Download NOTES for Latin America

8 N011-001
NOTES for Latin America
6/27/2017
NOTES for Latin America
… Land … diverse … mountains (the Andes .. nicknamed: the Cordilleras .. the backbone) + rivers: the Amazon, Rio de
la Plata .. Rio Grande .. tropical rainforests .. islands (the Caribbean) .. desert (the Atacama in Chile) ..
… … leads to “cultural / ethnic diversity” … also “regionalism” … people in a particular area getting together
30,000 BC “Paleolithic Era” … Highly mobile hunting and gathering groups cross the Bering Strait land bridge in
pursuit of large game and enter North America.
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10,000 BC A second migration crosses the Bering Strait and joins the first one. Groups spread all the way down to Chile
in southern South America.
8000-2000 BC .. “Neolithic Era” … Disappearance of large game leads to switch to small game, gathering, fishing, and
beginnings of agriculture and village life.
“Pre-Columbian” civilizations
2000-400 BC: The beginnings of hieroglyphic writing & calendars with the Olmec in Mexico. The Olmec are known for
their monolithic stone heads.
300-900 AD: High developments in astrology, calendar, math, writing among the Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula /
Guatemala … empire develops at Teotihuacán in Mexico with a large urban center and Pyramids of the Sun and Moon.
1345 -1521 AD: The Aztecs form a militariy empire in Mexico.
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1325: Founding of Tenochtitlán (near Mexico City)
1440-1487: The Aztecs greatly expand their power and empire under Emperor Moctezuma I.
1487: Dedication of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlán.
1502: Moctezuma II becomes emperor of Tenochtitlán.
1200 -1532 AD: The Incan civilization/empire develops in the Andes with sophisticated and very efficient organizational
and administrative structures.
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1200-1225: Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo found Cuzco and begin the Incan Empire.
1438-1471: the Inca begin expansion to the south of Cuzco
1471-1493: Incan empire extends south (Chile) and to coast.
1493-1527: Incan empire expands north to Ecuador and Colombia; dies in small pox epidemic which launches a
civil war between his two sons Huascar (Peru).
1532: Atahualpa wins civil war and becomes the leader of Tawantinsuyu.
… all three (3) civilizations were “self-sufficient” ..
Note: Incas will use terrace farming .. for agriculture in the Andes Mountains
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Conquest & European “Exploration ?”
1415-60: Prince Henry the Navigator opens the great Portuguese "Age of Exploration"
1479: Ferdinand II and Isabella I unite the crowns of Aragon and Castille in Spain.
1492: Spanish Roman Catholics expel the last of the Muslims (Moors) and Jews from Spain.
1492 (October 12): Christopher Columbus makes 1st voyage across the Atlantic .. thinking he has reached “India” .. he
labels the inhabitants (native people) .. “Indians” … he’s unaware of the existence of another continent
.. beginning of the “Columbian Exchange” .. cultural diffusion between Europeans & Native Americans
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1493: Columbus' second voyage.
1498: Columbus sent back to Spain in chains after his third trip to the New World.
1502: Columbus is marooned for a year on Jamaica during his fourth trip, but is unable to fix his ships or feed the
crew.
1494: Treaty of Tordesillas divides the New World between Spain and Portugal.
1499: More than 200 slaves taken from the northern coast of South America by Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Hojeda
and sold in Spain
1500: Pedro Alvares Cabral claims the Brazilian "hump" for Portugal.
1505: first record of sugar cane being grown in the New World, in Santo Domingo (modern Dominican Republic).
1507: the New World, is called “America” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)
1509: Columbus's son, Diego Cólon, becomes governor of the new Spanish empire in the Carribean. He soon complains
that Native American slaves do not work hard enough.
1510: the start of the systematic transportation of African slaves to the New World: King Ferdinand of Spain authorises a
shipment of 50 African slaves to be sent to Santo Domingo.
1511: Sermon of Antonio de Montesinos criticizing colonists' treatment of the Indians.
1511: Atuey leads Indigenous resistance to Spanish settlement of Cuba.
1513: Vasco Nuñez de Balboa views the "South Sea" from Panama … labels it the Pacific Ocean
1513-21: Ponce de Leon explores Florida on two expeditions.
1518: in a significant escalation of the slave trade, Charles V grants his Flemish courtier Lorenzo de Gorrevod permission
to import 4000 African slaves into New Spain. From this point onwards thousands of slaves are sent to the New World
each year.
SPANISH CONQUISTADORES
1519-22: Hernán Cortés enters, lays siege to, and conquers Aztec capital Tenochtitlán.
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1520: Death of Moctezuma II. He is replaced by Cuitláhuac, who reigns for only eighty days and dies of smallpox
(a disease brought by the Spaniards). Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor, continues to resist the Spaniards.
1521: Tenochtitlan falls to the Spaniards and their Indian allies.
1532: Francisco Pizarro captures Atahualpa, ending the Inca Empire.
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1533-1536: Pizarro sets up Manco Inka as puppet ruler in Cuzco.
1534: Rumiñahui leads Inka resistance against Spanish.
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Spanish Colonial Empire .. in Latin America
1524: 300 African slaves taken to Cuba to work in the gold mines.
1530: Juan de la Barrera, a Seville merchant, begins transporting slaves directly from Africa to the New World (before
this, slaves had normally passed through Europe first). His lead is quickly followed by other slave traders.
1531: Virgin of Guadalupe appears to Juan Diego on a hill outside of Mexico City.
1535-1550: Antonio de Mendoza is named the first viceroy of New Spain.
1537: Pope Paul III decides Indians have ? ? ? souls ? ? ?
1542: The Spanish Crown issues (The New Laws) to protect the Indians.
1542: Bartolomé de las Casas writes Devastation of the Indies to push the "New Laws" to reform treatment of Indians.
1544: First viceroy, Blasco Núñez Vela, arrives in Peru with the New Laws, which triggers civil wars
… huge plantations .. (haciendas in Mexico … encomiendas in the rest of Latin America )
…. …. Example of European imperialism & mercantilism
… leads to “cash crop / one (1) crop economies …
- benefits .. the rich land owners ..
- average person (which were the majority) were poor peasants .. lived off “subsistence agriculture”
+++ leads to rigid class structure in Latin America .. it even made a difference “where you were born .. Spain or Latin
America (the New World) if you were of Spanish descent
1551: The University of Mexico is founded.
1570-71: The Inquisition is established in Lima and Mexico City.
1610: First Jesuit missions among the Guaraní in Paraguay.
1615: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala finishes Nueva Corónica y buen gobierno to King Philip III of Spain
1700: Philip V becomes king of Spain, and the Bourbon dynasty replaces the dynasty of the Hapsburgs.
1742-1755: Revolt of Juan Santos Atahualpa "the invincible" in Peru.
1750: Treaty of Madrid shifts Spanish-Portuguese border in South America.
1767: Expulsion of the Jesuits.
1780-81: Incan revolt led by Tupac Amaru in Upper Peru.
“Fight for Independence in Latin America”
1791-1804: Slave revolt on French island of Haiti leads to independence.led by Toussaint L’Ouverture
1793-1815: Napoleonic Wars disrupt political rule in Europe.
1810: Creoles establish ruling juntas in Caracas, Venezuela, Santiago, Chile, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1810: The priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla issues the "Grito de Dolores" in Mexico which begins the War of
Independence against Spain.
1811: Father Miguel Hidalgo is defeated and executed. José Maria Morelos y Pavón takes command of the insurrection.
1811: Venezuela and Paraguay declare independence from Spain.
1813: Morelos convokes the first Mexican Congress, which formally declares Mexican Independence.
1815: Simón Bolívar begins the fight for Latin American independence .. he will be joined by Jose de San Martin
1816: Argentina declares independence.
1818: Chile declares independence.
1822: King Pedro declares Brazil independent from Portugal.
1823: United States issues the Monroe Doctrine which warning Europe against the recolonization of the newly
independent Spanish American republics.
1824: Last patriot victories against the Spaniards: Bolívar at Junín in August and Sucre at Ayacucho in December.
1825: Bolivia declares independence.
1826-1828 .. Simon Bolivar’s idea of “Gran Colombia” … a United States of Latin America fails … due to diverse: land,
ethnic, cultural differences … + “regionalism”
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“19th century”
1823-1855: Period of Santa Anna in Mexico.
1823: The Monroe Doctrine declares Latin America to be in the United States "sphere of influence."
1830s: Rise of caudillos, self-interested military dictators backed by private armies.
1836: The State of Texas declares its independence from Mexico and begins a war against the central government. Santa
Anna is defeated by the Texans.
1840s: Rise of Manifest Destiny, the belief by many people in the United States that westward and outward expansionism
represented their god's plan for their country.
1845: Texas becomes part of the United States of America.
1846-1848: The U.S. provokes war with Mexico and acquires half of its territory, including Texas and California.
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cedes northern half of Mexico to the U.S.
1853: With the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, US acquires route for a railroad through southern Arizona and New
Mexico.
1855: U.S. filibuster William Walker and his mercenaries invade and occupy Nicaragua. Walker declares himself
president, rules for 2 years, and is finally shot by a Honduran firing squad on September 12, 1860.
1855-1876: Period of Benito Juárez in Mexico
1862: The French Army, supported by Mexican Conservatives, invades Mexico. The War of the French Intervention
begins.
1864-70: War of the Triple Alliance.
1867: The Liberal armies defeat the Empire in Mexico. Maximilian is executed. Juárez reestablishes the Republic.
1873 .. Spain abolishes slavery in Puerto Rico
1876: Porfirio Díaz overthrows Lerdo de Tejada and becomes President in Mexico. He will reelect himself seven times,
and his dictatorship, the "Porfiriato" (1876-1911), will last thirty-four years.
1879-84: War of the Pacific.
1886: Abolition of slavery in Cuba.
1888: Abolition of slavery in Brazil.
1889: Abdication of Pedro II in Brazil; Brazil proclaimed a republic.
1895: José Martí launches war for Cuban Independence and is killed.
1898: “Spanish American War” … American navy ship … “the U.S.S. Maine” is blown up & sunk in Havanna (Cuba) The
U.S. declares war on Spain, wins, … Result Cuban gains independence from Spain; United States takes control of
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Phillippines annexes Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines
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20th century & 21st century
1901: Platt Amendment to Cuba's new constitution gives the U.S. the unilateral right to intervene in the island's political
affairs.
1903: The U.S. encourages Panama's independence from Colombia in order to acquire the Panama Canal rights. …
seen as a “strategic chokepoint” …
1904: Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine declares the U.S. to be the policeman of the Caribbean.
1904-14: Panama Canal built.
1909-33: U.S. Marines intervene in Nicaragua.
1910-1920 Mexican Revolution
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1910: Francisco I. Madero issues "Plan of San Luis Potosí."
1911: Porfirio Díaz leaves Mexico; Madero becomes president.
1911: Emiliano Zapata issues the "Plan of Ayala" and calls for Land and Liberty.
1913: A military coup led by Victoriano Huerta overthrows Madero, who is later murdered. Venustiano Carranza
leads a rebellion against Huerta. After the victory, the Revolutionaries fight among themselves. The forces led by
Carranza defeat Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Carranza becomes President and convokes a
new Constitutional Convention.
1914: US forces shell and then occupy Vera Cruz, Mexico.
1916: Pancho Villa raids Columbus, New Mexico.
1916-17: US Expeditionary Force under Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing unsuccessfully pursues Pancho Villa
in northern Mexico.
1917: Zimmermann Telegram revealed in which Germany offers to help Mexico recover territory lost to the US in
exchange for support in the First World War.
1917: A new Constitution is issued. Carranza becomes Constitutional President.
1919: Zapata is assassinated.
1920: Carranza is overthrown and dies in an ambush. New elections lead to the presidency of Álvaro Obregón.
1926-1929: Conflicts between the government and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church lead to the Cristero Rebellio, a
widespread revolt in central and western Mexico.
1927: Augusto Cesár Sandino launches first Sandinista uprising in Nicaragua.
1929: Conservatives grant women the right to vote in Ecuador, the first country in Latin America to do so.
1932: A peasant uprising in El Salvador leads to the death of 30,000 Indians.
1932: Women gain universal suffrage (the right to vote) in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay.
1933: FDR announces "Good Neighbor Policy."
1934: U.S. abrogates the Platt Amendment of 1901.
1936-1979: Somoza era (dictatorship) in Nicaragua.
1937-1945: Getulio Vargas era in Brazil.
1938: Lázaro Cárdenas nationalizes the oil industry in Mexico.
1939-1959: Fulgencio Batista era (dictatorship) in Cuba.
1944: Guatemalan revolution overthrows Jorge Ubico. Juan José Arévalo elected president.
1946: Juan Perón elected president of Argentina .. helped by his wife “Evita”
1947 - 53: Women gain universal suffrage (the right to vote) in Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, and El Salvador
& Mexico
1948: Organization of American States (OAS) formed .. like the EU (European Union)
1948: Organization of American States formed.
1950: Jacobo Arbenz elected president in Guatemala. Pace of reforms accelerates, including expropriation of United Fruit
Company banana lands.
1952: The National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) comes to power in Bolivia. Under the leadership of Víctor Paz
Estenssoro, tin mines are nationalized and the next year an agrarian reform program is instituted.
1952: Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. Commonwealth.
1953: Fidel Castro launches a failed uprising at the Moncada Barracks in Santiago, Cuba. He defends his actions with a
speech History Will Absolve Me.
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1954: The CIA overthrows the democratically-elected government of Guatemala; 30 years of military dictatorship,
repression, and violence follow.
1956: US-supported dictator Anastasio Somoza assassinated in Nicaragua.
1957-86: Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier rule Haiti as dictators, with US support.
1959: Triumph of Cuban Revolution
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1960-: CIA plots to depose or assassinate Fidel Castro in what is eventually named "Operation Mongoose."
1961: Eisenhower administration breaks diplomatic relations with Castro in Cuba.
1961: Failed Bag of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
1962: Missile Crisis with the US, Cuba, and the USSR.
1970: Failed Ten Million Ton Harvest.
1961-69: Kennedy's Alliance for Progress tries to bring reform and development to Latin America.
1961: “Bay of Pigs Invasion” .. the U.S. attempts to overthrow the revolutionary Cuban government at the Bay of Pigs. ..
major disaster
1961 (October) … Cuban Missile Crisis … the Cold War .. reaches a crisis point when the Soviet Union (USSR) tries to
put missile on Cuban soil … (Cuba is 90 miles from the United States) … Soviet leader Khrushchev backs down …
missiles never reach Cuba
1964: Military coup ends MNR rule in Bolivia.
1965: US forces, fearing a Communist takeover, occupy Dominican Republic.
1967: Guerrilla hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara is killed in Bolivia while attempting to spark a revolutionary uprising.
1968: A large and important Student Movement ends with police and army firing on students at the Plaza of Tlatelolco in
Mexico City.
1968: Latin American bishops meeting in Medellín, Colombia, embrace liberation theology and announce a 'preferential
option for the poor.
1970: Salvador Allende in Chile elected president in Chile, and becomes the first democratically elected socialist to take
power in Latin America.
1973: CIA-backed coup overthrows Allende in Chile; military government under General Augusto Pinochet kills thousands
of opponents.
1976: On March 24, generals Videla, Massera and Agosti form a military junta in Argentina. Their resulting "guerra sucia"
(Dirty War) lasted until 1983 and killed or "vanished" thousands of people.
1977-80: President Jimmy Carter makes human rights a major goal in his Latin American policy.
1979: Sandinistas take power in Nicaragua
1980: Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) guerrilla warfare (terrorism) starts in Peru.
1980: Archbishop Oscar Romero assassinated in El Salvador for his stance against military repression and human rights
abuses. Guerrillas organize the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).
1982: British victory in the Malvinas/Falklands war leads to the collapse of the military government in Argentina and a
return to civilian rule.
1981: The Reagan Administration begins the contra war against Nicaraguan civilians.
1983: Ronald Reagan orders U.S. forces to invade the island of Grenada to halt Cuban work on an airstrip.
1989: George Bush orders invasion of Panama to capture one-time dictator Manuel Noriega..
1990: The U.S. intervenes in the Nicaraguan election process through covert and overt means. …FSLN loses elections to
Violeta Chamorro in Nicaragua and an elected civilian government takes over from Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
1992: In Guatemala protests strengthen Indigenous-rights movement. Rigoberta Menchú, an Indian leader from
Guatemala, wins Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights work.
1992: Peace agreement ends civil war in El Salvador.
1994: U.S., Mexico, and Canada form NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement.
1994: A rebellion breaks out in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico, led by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
and commanded by a charismatic leader
1996: Peace agreement in Guatemala, but human rights violations continue.
1998: Augusto Pinochet, former dictator in Chile (1973-1990) is arrested in England on charges of human rights
violations.
1999: Transfer of the Canal Zone from U.S. to Panamanian control.
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