UNIT 3

Central America and the Caribbean

Regions

• Central America and the Caribbean: Haiti, Cuba, Guatemala, Panama

Invaded primarily by Spain

• Natives were conquered and enslaved which impacted a change in language so that most people in Central America speak Spanish, change the religion to mostly Catholicism, and the Spanish brought their culture like architecture and clothing

• Lands were colonized by Spain and France– Haiti was conquered by France

• Past conflicts as defined by historical challenges had an impact on the current economic, social, and/or political life in the contemporary societies– Cold War sanctions on Cuba due to their

Communist government and human rights abuses

– Revolution and minimally effective government (kleptocracy) in Haiti

Geographic factors

• Early Maya settled in the mountains because of rich natural resources; those populations still there instead of large cities now because they are difficult to reach

• Mild climate, proximity to water, natural resources, and fertile soil are the geographic factors for patterns of population

Geographic features responsible for the location of economic activities

• Rivers – trade• Panama Canal – transportation of goods, opened

up trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans• Seacoasts (ports)– Cuba and Haiti in key positions during colonial era for

protection and tradeFertile soil/mild climate (agriculture)

Haiti – sugarConservation policies, government regulation of trade,

and guidelines and laws related to global change

Geographic factors that influence society’s ability to control territory

• Location and physical features– Panama’s crucial location on trade route so as to avoid sailing

around South America– Panama Canal opened trade between the Atlantic and

Pacific OceanPanama lost control over canal because of larger economic interestsPanamanian government has difficulty controlling its internal territory because the natural rivers are not navigable.

The location of Haiti and Cuba causes them to have high cost to ship goods overseas to trade

Effects of physical environmental processes on Earth’s surface

• Earthquake – Haiti (2010)– Can cause tsunamis, landslides, avalanches, fires,

soil liquefaction, and floods

Ways people have modified the physical environment

• Transportation infrastructure – building canal for trade

• Large-scale agriculture – removing forests for plantation sugar in Haiti

• Many Central Americans have modified their environment in order to improve their lifestyle, the peasants have burned down the rainforest in order to clear land for farming.

Ways factors of production influence economies

• Natural resources – rich soil in Haiti for large-scale agriculture drew interest from those who wanted to extract resources

• An uneducated work force accounts for the lack of development in many Latin American countries today.

• Capital is the most lacking factor in the economy of Haiti.

Problems and issues that arise when factors of production are in short supply

• Labor – slave system; now a relatively uneducated work force

• Capital – Countries remain underdeveloped – Haiti today due to lack of natural resources, little foreign commerce or trade, and dependence on foreign non-governmental organizations.

Free enterprise, socialist, and communist economies

• A free enterprise system is a market economy in which individuals depend on supply, demand, and prices to determine the answers to 4 economic questions. The system has 4 characteristics: economic freedom, voluntary exchange, private property, and profit motive. Private ownership of goods and services

• A communist system is a political economy in which factors of production are collectively owned and resources and means of production, no economic freedom, and no profit motive. Government, rather than individuals, own and control the resources used in production as well as the means of producing those resources

• Benefits of a U.S. free enterprise system:– Individuals and businesses have the freedom to

operate and compete (minimum government regulation)

– Private ownership (land, minerals, manufacturing plants, goods, and services)

– Opportunities for innovativeness and inventiveness

– Opportunities to earn a profit

Economic Interdependence

• Nations increase their interdependence by trading more with each other.

Examples of Limited and Unlimited Government

• In a limited government led by the citizens, everyone, including all authority figures, must obey the laws. Constitutions, statements of rights, or other laws define the limits of those in power so they cannot take advantage of their elected, appointed or inherited positions.– Limited – U.S– Multi party, free elections– Limitations placed on rulers by laws/constitution– Freedom of speech and other human rights

• In an unlimited government, control is placed solely with the ruler and his/her appointees, and there are no limits imposed on his/her authority– When a country moves from a limited to unlimited

government a loss of human rights often occurs• Unlimited – Cuba under Castro– One-party rule, no elections or controlled elections– Written laws suspended or not upheld– Repression of rights

Governments ruled by one, few, or many

• Rule by one – monarchy or dictatorship– A single ruler controls government and claims the

responsibility due to divine or hereditary right. Either birth of God determines who will rule, the people do not. Dictators or despots also maintain complete control of government in their countries – unlimited government

– Ex. Cuba, North Korea

• Rule by a few – small group has power – oligarchy– Government with rule by a few also occurs when a

group of persons seize power after an overthrow of the previous government. The new rulers constitute a junta – usually an unlimited government

– Ex. Iran, Nepal, Vietnam

• Rule by many – people have the power – limited government– A government ruled by many is a republic or a

democracy– Ex. United States, Germany, Israel

Culture and the common traits that unify a culture region

• Culture – the way of life of a group of people who share similar beliefs and customs (ex. Maya)

• Culture region – a way of dividing the world into areas that a particular form of government, religion, economic system, language, or traditions predominate

• Central America – different indigenous groups in history, but shared colonial past.

Impact of Cultural diffusion on individuals and world societies

• Guatemala – Positive impact – Maya spread throughout region,

strong cultural traits still there; Columbian exchange; Spanish brought global trade networks, language, religion, government

– Negative impact – subjugation of Maya, racism still apparent today

Haiti – still has many of the characteristics of France, the country that conquered its people years age

Institutions basic to all cultures

• Religion • Education• Language• Traditions• Holidays