Modern Latin America Midterm (UMBC)

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Simón Bolívar

1783-1830, Venezuelan statesman: leader of revolt of South American colonies against Spanish rule.

Neocolonialism

Also called economic imperialism, this is the domination of newly independent countries by foreign business interests that causes colonial-style economies to continue, which often caused monoculture (a country only producing one main export like sugar, oil, etc).

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Considered the patron saint of Americas mary appeared to juan diego in the rural hills of Mexico. Is portrayed as a mestizo woman. Evidence of Spanish and Indigenous culture fusing together.

Rionegro Constitution

In effect from 1863 to 1885, the constitution, produced by an all-Liberal assembly at Rionegro, Antioquia, was the maximum expression of Colombian federalism, outstripping its already federalist predecessor of 1858. Colombia's nine sovereign states were permitted to raise armies, set electoral laws, and do most anything else of consequence; the federal president was limited to a nonrenewable two-year term, and he was indirectly elected by the states. The document's libertarian bent, providing for absolute freedom of the press (including libel) and unrestricted traffic in arms, led the French novelist Victor Hugo to deem it a constitution for a "nation of angels." Conservatives, and many Liberals, blamed the document for Colombia's persistent instability and underdevelopment. In January 1886 President Rafael Núñez, after crushing a Liberal revolt, declared that the 1863 constitution had "ceased to exist"; its successor, in force until 1991, reverted to a centralist and quasi-authoritarian model.

Gran Colombia

Independent state created in South America as a result of military successes of Simon Bolívar; existed only until 1830, at which time Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador became separate nations.

Porfirato

Long period in which Porfirio Diaz, part indigenous, ruled (dictator/oligarchy) from 1876 to 1911 . His regime embodied neocolonialism in Mexico. He invited international investment into the country in which he used the money to consolidate Mexico. The import/export trade increased about 10 times under his rule. Caudillos were bought off. More public jobs were made for the middle class. He subsidized the press and jailed those who spoke against him. Railroads were built.

United Fruit Company

Most important foreign economic concern in Guatemala during the 20th century; attempted land reform aimed at United Fruit caused U.S. intervention in Guatemalan politics leading to ouster of reform government in 1954

Peninsulares

Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.

William Walker (1824-1860)

Tennessee-born adventurer who made several forays into Central America in the 1850s. After an unsuccessful ploy to take over Baja California in 1853, Walker ventured into Nicaragua, installing himself as president in 1856. His dream of establishing a planter aristocracy in the Central American nation faltered when neighboring Central American nations allied against him. Walker met his fate before a Honduran firing squad in 1860.

Plan of Iguala (1821)

The independence plan written by Augustin de Iturbide that made him Emperor of Mexico, promised equal rights of all Mexicans, & required Mexicans to be Catholic.

patronage politics

The use of government resources to reward individuals for their electoral support. (p. 381)

Maximilian I of Mexico

This man (6 July 1832 - 19 June 1867) was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire. After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy. Many foreign governments, including that of the United States, refused to recognize his administration. This helped to ensure the success of Republican forces led by Benito Juárez, and this man was captured and executed in 1867. Though criticized as naïve and indecisive, this man is often praised by historians due to his liberal reforms, his genuine desire to help the people of Mexico, his refusal to desert his loyal followers, and his personal bravery during the siege of Querétaro. He has been highly praised even by historians who believe he had no business becoming involved in Mexican affairs.

Ariel by Rodo

Written by Jose Enrique Rodo and contrasted the spirituality of Hispanic culture with the materialism of the United States.

Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism

a book written in 1845 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento that explained how and why Buenos Aires needed to bring discipline to the disorderly

Federalism

a form of government in which power is divided between the federal, or national, government and the states

Canudos

a locality in northeastern Brazil, led by the "prophet" Antonio Conselheiro, that resisted the authority of the new Brazilian Republic in the 1890s. In 1897, the federal government destroyed Canudos to restore order, massacring most of its inhabitants.

rubber

a tough elastic polymeric substance made from the latex of a tropical plant or synthetically.

João I

also called John of Aviz, was King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role in Portugal's victory in a succession war with Castile, preserving his country's independence and establishing the Aviz (or Joanine) dynasty on the Portuguese throne. His long reign of 48 years, the most extensive of all Portuguese monarchs, saw the beginning of Portugal's overseas expansion.

Lerdo Law

called for the forced sale of most properties held by the Roman Catholic Church and by municipal and state governments. The Church could retain only the buildings it used for its operations (churches, monasteries, seminary buildings); governments could keep only government offices, jails, and school buildings. Other property, which had been used to generate income for the Church and for local governments, was to be sold with the proceeds going into the national treasury.

José Martí

led the fight for Cuba's independence from Spain from 1895 through the Spanish-American War. Was also a poet and a journalist who was in exile in New York.

Caudillo

military dictator in Latin America.There were a number of strongmen who went beyond raw struggles for power and its spoils and established "integrative dictatorships". These regimes attempted to curtail centrifugal forces, often termed "federalism", whereby regions or states of a nation-state had more autonomy, and instead to establish the hegemony of the central government.