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MIDDLE AMERICA I (chapter 4: 197-216). INTRODUCTION TO MIDDLE AMERICA. DEFINING THE REALM MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN ISLANDS MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES FRAGMENTED - PHYSICALLY AND POLITICALLY DIVERSE CULTURALLY POVERTY IS ENDEMIC. REGIONS OF MIDDLE AMERICA. Greater Antilles.
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INTRODUCTION TO MIDDLE AMERICA • DEFINING THE REALM • MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN ISLANDS • MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES • FRAGMENTED - PHYSICALLY AND POLITICALLY • DIVERSE CULTURALLY • POVERTY IS ENDEMIC
REGIONS OF MIDDLE AMERICA Greater Antilles Mexico LesserAntilles Central America
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY • LAND BRIDGE • ARCHIPELAGO • GREATER AND LESSER ANTILLES • NATURAL HAZARDS • EARTHQUAKES • VOLCANOES • HURRICANES I wonder why?
DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOES
CULTURE HEARTH • SOURCE AREAS from which radiated ideas, innovations, and ideologies that changed the world beyond. MA Hearths Aztecs Mayans
MESOAMERICA • CULTURE HEARTHS • MAYA CIVILIZATION • 3000 BP • CLASSIC PERIOD 200-900 AD • HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, BELIZE, YUCATAN PENINSULA • THEOCRATIC STRUCTURE • AZTEC CIVILIZATION • 1300 AD • VALLEY OF MEXICO • TENOCHTITLAN (>100,000 PEOPLE)
COLONIAL HERITAGE SPAIN FRANCE BRITAIN
THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM • Land was appropriated - colonial commercial interests • Lands devoted to food crops for local consumption were convertedto cash croppingfor export • Land Alienationinduces: • Famine • Poverty • Migration • Little agricultural diversity
MAINLAND/RIMLAND FRAMEWORK • MAINLAND • EURO-INDIAN INFLUENCE • GREATER ISOLATION • HACIENDA PREVAILED • RIMLAND • EURO-AFRICAN INFLUENCE • HIGH ACCESSIBILITY • PLANTATION ECONOMY
MAINLAND vs RIMLAND MAINLAND RIMLAND Location greater isolation greater accessibility Climate altitudinal tropical zonation Physiographymountains islands Culture Euro/Indian African-European RaceMestizoMulatto Landholding Patterns haciendas plantation
HACIENDA vs PLANTATION • HACIENDA • SPANISH INSTITUTION • NOT EFFICIENT BUT SOCIAL PRESTIGE • WORKERS LIVED ON THE LAND • PLANTATION • NORTHERN EUROPEAN ORIGINS • EXPORT ORIENTED MONOCROPS • IMPORTED CAPITAL AND SKILLS • SEASONAL LABOR • EFFICIENCY IS KEY
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Plantation • Production for export • Single cash crop • Seasonal Employment • Profit motive $$$ • Market Vulnerability
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Plantation Hacienda • Production for export • Single cash crop • Seasonal Employment • Profit motive $$$ • Market Vulnerability • Domestic market • Diversified Crops • Year round jobs • Small plot of land • Self-sufficient
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Plantation Hacienda • Production for export • Single cash crop • Seasonal Employment • Profit motive $$$ • Market Vulnerability • Domestic market • Diversified Crops • Year round jobs • Small plot of land • Self-sufficient Ejido • Small surpluses • Land “ownership” • Communal village • Collective