zambos- Native + Afn. 7. Amerindians- Natives

ALL distrusted one another

Sources of Sources of DiscontentDiscontent

• Peninsulares/Viceroys wanted self-rule• Creoles read works of Enlightenment

thinkers; All looked to Amn & Fr. Rev wanted more rights

• Nat. & Afns wanted freedom from slavery

• Finally acted when Napoleon defeated Spain (made weaker)

Haiti’s StruggleHaiti’s Struggle• French-ruled• Sugar & coffee plantations = 1/2

million slaves lots of $ for France

• 25,000 free (but not equal) mulattoes

Haiti’s StruggleHaiti’s Struggle• Revolted in 1791• Led by Toussaint L’Ouverture

–Former slave, but educated• Napoleon went in to regain,

but Pres. TJ aided rebels• 1804: Complete independence

• Haiti is first non-slave nation in Western Hemisphere

Mexico’s FightMexico’s Fight• Father Hidalgo: El Grito de Dolores

–1810: cry for independence–encouraged lower class (mestizos)

to fight for indep. and more rights–Hidalgo was executed Fr. Jose

Morales led fight (later executed)

• Creoles (pure Span. descent) against rebels at 1st

Mexico’s FightMexico’s Fight• 1820: new govn’t in Spain

scared Creoles fought with rebels won in 1821

• Set up monarchy 1st, later a republic never stable

SimSimóón Boln Bolíívarvar• 1810: Bolivar led revolt in

Venezuela form republic (did not last)

• Went on to Ecuador, Peru, & Bolivia republics

• Joined Jose de San Martin–Leader in Argentina & Chile

SimSimóón Boln Bolíívarvar• Wars ended in 1824• Tried to unite lands into Gran

Colombia –Biggest problem: Power struggles

caused huge civil wars turn to military

BrazilBrazil• Napoleon beat Portugal • Royals fled to Brazil • King made reforms • Left son Dom Pedro to rule… • But new powers in Portugal

were against Dom Pedro…

BrazilBrazil• He made Brazil independent

constitutional monarchy • Freedom of press & religion;

elected legislature• 1889: became republic w/o

any violence

DictatorshipsDictatorships• As the countries fought for indep.,

power went to new people• European & indigenous hist. stressed

rank & privilege• So ppl of power and strength were

natural fit• Enter the era of CAUDILLOS

(dictators)

DictatorshipsDictatorships• Haiti:

– Instability stays• Blacks vs. mulattoes- assassination of each other’s leaders

• Many military coups (even of democratically elected pres!), US occupancy, military dictatorships

• UN peacekeepers present since 2004

DictatorshipsDictatorships• Mexico:

–Series of military dictatorships • beginning with Santa Anna

–1920s: Had “ify” multi-party elections (PRI ruled for 70+ yrs)• Charged with fraud, unfair elections

• Venezuela–From Bolivar on, dictatorships gave into

military regimes

DictatorshipsDictatorships• Brazil:

–Dom Pedro’s son helped econ. and ended slavery landowners revolted to oust emperor• Set up fed. Republic

–Lack of democratic tradition brought about decades of dictatorships, Nazi, & Communist uprisings

–1985 marked 1st civilian president

DictatorshipsDictatorships• People are unhappy REVOLT• Option A: the military puts out

revolt and resumes power to keep order

• Option B: rebels win & put in someone military/wealthy don’t like military coup

Caribbean Caribbean IndependenceIndependence

• 1898: Cuba from Spain• 1900s: Jamaica & Barbados

from Britain

• Some still under foreign control

Panama CanalPanama Canal• Isthmus perfect place to connect

oceans• Ferdinand de Lesseps (Suez

Canal) tried but failed–Disease, geography, $

• Bunau-Varilla asked US pres TR (1901) to aid building

Panama CanalPanama Canal• Panama was part of Colombia at time

–Col. refused to give up land• Panamanians revolted, US helped

them• Panama gained independence (1903)• Canal began in 1904, until 1914• US owned until 1999

CubaCuba• Like others, ppl were discontent

with govn’t• Cuba- gap b/w rich and poor

–Revolution led by Fidel Castro set up Communist State with military dictator (1959)

–Ruled until 06-08 left Raul (brother) in power

ChangeChange• Mexico:

–Mid-90s gave rise to Zapatista rebels• Fight for indigenous rights spreads

–2000 marked PAN take over (Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderon)

• Venezuela:– Coups lasted into 90s, one even by current

leftist Pres. Chavez– Electorate voted him in b/c he was a strong

ruler in a time a of crisis