By: Kylie and Isaiah

1. Chapter 6:Central America and the Caribbean By: Kylie and Isaiah

2. Lesson 1 Vocabulary • Archipelago- A chain of islands • Ring of Fire- The circle of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean. • Coniferous- A kind of cone bearing tree. • Trade Wind- Wind blowing almost constantly from the northeast toward the equator. • Cay- A tiny, low lying island made of sand, limestone, or coral. • Coral- The skeleton remains of tiny sea animals.

3. Lesson 1 Summary The middle Americas are made of Mexico and two sub-regions. Central America and the Caribbean. Central America is made of seven countries Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The Caribbean is simply a chain of many islands. Central America is smaller than the size of Texas. This amazing location is home to the Ring of Fire which means there are a lot of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions there. It is also known as the producer of coffee bean and bananas. Central America also gets a lot of rain. The Atlantic side 100 to 250 inches of rain per year. Around the southern tip is the Isthmus of Panama. The Isthmus of Panama is only 30 mi wide. Near it is the Panama Canal. This canal took 10 years to complete and cost the US $380 million to create. The purpose of this canal is a quicker way to transfer goods around South America. The path is quicker but cost thousands but less than the old way. All of the Greater Antilles Islands are Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. Out of those islands Cuba is the largest and Jamaica is the second largest. In largest to smallest Hispaniola is next and Puerto Rico is the smallest. The northeast side of all the islands get the most rain because of the direction of the most frequent winds. Lesser Antilles islands are divided in two sections Leeward and Windward Islands. The northeast trade winds are the reason for the division. The Leeward Islands are the Virgin islands and the Dominica Islands. They are called that because they are lee or sheltered from the trade winds. Windward Islands are the southern islands Martiniqueto Grenada. These islands faced toward the northeast trade winds so they are called windward. The Bahamas are the northern most islands in the Caribbean they stretch for 500 mi from the east coast of Florida to the northeast tip of Cuba. It is made of 700 islands and 2,400 cays but only 20 out of 700 islands are lived on.

4. Lesson 2 Vocabulary • Mulattoes- People of both African and European Descent. • Commercial Farming-The growing of crops to be sold for profit. • Abolish- End. • Indentured Servant- A person who works without pay for a certain amount of time in exchange for travel expenses. • Columbian Exchange- The movement of people, animals, plants, diseases, and ideas between Europe and the Americas in the 1400s and 1500s • Legacy- Anything handed down from an ancestor.

5. Lesson 2 Summary Many Caribbean are of African decent others are mulattoes. Around A.D. 1300s through the 1400s there were three different types of native groups Arawaks, Caribs, and Ciboneys. The Ciboneys came first, then Arawaks, and then Caribs. In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in ten years he built the first settlement in Hispaniola. The Spanish dug mines and set up plantations for commercial farming. At first they forced the Arawaks into slavery but the sugarcane production picked up and they needed stronger people so they forced Africans into slavery. Then supply was greater then demand and production declined so workers were cut back on and slavery was abolished. There was then a need for farm workers but people did not want to pay people who once worked for free so many hire indentured servants. Central America was home to many native groups for thousands of years before Europeans. The Mayans are one. They built 100 cities in countries of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Some Mayan cities had over 100,000 people. Around A.D. 900 the Mayan Civilization was in decline. The cities were abandoned. When the Spanish arrived in Central America they brought their religion of Roman Catholic. Today in Central America all of the countries are Roman Catholics. All speak Spanish except for Belize. Much of Central America today is a blend of cultural influences. This blend of people and cultures is the result of a larger movement of people, animals, plants, and ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This movement is known today as the Columbian Exchange. Many believe it started in 1492 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas and continued with the arrival of Europeans and Africans. The most important exchange of all involved people, the exchange of food is also a lasting legacy of the Columbian exchange. When the Spanish arrived, they brought a variety of foods to Central America and other parts of the Western Hemisphere. The foods from Europe were cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, melons, onions, and radishes. The Spanish also brought bananas, rice, and yams.

6. Lesson 3 Vocabulary • Limited Government- Everyone including government officials must obey the laws. • Unlimited Government- A ruler alone has control, and there are no limits on the rulers authority. • Federation- Union • States’ Rights- The idea that the individual countries, or states, have greater authority than the central government. • Civil War- A war between people of the same country. • Petition- Formally ask for government action. • Guerrilla- A member of a small group of soldiers who are not part of the regular army. • Communism- a system in which all property and all means of production belong to the people as a group. • Self Government- Control over their local matters. • Dependency- Self governing dependent territory.

7. Lesson 3 Summary Central America and the Caribbean have a history of different government traditions. These traditions include limited governments and unlimited governments. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua became independent from Spain in 1821. In 1821, Belize remained under British control, and Panama became part of Colombia. Mexico also won its independence and united for a time with the five independent Central American countries. In two years they separated, and the Central American countries formed a federation, it was called the United Provinces of Central America. The federation's constitution, that provided for states' rights, was completed in 1824.In the 1830s all of the countries had become independent, and the citizens voted for officials who represented them. Dictators sometimes took control of the governments in sudden and violent ways. Some people formed guerrilla groups, they were trying to overthrow the dictators. Civil wars and other conflicts were common in Central America. Costa Rica's long democratic tradition was threatened in disagreement over presidential election. In that year, the people elected Otilio Ulate president, the current government refused to recognize Ulate as the winner because he won by only a few votes. After 40 days of civil war, José Figueres , a wealthy landowner, won the victory. Haiti was once a French colony but became the first republic in the Caribbean after winning its independence in 1804. Haiti controlled all of Hispaniola until 1844 then the Dominican Republic demanded its own independence. In 1898 a revolution in Cuba brought the United States into a war with Spain. After the United States won the Spanish-American War Cuba became independent and Puerto Rico became a United States colony. Dictators controlled Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic during most of the early 1900s. Then in 1959 guerrilla leader Fidel Castro and his supporters overthrew Cuba's dictator. Castro had said his goals were to bring equal rights to all Cubans and to solve many of Cuba's economic problems, to reach these goals, Castro introduced communism to Cuba. Dictators continued to rule the Dominican Republic and Haiti into the second half of the twentieth century. Haiti's per capita GDP is only $1,340, and life expectancy is 49 years, their problems are difficult ones to solve. In the 1950s other islands in the Caribbean either became independent or gained self government. In 1954 the United States provided for a regular statement in the Virgin Islands, which include St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix. This made the islands a dependency.