History of Latin America - Colonialism, Revolution, Independence

history of Latin America

Table of Contents

Introduction
The background
- The indigenous world and the word “Indian”
- Types of Western Hemisphere societies
  - Sedentary peoples
  - Semisedentary peoples
  - Nonsedentary peoples
- The Iberians
  - Cities
  - Family
  - Ethnic diversity and its results
  - The overseas tradition
Early Latin America
- Spanish America
  - The Caribbean phase
    - The city
    - Indians and Spaniards
    - A new Spanish subculture
  - Conquest in the central mainland areas
    - Conquest of Mexico
    - Conquest of Peru
  - Conquest society in the central mainland areas
    - The central-area encomienda
    - Artisans
    - Spanish women
    - Africans
    - Indians among Spaniards
    - Commerce
    - Mining
    - Institutional, legal, and intellectual developments
    - Trunk lines
  - Postconquest indigenous society
  - The central areas in the mature period
  - The Spanish fringe
- Brazil
  - The early period
  - The sugar age
  - The south
- Spanish America in the age of the Bourbons
  - Economy and society
  - Transformation of the east coast
    - Argentina
    - Venezuela
    - The Caribbean islands
  - The Bourbon reforms
- Brazil after 1700
- Preindependence phenomena
The independence of Latin America
The wars of independence, 1808–26
- Spanish America
  - The southern movement in South America
  - The north and the culmination of independence
  - Mexico and Central America
- Brazil
Building new nations, 1826–50
- Political models and the search for authority
  - Constitutions
  - Disorder and caudillismo
- Economic obstacles
- Social change
  - Mobility and hierarchy
  - Social institutions
The new order, 1850–1910
- Political and economic transitions, 1850–70
- The liberal oligarchic age, 1870–1910
  - Export economies
  - Capitalism and social transitions
  - Oligarchies in power
New order emerging, 1910–45
- Economic and social developments
  - World war and world trade
  - The emerging force of nationalism
  - Population and social change
- Challenges to the political order
  - The Mexican Revolution
  - Broadening of political participation
  - Expanding role of the state
  - Socialism, communism, fascism
  - Good Neighbor Policy and World War II
Latin America since the mid-20th century
- The postwar world, 1945–80
  - Economic agenda and patterns of growth
  - Developments in social policy
  - The United States and Latin America in the Cold War era
  - Impact of the Cuban Revolution
  - Political alternatives
    - Movement toward democracy
    - The advent of populism
    - Christian Democracy
    - Bureaucratic authoritarianism
- Latin America at the end of the 20th century
  - Debt crisis
  - Return to democracy
  - A shift to neoliberalism
  - Religious trends
  - A changing society

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Spanish viceroyalties and Portuguese territories in the Americas, 1780

South America's new transportaion projects.

For Students

Latin America summary

Read Next

What Is the Difference Between South America and Latin America?

What’s the Difference Between Hispanic and Latino?

Merchandise for sale for Mexican Independence Day, Mexico City, Mexico. (souvenirs)

¡Viva México!

Discover

9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet

10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C. c. 1921-1923. Physicist

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Science Celebrity

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

The first decades of the second half of the 19th century represented the beginnings of a fundamental shift in the still-young nations of Latin America. At the heart of this transition was a growing orientation of the economies of the region to world markets. As Europe and North America experienced a second wave of industrialization, they began to reevaluate the economic potential of Latin America; the region looked to them increasingly like a vital source of raw materials for the expanding economies of the North Atlantic. To take advantage of the possibilities that this conjuncture opened, elites in Latin America ...(100 of 38230 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.