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Chapter 13. Cultures of Latin America. Culture of Mexico and Central America. The cultures of Mexico and the nations of Central America are very similar yet they each have their own differences that make them unique
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Chapter 13 Cultures of Latin America
Culture of Mexico and Central America • The cultures of Mexico and the nations of Central America are very similar yet they each have their own differences that make them unique • One of the things that makes them similar is that many people who live in these nations are poor farmers known as campesinos • Campesinos: poor farmers • The campesinos are the descendants of Mestizos and Native who lived and worked on hacienda who now are free but are extremely poor • The closest example in the US is that many former slaves were poor for generations after their freedom
Heritage of Mexico and Central America • In Mexico and Central America the old Spanish rules of seperating people remain intact, the wealthy marry the wealthy, the poor marry the poor • At the bottom of these nations has been as continues to be the indigenous people • Indigenous people: descendants of the people who first lived in a region • Indigenous people (Native Americans) make up a strong cultural group in most of Central American nations • People who live in Mexico and Central American nations are either indigenous people or are mestizos
Art and the Church • The art of Mexico reflects a mixture of both Spanish and Native American cultures • In the 1920’s and 30’s the Mexican government paid for artists to paint huge murals on the walls of government buildings • Mural: large painting that tells a story • The Murals of Diego Rivera tell the story of the people of Mexico with a distinct Native American flavor • Religion is very important to the people of Mexico and Central America with 90% of the people being Catholic • Native American Catholicism is a mixture of Christianity and old beliefs from the Aztec and Mayan days
The moving of the peoples • Due to changes in the economy of the nations of Central America people have been forced to leave the areas and flock to factories to find work • Many people move to town along the US and Mexican border to work at factories known as maquiladoras • Maquiladora: border factories that assemble imported parts to make products for export • GM and other American automakers own maquiladoras all over the border • Your average GM worker makes $24-30 per hour plus benefits in the US, in Mexico they make about $5-6 per hour • As a result border towns in Mexico have overflowing populations and cannot hold all the people moving there
The immigration debate • Many people who cannot find work in the maquiladoras often times decide to emigrate to the US • Emigrate: leave one country and settle in another • Many people who emigrate to US only want better jobs and lives for their children these people are known as immigrants • Immigrant: a person who has moved into one country from another • The big debate in the US is not over immigration but rather illegal immigrants • Illegal immigrants: people who move into another country without the permission of that nation
Advantages and Disadvantage of Immigration • Advantages: • Educated Immigrants bring knowledge, experience and money to the US • Uneducated Immigrants fill high demand manual labor jobs • Immigrants can be trained to work jobs not wanted by Americans thus keeping prices low • Immigrants add to the cultural diversity of the US • Disadvantages: • Immigrants usually move to areas that are already overpopulated • Most immigrants who come to the US struggle to make enough money for their families • ESOL classes increase school costs in certain districts • Increase of illegal immigration causes more money to be spent on immigration control officers
The Caribbean • The islands of the Caribbean are often times known as the West Indies because when Columbus landed he thought that he landed in the East Indies • West Indies: Islands of the Caribbean • Before the Europeans arrived the people of the West Indies were Native Americans who emigrated their from the mainlands • The main nations were the Caribs and the Arawaks, the Arawaks all died in the 1600’s and there are only a small group of Caribs remaining on the island of Dominica • When the Spanish, British and Dutch arrived in the West Indies they set up huge plantations to grow sugar cane and brought enslaved Africans to work on them
The different people of the Caribbean • Because many people who live in the Caribbean nations came as wither colonists, slaves or immigrants it has a rich diverse heritage with many different ethnic groups • Ethnic group: a group of people who share the same ancestry, language, religion or cultural traditions • The main ethnic groups of the Caribbean are Native American, African, European, Asian and Middle Eastern • Depending on what island you live on will depend the language spoken their, or the language is a mixture of a European language and a Native language
Caribbean Life • One of the most important festivals every year in Caribbean nations is the festival of Carnival • Carnival: a lively public festival before Lent • In the Caribbean nations during Carnival ride on floats and dance and party, it is the same as Mardi Gras is in New Orleans • During Carnival people dance and party all throughout the streets of their cities
The Culture of South America • South American culture varies by the nation that people live in • Along the Caribbean coast the nations are influenced by their former colonial masters • Venezuela and Colombia are Spanish speaking and Catholic, • Suriname was a Dutch colony thus people speak Dutch, Guyana was a British colony, and French Guinea is still part of France • The nations of the Andes and south of Brazil are Spanish speaking nations and many still live traditional lives like the gauchos • Gaucho: Argentinean Cowboy
Brazil • Brazil is unique amongst all the nations of South America because it is the only nation that speaks Portuguese • The Brazilian culture is a mixture of Portuguese, Native American, and African influences • When the Europeans arrived there were millions of Natives, today there are left than 200,000 • Brazil is also the home to many immigrants from other parts of the world, it has a large number of Germans, Italians, Lebanese and Japanese citizens • From 1763-1960 Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil until 1956 when the government of Brazil moved the capital to a new planned city of Brasilia which became its capital in 1960 • Brazil also has its own martial arts known as capoeira • Capoeira: a martial art and dance in Brazil from Angolans who were taken there by the Portuguese from Africa
Country life in South America • Even as South American cities have grown and flourished many people still lives as farmers • Many farmers work on small plots where they are subsistence farming • Subsistence farming: when farmers grow only enough food to meet their families’ needs • Some people work or own large farms in which they farm cash crops to sell throughout the world • Cash Crop: crops grown for sale rather than for the famer’s own use • Cash Crops today are coffee, sugar, cacao, and bananas
That’s all Test tomorrow
