The Imperialism of Venezuela.

1. The Imperialism Investigators. The Imperialism of Venezuela.

2. Who lived there?: it is said that there were approximately 1 million people in Venezuela before Spanish colonization began in 1522. These people that existed here were indigenous and had been recorded since the Meso-Indian period of 7000-5000 B.C. the different nations of Aboriginal peoples included, the Warao people, Baniwa people, Kali’na people, Bari, Ye’kuana, Auke, Caquetio, Mariche and the Timoto-cuicas. Type of economy: The economic situation of these nations was relatively nonexistent. But within their own communities and even neighboring groups, there would be a system of trade throughout the social chain that would allow everyone access to their needs and resources. Their essentially was no economy, but a kind of business was stimulated through trade. Politics: The political factor of the indigenous nations was different in most areas or nations but, each group had a chief, or caciques, who along with him had a string of elders and warriors to assist in the decision making process, and the general well being of the people. They were self governed, and relied heavily on the insight of the Chief and the Elders. Other areas of control: A large area of control for the indigenous peoples was the agricultural production in their areas. They produced Maze, Manioc, and had also obtained crude oil, asphalts, and many kinds of minerals. This proved to be a very high point of interest for the Spanish when they learned of their control over resources. Pre-Imperialism

3. Exploration and eventually imperialism started in 1522 by the Spanish. Here is why and how they did it. The Motives: The motives behind conquering Venezuela were simple; to get resources, have more land, and to obtain slaves. The resources found in this country included gold, diamonds, bauxite, petroleum, iron ore, and oil. They sold the land to Spanish citizens that wanted to visit a foreign country and to get business. The slave trade was reaching its height, and Venezuela was booming. The Methods: The Spanish only used two methods to conquer Venezuela, these were religion and war. The religion they converted most of the indigenous people to, was Roman Catholic. The citizens of Venezuela became very eager to convert when they were threatened with already demonstrated death. The war of independence, 1811-1823, was the war that finally freed Venezuela. The Type: Expansionism was the objective of the Spanish, as they were very imperialistic and expanded into the Americas as much as possible. When did exploration and imperialism begin?

4. Socially: Imperialism essentially tore apart the culture of several indigenous groups, and if it did not destroy their society, it decimated it on a large scale. Economically: Imperialism made the Spanish citizens of Venezuela very rich, but made the indigenous population very poor, but having a career based on slave labor. Politically: The chiefs that once controlled the nations of Venezuela now had very little if any interaction in politics. Venezuela was now under the rule of the Spanish Monarchy and was controlled in every way by them. How did Imperialism affect Venezuela?

5. Motives: In 1811 Venezuela made a declaration of independence. They wanted to get away from the Spanish crown. Their optimism in July of 1811 when the national assembly in Caracas declared Venezuela’s independence. The Spanish authorities rallied and by July of 1812, they had control of the entire province. The Venezuelans were slaves to the Spanish crown and were traded for slaves from Africa. Slavers started in the early 1500s for them and it was a long battle to get out of it. Later Spanish expeditions returned to exploit these islands' once abundant pearl oysters, enslaving the indigenous people of the islands and harvesting the pearls so intensively that they became one of the most valuable resources of the incipient Spanish Empire in the Americas between 1508 and 1531, by which time both the local indigenous population and the pearl oysters had become devastated. How was this achieved? On 17 December 1819 the Congress of Angostura declared Gran Colombia an independent country. After two more years of war, which killed half of Venezuela's white population, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar. Venezuela, along with the present-day countries of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, formed part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became a separate sovereign country. Venezuela gained independence through Simon Bolivar's leadership. Venezuelans felt that they no longer owed allegiance to Spain, giving them power to liberate. How it affected life: After independence the society changed little; a small, privileged, elite upper class still held sway over a small middle class and a large lower class. The internal wars among competing caudillos during the second half of the nineteenth century served as a leveler to some extent. By the turn of the century, even though Venezuela was still a very traditional society, the upper levels had been breached to the point where a semiliterate peasant caudillo such as Gómez could rise to the very top of the political ladder and rule for nearly three decades. Fast Forward to Independence.

6. Politics: how it was altered: http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/venezuela/SOCIETY.html Venezuela's independence began with its liberation by Simón Bolívar Palacios, who freed not only his own homeland but much of the rest of South America. In 1830, with the collapse of Bolívar's dream of a larger Gran Colombia, Venezuela was ruled by a patriot caudillo from the llanos, or plains, General José Antonio Páez. This first post independence period lasted until about 1858 and was characterized by economic recovery and political stability as the young nation functioned under the reign of a conservative oligarchy Social- education, religion, lifestyle, quality of life: http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/venezuela/SOCIETY.html Venezuelan society of the late twentieth century was clearly in transition. After centuries of isolation as a rural backwater in Latin America, Venezuela has become a respected voice in world councils because of its oil riches. Most of its population has moved to the cities, and well-to-do Venezuelans have traveled around the world in search of recreation and diversion. Economic growth, urbanization, industrialization, improved education, and expanded opportunities for women have changed the nation's character dramatically. Improved transportation, widespread radio and television access, the availability of numerous national newspapers, and the delivery of government services even in remote areas combined to make regionalism largely a thing of the past. Caracas was greatly influenced by developments in Miami and other foreign commercial and cultural centers; the rest of the country, in turn, felt the reverberations of the capital's growth and change. Economics: how did they make a living: Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporting country in the world with the largest reserves of heavy crude oil at an estimated 99.4 billion barrels (1.580×1010 m3) as of 2010. Venezuela has the largest reserves of light and heavy crude oil in the entire western hemisphere.[2] In 2008, crude oil production in Venezuela was the tenth-highest in the world at 2,394,020 barrels per day (380,619 m3/d) and was also the eighth-largest net oil exporter in the world.[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Venezuela

7. SocialReligion- 96% roman catholic, 2% protestant and 2% otherLifestyle-93% of the total population live in urban areas, if you wanted to live at middle classliving you would have to make around $90,000 a year Education- 93% of the population over age 15 can read and write, a male will go to school for anaverage of 13 years and female 15 years that does not include post-secondary school, Quality of life- Venezuela has a high risk of major infectious diseases, 13.6% of youth ages 15-24are unemployed Homes- where you live in Venezuela determines what type of house you live in, in some areas the houses are basically stacked on top of each other, other areas have regular homes and for those people who live in poverty their houses resemble huts Political Type of gov’t- federal republic which is a form of government made up of a federal state with aconstitution and self-governing subunits How selected- voted in by citizens over the age of 18 Stability of gov’t- they have had the same president since 1999 Constitution- created December 30 1999 this was the first constitution that had been approved,major changes were made to the structure of the Venezuelan government and more humanrights were enshrined in the document Economic GNP- $369.5 billion Types of jobs- 7.3% agriculture, 21.8% industry and 70.9% other services Ownership of businesses- Special problems- human trafficking, illicit drugs and high crime Present Day.