Why is Latin America Known as Latin

America?

Unit: Latin America

Mexico, The

Caribbean, Central America, and South America make up Latin America

Latin America is located in the Western Hemisphere and in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres

Where is Latin America?

The most commonly

spoken language in Latin America is Spanish

Throughout Latin America, there are different dialects of Spanish

English is also a major language in Latin America

Language of Latin America

The major religion in Latin America is

Christianity

Religion of Latin America

Hernando Cortes

landed on the Mexican coast in 1519, this became known as the Spanish Conquest

Gold and silver contributed to the success of the Spanish empire

The Spanish brought their language and their religion

Colonization of Mexico

Central America is a cultural hearth – a place

from which important ideas spread After the Spanish conquered Mexico, they

conquered Central America and ruled until the 19th century

Although Central America was ruled by Spain, the Caribbean was settled and claimed by many European powers

The Spanish, French, British, Dutch, and Danish all claimed islands in the Caribbean

Colonial Central America

The Incas built their civilization

in the Andes Mountain region in South America

The Spanish conquered the Incas with the hopes of claiming the gold and silver

The Spanish forced the natives to work and also forced their language and religion on the natives

Spanish rule lasted for almost 300 years

Colonization of South America

The Portuguese colonized Brazil beginning in

1500 The Portuguese conquered Brazil in the hope

of finding gold or silver When they did not find gold or silver, they

cleared the forests and created sugar plantations

The Portuguese put the natives to work and also brought in slaves from Africa to help work the sugar plantations

Colonization of Brazil

In 1821, Mexico achieved independence from

Spain Because Spain controlled Mexico, Mexico

controlled Central America. So, when Mexico became independent, Central America declared its independence in 1823

Many nations in South America gained their independence in the 1800s, but hundreds of years of colonialism did have effects such as strong militaries, underdeveloped economies, and social class divisions

Brazil remained a colony of Portugal until 1822

Independence