Quiz 2

Agave

● native to regions of Mexico - Perennial Plant ● The leaves produce fiber that produces Henequen ● Takes 2-3 years to reach maturity ● 2-4 feet in height ● Productive lifespan of 25 years ● makes fiber, but fiber had limited use. Fiber

Fordlandia

A district in the Brazilian state of Para. It was established by Henry Ford as an industrial town intended to be inhabited by many people to secure a source of cultivated rubber for cars (attempt to establish a permanent rubber plantation presence in Brazil). He signed an agreement with the government of Brazil to lease him 2.5 million acres, in exchange for a portion share of profits. Ford's ideas was to build the biggest plantation area. Ford converted his Brazilian workers into North American type workers. over time, his system failed: the trees never grew in the area because of amazon's heavy rains, and the native workers didn't respond well to Ford's demanding working lifestyle.

Alfalfa

Argentina was a leader in many different areas of agriculture, one being alfalfa. In 1914, alfalfa overtook wheat as the largest crop in Argentina. The frigorificos required higher quality meat, so ranchers planted alfalfa for feed to improve their stock; this was crucial in the supply chain of beef.

Linseed Oil

Argentina was a leader in many different areas of agriculture, one being linseed oil which was the third largest crop by 1913 (1 million tons were exported). Linseed oil is made out of flax which is used to produce solvents. It was used in plastics and in pigments. The world developed different needs for solvents so Linseed oil became a big factor. Linseed oil was a grain that drove economic growth.

Armour and Swift

Armour and Swift were meat packing companies that dominated the beef industry in the US. In 1907, Armour and Swift went to Argentina. They delivered beef from Argentina to the east coast packing slaughterhouses at a much cheaper price. brought modern meat packing processes into Argentina by making it possible to slaughter beef and send it chilled using modern refrigeration. Chilled beef became the standard of exported beef. These packing houses were key elements in the beef commodity chain. This company took over distribution of beef in the US so people would either sign with them or they would be put out of business.

Belem

Belem is the capital and largest city of the state of Para. The city became the main exporting centre of the Amazon Rubber industry. The boom of rubber (late 1800s) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil, being related to the extraction and commercialization of rubber. It encouraged the growth of Belem, however, the regional boom of rubber did not translate to having a national impact

Conquest of the Desert

Conquest of the desert was a military campaign in the 1870's by Argentinian army to try to establish dominance over Pampa, where the indigenous people resided. The army pushed out the indigenous people and opened up a vast amount of territory in Pampa for agricultural pursuits. This led to the rise of large estates of rich and arable land good for cattle raising, further advancing the production of beef. By 1900, about 35% of farmers owned their own lands.

Baring Brothers

By 1890, 1/3 of all British investments in Latin America was in Argentina. One big contributor to that was the Baring Brothers (1762-1995). It was a British bank and held most of Argentine debt (from GOA's crazy spending in the 1880s). In 1887 they attempted to float a loan for a water system in Buenos Aires, but the loan failed to get subscribers. This triggered a fear of Argentine debt in London, which continued to spread globally. Confidence in Argentina fell, as did confidence in the rest of the Latin American countries. Years of slow growth ensue. Lending didn't resume until 1889. The Baring financial crisis in 1890 affected many countries, and particularly had big effect in Argentina (Argentine GDP falls 11%) and the uk.

Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear discovered the vulcanization of rubber (patent finalized in 1844), which allowed rubber to withstand heat and cold. He helped revolutionize the rubber industry in Brazil because it was then possible to make tires, shoes, erasers etc. Goodyear was the reason for the bicycle boom in the 1880s, that swept the US and and western Europe. He was someone who made a lot of people very rich but ended up dying in a lot of debt. However, Goodyear's invention is an example of how a technological break through opens the door to a major new commodity.

Minas Gerais

Coffee production in Brazil is responsible for a third of all coffee, making Brazil by far the world's largest producer. Brazilian coffee prospered in the early 19th century. One of the three main locations where coffee is produced is Minas Gerais. The growth here led to Brazil's absolutely dominant position in world coffee production

Convertibility

Convertibility is being able to convert your currency into a world currency, generally from gold. Argentine peso is a currency nobody wants except for Argentina. Argentina went back and forth from paper peso to gold standard. This created a stable economy and there was confidence coming from foreign investors. When Argentina was in the gold standard, the economy grew faster. Argentina suffered after the war because there was a loss in confidence in their economy leading to weaknesses in their export model: the currency board set negative fiscal and monetary policies that were non-convertible.

Currency Boards

Currency boards are entities set up by a state to handle its monetary policy to fix exchange rates of the country and control the rate. If the rate is convertible, can convert all paper pesos into gold. The currency board in Argentina was a reason for weakness in their export model, because it set negative fiscal and monetary policies that were non-convertible.

Colonos

Immigrants who moved to Sao Paulo were called colonos. Colonos worked on the plantations. Colonos were able to use the land they had to produce other crops to sustain themselves. A portion of what they received through production was given to the land owner. Colonos helped Brazil achieve huge amounts of revenue through the coffee industry.

International Harvester Corp

In 1903, most of the major agricultural machine companies were consolidated into this enormous corporation. The corp made machines and made the twine. They had the power to set the price. The Corp buys henequen raw and makes it into binder twine. The combined harvesters that came into use in the 20th cent. Stopped the use of Henequen. International harvester was both the processes of henequen and cordage and manufacturer of machines that were competing against themselves

Antioquia

In the late 1880s, coffee grew in a region called Antioquia in northwest Colombia, lying mostly within the Andes mountains. During the colonial period there were gold mines in this area that started an economic awakening in Colombia (1820). The capital that was collected by merchants in the gold trade was lent out and invested in agriculture and stimulated coffee (which grew in the late 1880's in Antioquia). Antioquian families migrated all over the central part of this region and were considered trailblazers as they worked together on small plots to grow coffee. Coffee was transformative in Colombia beginning in the late 19th century.

Juan Valdez

Juan Veldez was the symbol of the coffee industry created by the coffee federation of Colombia. His image portrayed a hard-working, family man, and self-made entrepreneur and he represented Colombian coffee growers and their traditions. Coffee was transformative in Colombia beginning in the late 19th century.

Arabica

One of the two most commonly grown coffee plants is arabica. It is much more desirable than robusta coffee but is more difficult to grow. Arabica coffee contributed to 60% of world output. It is a high altitude coffee. Coffee helped promote economic growth in Latin America particularly in Brazil (but also Colombia). It has stimulated effect for economy and has sustained transformative effect

Robusta

One of the two most commonly grown coffee plants is robusta. Robusta coffee is a low altitude coffee and easier to grow than arabica. It contributed to 25% of the world output. Brazil is the only country that produces both Robusta and Arabica. Coffee is a commodity and has a very profitable record. In 1929, coffee counted for 71% of all Brazil's exports

Manaus

Manaus is the capital city of Amazonas and is located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Manaus exports rubber which made it the richest city in South American during the late 1800s. The rubber boom encouraged the growth Manaus. Even though rubber had a regional boom, it did not translate to national impact.

Medellin

Medellin became the major industrial center of Colombia. It rose as a center of manufacturing, insurance, energy generation, major industrial city, center of automotive industry, center of food processing, center of services, and massive hydroelectric dams. This industrialization and the rise of other industries were spurred by the transformative effect of coffee. Coffee and industry rose up together in Medellin, and Colombia became one of the most stable and predictable economies in the region.

Pampa

Pampa are the grasslands which are the rich agricultural and cattle raising areas that cover all around Argentina and especially around Buenos Aires. In the l870s the Argentine army pushed out the indigenous people (Conquest of the Desert), which opened up huge areas of Pampa. There was a rise of large estates and speculation - 35% of farmers owned their own land in 1900. Pampa is important because cattle produces beef which had a transformative effect on Argentina's development

Patroes

Patroes played an important role in the rubber production that took place in the amazon of brazil. Patroes gave seringueieros certain territory with a number of trees to tap. They would assign the seringuerios and in exchange for their tapping, patroes would advance money and goods to them. This created a cycle of dependence.

Dependency Theory

Proto-Marxist leftist interpretation: the deck is stacked against Latin America; elites build systems that cannot compete. Explanation of economic development; The dependency theory is the the notion that resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. The only way for Latin America to grow and break the bonds of dependency is a revolution. Theory can be applied to the period of 1880-1914, when Argentina was producing a lot of agricultural products, Argentina was locked into a relationship of dependency with the Europe, especially the UK (but also US). Ultimately the UK was gaining all the benefits and Argentina was not; people believe this was one of the reasons for Argentina's decline.

Cordage

Ropes or cords used to tie sacks that were being exported on ships. Fiber commodity chain: huge explosion in the demand for cordage for ships and maritime use from the 16th century into the early 20th century. Cordage was needed for anything that required sacks to be exported. At the peak of the reaper-binder cordages boom, the Yucatan peninsula supplied 90% of binding materials. Cordage was a key element in exporting products.

Vulcanization

Rubber, which originated in Brazil, is a product that became known to consumers in the early part of the 19th century. Vulcanization is chemical process that was invented by Charles Goodyear in 1844, used to harden rubber. This process involved mixing natural rubber with curatives such as sulfur. He figured out that you could use high temperature steam to maintain rubber quality in the face of heat. Because of vulcanization, it was possible for rubber to produce tires, shoes, and other products thus, it revolutionized the rubber industry in the mid 1800s.

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo which is the largest city in Brazil, is a key growing region for coffee. It had ample land available and its climate is ideal for growing conditions. By the early 20th century, Sao Paulo was producing 2/3 of Brazil's coffee. 2.7 million immigrants moved to Sao Paulo, and these immigrants were called Colonos who worked on the land. Brazil coffee is key to revenue flow for GOB and a central factor in development of São Paulo and nationally

Sisal

Sisal is a Mexican agave with large fleshy leaves, cultivated for fiber production. The plant is native to Central America. It is used to make various products such as twine, ropes etc. used as cordage for export shipments.

Acre

State in northern region of Brazil, which is bordered by Amazonas and Bolivia. It is completely occupied by the amazon rainforest and has an enormous number of valuable rubber trees. Since the early part of the 1800s, Brazilians had been inhabiting the area, using its supply of rubber trees as an important source of income. The Bolivian government tried to regain their control over their area, but the Brazilians stood their ground resulting in a lot of conflict over land and territory.

Para

The Amazon Rubber Boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil. Para, one of the states in Brazil grew tremendously from the rubber industry. Para produced 50% of Brazil's rubber but declined by 1910

Teatro Colon

The Teatro Colon is an opera house in Buenos Aires built in 1908. It represents the spectacular world class city, and reflects the extraordinary growth in Argentina that had occurred before it was surpassed by other countries. Argentina became dependent on Buenos Aires because of the boom in production of agricultural goods, and the Teatro Colon represents the original glory that existed in Buenos Aires.

Frigorifico

The beef industry was revolutionized by the development of the frigorifico which was first recognized in Buenos Aires in 1882. Frigorifico is refrigerated meat-packing plants (slaughterhouses) where workers packed meat for shipment in refrigerator ships to Europe. The frigorificos required higher quality meat, so ranchers planted alfalfa for feed to improve their stock. This chilled beef was the ultimate stage of beef export and because people wanted it, it became the standard. By 1910, the beef industry transformed Argentina as the top leading export.

Repear-binder

The reaper binder was invented in 1872. It binds the stems of small crops into bundles or sheets and was the engine of growth for henequen. There was a need for a strong, cheap binding twine and found that the ideal fiber was henequen, which was in Yucatan. Invention transformed Yucatán from one of Mexico's poorest states to one of the richest. Led to a cordage boom. In 1900, Mexico was supplying majority of the binder twine and the US was 90% of Mexico's demand.

Seringueiros

When considering the commodity chain of rubber, the production started in a natural area in Amazon (rainforest) in Brazil. The production was based on tapping wild trees, which was done by Seringuerios. These were the local, indigenous people who lived in the Amazon jungle. They were given orders from Patroes who would assign them 200-400 trees to tap (form rubber balls) in exchange for money and goods. This created a cycle of dependence.

Yagui

Yagui are indigenous people of Mexico who were used as the labor supply for the Henequen boom. They engaged in conflict with Mexican Gov (1890s) because the Gov. declared Yaqui people were traders and in rebellion with the country. Many were supposed to be executed but then they were forced into lifelong slavery. They were sent south to Yucatan to work the henequen plantations. Henequen boom led to prosperity in the city of Marata but never had a transformative effect.