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Latin American History

Latin American History


Historical Background

The territory of Latin America is believed to have been initially populated by communities intersecting the Bering Strait more than ten thousands years ago. In the course of several centuries, populace extended over the entire continent. Relatively soon, America's huge tropical rain forests, mounts, plains and coastline turned into a residence for millions new-comers. Certain factions created permanent villages, such as the Muiscas and the Tairona groupings. Moreover, the Muiscas of Colombia, the Quechuas of Peru and the Aymaras of Bolivia were the main Indian factions that established lastingly.

The locality became home for a lot of native residents and sophisticated cultures, incorporating the renowned Maya, Aztecs, Inca, Toltecs, Caribs and Tupi. The period of the Maya civilization began in 250; the further two distinguished societies, the Aztecs and Incas, came out later – in the beginning of the fourteenth and in the middle of fifteenth century, correspondingly (Bakewell, 2003).

Along with the appearance of the explorers from European continent, subsequent to Christopher Columbus's journeys, the native privileged societies like the Aztecs and Incas were defeated by the surveyors' authority. Later, Hernan Cortes shattered the former civilization utilizing support of indigenous groupings that countered with Aztecs elite, at the same time as Francisco Pizarro eradicated the Inca's exceptional culture. Furthermore, powerful states of Europe, particularly Spain and Portugal, transformed the territory into their colonies.

Therefore, when the sixteenth century came to an end, Europe subjugated huge locales of the central and southern parts the Americas, expanding into the present-day U.S. borders. The traditions and administrative system of these colonizers were forced, leading to the Roman Catholic Church developing into a most important financial and politics-related authority, in addition to being formal religion of the territory.

Maladies passed by the invaders, such as smallpox and measles, eliminate a substantial amount of the local populace; outbreaks of these illnesses decrease their number drastically in comparison with the preceding populace. Although there is no strict assessment of the quantity of indigenous people who died from the outlandish infections, however, some scholars present diverse statistics, ranging from twenty to eighty five percent of fatal ends (Bakewell, 2003). Because of the deficiency of written documentation, precise facts are tough to validate. What is more, a great number of natives were compelled to labor in cultivated areas and mines.

By the end of the eighteenth century, Spanish and Portuguese supremacy vanished, in its place British and French authority came into view; the new period for the Latin America was to draw closer.


Revolutions

The insurgence of the British settlement in northern part of America was provoked by several tax regulations and Acts, which were opposed by the Americans. These proceedings incensed citizens, and initiated the American Revolution, which resulted in the wave of rebellions in such states as France, Haiti and, what relates to our subject, Latin America. Inhabitants of America were successful in creating their own governmental system owing to the influence of Enlightenment ideas, and due to the fact that they had been administering their life on the federation plane for several decades prior to the mutiny.
As to the Latin America, one should mention Miguel Hidalgo – a celebrated person who headed the triumphant liberty movement of Mexican country. Another significant character was Simon Bolivar who facilitated several revolts. Being an affluent officer, this man encouraged and motivated his comrade from South America to cooperate with him in combating against the Spain. In the course of five years, Bolivar attained a sequence of conquests in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.

As an outcome of these victorious mutinies, the President of the United States James Monroe requested a draft of the Monroe Doctrines from the Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. The created document claimed that the United States would not accept any intrusion in the Western part of the world from the states of Europe. This resort was implemented in order to preserve the newly gained freedom entitlements that people like Bolivar and Hidalgo struggled for (Gilmore, 2000).

What is more, this act was conducted as a defensive undertaking against the extensive marine power of Europe possessed at that time. Since Great Britain did not have much to lose in Americas to lose, the kingdom corroborated the United States' course of action in the Latin locality in order to preclude other states of Europe from regain their strength there.

Consequentially, the liberated areas were combined in a novel state called Gran Colombia, which later fell apart because of the difference in political questions and district ambitions. The conception of more definite hemispheric alliance in the American territory was originally suggested by Simon Bolivar who during the 1826 Congress of Panama offered forming a confederation of American states having common armed forces, a reciprocal security contract, and one parliamentary congregation for all nations.

Although such parties as commissioners from the United Provinces of Central America, Gran Colombia (which at that time contained the current states of Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela), Mexico, and Peru, eventually only Gran Colombia constituents authorize the pact identified as "Treaty of Union, League, and Perpetual Confederation". The aspiration of Simon shortly came to nothing irreversibly with the commencement of civil war in Gran Colombia, the breakdown of Central America, and the development of nationalistic rather than confederation attitudes in the novel self-regulating states of Latin America.

Bolivar discarded all endeavors to make him a sovereign of the newly autonomous territories and toiled till the last days of his life (he died in 1830 – the year when Gran Colombia collapsed) for the sake of freedom and republican administration. Simon Bolivar tried to form an American-like regime. Obstacles concerning geographical settings made this idea unattainable, though. It should be noted, that Latin America never managed to generate a cohesive government, for the reason that there existed too many military leader, and no civilian ones. Therefore, due to every new head of state who got to be in command entering from armed forces (Caudillos), innumerable revolts occurred, which never permitted Latin America to develop into a unified nation.

Throughout the nineteenth century, Latin American states had to deal with numerous obstacles and tribulations in regards to the economy's advancement. Despite the fact that these countries were now politically autonomous from their former colonizer states, Spain and Portugal, a great part of them continued to exist in a state of financially reliance.
Organization of American States.

Yet, the current situation is different. The issue of district commonality and collaboration again was brought up to the front position in 1889 - 1890, when the First International Conference of American States took place. Eighteen states congregate in Washington, D.C. and decided to establish the International Union of American Republics, authorized to be operated by a stable administration entitled the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics. The administration was given another name in the course of the Second International Conference ten years later - the International Commercial Bureau. The secretariat of the 1890 stands for the moment of foundation, to which current Organization of American States and its General Secretariat track their initiation.

National states were propagates throughout the whole territory, nevertheless a great number of the newly formed countries fell down into disorder caused by politics and were occupied by authoritarian or military regime; this state of affairs remained and existed in the twentieth century. In the year of 1990 a drift in the direction of egalitarian government recurred once more. This resulted in some constructive and, hopefully, perpetual changes: in socialist-run nations numerous state-owned businesses were went through the process of privatization, and attempts concerning district economic incorporation were advanced.


Industry

Peru's financial system points toward its diverse geography - a dry coastal area, the Andes Mountains that are deeper in the territory, and tropical areas that have borders with states of Colombia and Brazil. Moreover, rich mineral resources are discovered in the locale of mountains, at the same time as Peru's aquatic resources endow with exceptional fishing areas. On the other hand, the supreme dependence on mineral resources and metal assets leads to the country's economical condition to rise and fall in regards to world prices. Furthermore, deficiency of adequate communications discourages trade and investment (Aguayo and Guisan, 2005).

When reviewing Mexican state of affairs, one should start with the fact that the country conducts a free market economy that has just crossed the threshold of the trillion dollar category. Mexico controls a combination of contemporary and old-fashioned businesses and crop growing, progressively more subjugated by the private sector. Current government regulations have extended competition in the spheres of infrastructure - airports, seaports, railroads, telecommunications. The concentration on electricity generation and natural gas circulation has also been out on the first places.

The state of Ecuador possesses extensive petroleum wealth, which have been estimated to bring about forty percent of the nation's export income and one-fourth of central direction funds proceeds in the course of the previous years. In the same way as in Peru, instability in world market rates can have a considerable effect on the national plane.
Colombia's financial system has been on a revitalization inclination in the course of the several years in spite of a severe armed clash that occurred in the country. Its main industry is coffee, for which Colombia is celebrated around the globe. Nowadays, coffee prices have been picked up from the really low state due to the fact that the Colombian coffee industry has been set to chase larger market segments in developed states like the United States of America.

As to Chile, the nation has a market-oriented financial system distinguished by a great intensity in trading with foreign states. The current Gross Domestic Product's development has profited from elevated rates for copper, continuous export income which is mainly gained from forestry, fishing, and mining, and highly raised inflow of investing (Aguayo and Guisan, 2005).

Chilean administration extended its venerable tradition of open trading by the means of authorizing a free trade settlement with the United States, which became active on January 1st, 2004. Nevertheless, the factor of unemployment continues to be persistently intense.
Bolivia, being for a long period of time one of the poverty-stricken and least progressive Latin American states, converted the course of its financial system subsequent to experiencing a devastating economic disaster in the beginning of the 1980s. Real Gross Domestic Product augmentation in the period of 2003 to 2005 was mainly achieved due to the boosted requirement of natural gas in bordering state of Brazil. Although GDP was positive, it was still lower than degree observed in the 1990s. The state of Bolivia continues being reliant on support from overseas – these are usually, joint lenders and foreign governments (Aguayo and Guisan, 2005).

Having a feature of containing a great and highly enhanced farming, mining, industrial, and service segments, the economical system of Brazil prevails over that of all other South American states and is escalating its attendance in international arena. Moreover, productivity increase, which should be attributed to agricultural progress, has played a role in the rush forward exporting, leading to Brazil exceeding the preceding year's registered export amount.

The state of Argentina gains not only from prosperous natural resources, but also from a very educated populace, an export-adjusted farming area, and a varied industrial foundation.

Trinidad and Tobago is the Latin America's major provider of oil and gas resources, and the primary trader of natural gas to the United States of America.


Religion

The principal religion of the Latin American territory is Roman Catholicism. The Americas, especially Brazil, are involved in advancing the quasi-socialist Roman Catholic association recognized as Liberation Theology. Additionally, in Latin America one will find such churches as the Evangelical, Protestant, Mormon, Pentecostal; such creeds as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Baha'i; moreover, several native religious systems are still active nowadays. There is a variety of Afro-Latin American practices, the most widespread among these being Macumba and Santeria. Moreover, which are ancient voodoo rituals are also carried out. In regards to the religion, which in prospect will be more popular, it is Evangelic Church, the significance of which is getting higher.


Formation of Culture

When talking about cultural environment of Latin America, it is important to note the abounding mixture of regional ethnic traditions is a result of numerous distinct influences, received principally from the following sources. Great impact was made by the indigenous cultures of the populace that occupied the territory before the influx of the colonizers from Europe. Consequently, one should mention the effect that European cultures had – namely, Spain, Portugal and France.

Their influence can be observed in any manifestation of the area's affluent artistic life, which embraces painting, literature and music, and within the sphere of science and political model. However, the most durable impact that Europe brought was language. In addition to the defined colonizers, Italy and Britain might be referred to as states that contributed to the current Latin American culture (Gilmore, 2000).

The last but no the least tradition that effected Americas is African, which was created in the course of a long period of slavery in the New World. Population originating from Africa has shaped the ethnic content of Latin America and the Caribbean. This influence is represented in native dances like the well-known rumba, merengue, mambo, samba, plena, salsa, and cumbia to mention a few.


Art

As was previously stated, the advance of Latin American painting originated initially from the manner conveyed by the baroque-style artists from Spain, Portugal and France; they, in turn, were going after the tendencies and techniques brought by talents from Italy. This concentration on European traditions in the sphere of art, started to disappear gradually in the beginning of the twentieth century, at the same time as inhabitants of the Americas began to recognize the distinctiveness of their nation and culture and set off to pursuing their own course.

From that point of time, the artistic tradition of Latin America was significantly instigated by the Constructivist Movement, which was brought into being in the state of Russia by Vladimir Tatlin in approximately 1913. This conception extended promptly from Russia to European territory, and eventually reached the Americas. Such masters as Joaquin Torres Garcia and Manuel Rendon have been attributed with introducing the artistic style of Constructivism to Latin Americans.

Further imperative artistic idea that took place in the Americas is created in Mexico manner called Muralismo; such universally celebrated personalities as Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo and David Alfaro Siqueiros stood in for this concept (Gilmore, 2000). A great range of the most remarkable Muralist creations displayed in the prestigious museums of New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and, of course, Mexico.

Another Mexican-born painter Frida Kahlo is known around the world and is without a doubt the most recognized and prominent artist of the Americas. The theme of all her works was Kahlo's own life and the reach Mexican traditions and people, which she conveyed by the means of different styles bringing together Realism, Symbolism and Surrealism. Frida’s creations are estimated as having the highest value among all the paintings of Latin America.


Literature

When speaking about Latin American literature and its development, one cannot avoid stating that it acquired its unique distinctiveness, advancing with the facilitation from the side of intense European and, a bit later, British and American inspirations. It is highly popular worldwide, and the most well-known writers are the Nobel Prize holders Colombia-born Gabriel Garcia Marquez (for the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude), Mexico-born Octavio Paz (for The Labyrinth of Solitude), and the natives of Chili Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda (Gilmore, 2000).

Jorge Luis Borges, who represents the Argentina in the sphere of literature, is an important person as well.

There is a great number of prominent Latin American authors, yet the limitations of this paper do not allow me to name all of them. Therefore, only some of them will be mentioned additionally: Isabel Allende, Mario Benedetti, Julio Cortazar, Elena Poniatowska, Alfonso Reyes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, Eduardo Galeano, Jose Donoso, Roque Dalton, and Mario Vargas Llosa (Gilmore, 2000).


Music

Music holds a special pace in the heart and souls of Latin Americans. One of its chief attributes is multiplicity, which ranges from the vigorous beats of Central America and the Caribbean to the more sober melodies of southern parts of the Americas. A different trait of Latin American musical tradition is its unusual combination of the assortment of styles that came to this region and grew to be highly significant; these influences are, again, stretching from the Baroque style of Spain and Europe to the diverse stresses of the African rhythms.

For example, such Hispano-Caribbean compositions as salsa and merengue that were created in the Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican areas, are modes that have been deeply impacted by tempos and tunes of Africa.

Further central musical styles contain tango (Argentina and Uruguay), cumbia and vallenato (Colombia), ranchera (Mexico), candombe (Uruguay), punta (Central America), zouk, soca and calypso (Antilles), and a range of genres from ethnicities that existed before Colombia, which are prevalent in the Andean district. When mentioning Brazilian music culture, one should mention that traditional bossa nova was created by mixing samba, choro, North-American jazz, and even classical music of Europe. What is more, in recent times, kompa music, which is from Haiti, has grown to be highly popular.
However, perhaps the major input to universal musical heritage has been brought through folkloric melodies, where the real essence of the Latin American and Caribbean nations is conveyed. Such figures as Mercedes Sosa, Jorge Negrete, Violeta Parra, Caetano Veloso, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Victor Jara are appraised by not only the natives of the Americas, but also on the international level for the sincerity and authenticity of their music (Gilmore, 2000).

Along with it, reggaeton, a combination of the Jamaican rhythm with rap tradition and Hispano-Caribbean melody, also turns out to be commonly accepted by masses, regardless of the debate in regards to the themes of compositions, dance movements and video tracks. One can observe its intense popularity particularly in populace having an immigrant traditions impact. These are Hispanic-originated new-comers to the United States of America that have settled in Florida and New York; besides these are citizens of such areas of the Americas where short-term relocation to the States is widespread, for an instance, Guatemala and Mexican locales.






Reference List
Aguayo, E., Guisan, M. (2005). Industry and Economic Development in Latin America.
Applied Econometrics and International Development, 5.
Bakewell, P. (2003) A History of Latin America. Blackwell Publishing.
Gilmore, J. (2000). Faces of the Caribbean. New York University Press.
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Posted by: Helen P. Nash

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