Latin American History Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering colonial society, independence, political ideologies, Mexican history, South American populism, and U.S. intervention in Latin America.

Tenochtitlan

City and capital of the Aztec Empire; modern-day Mexico City where the Spanish arrived between 1492 and the future.

Al-Andalus

Period when Muslims conquered Iberia (Spain and Portugal) and engaged in conflict for 800 years.

Reconquista

The historical process of getting Spain back from Muslims.

Mestizaje

Racial intermixture in the Americas.

Mestizos

People of mixed racial heritage.

Casta Painting

Artistic genre used for cataloging racial categories in the American colonies.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Saint of Mexico and the Americas.

Virgin of Guadalupe

Prominent religious and national symbol in Mexico.

Need for Cheap Labor for Profit

Economic requirement sought by Spain to generate colonial profits.

Land Concentration

Colonial ownership structure directing land to white Europeans.

Wealth Concentration

Colonial economic pattern where money went primarily to elites.

Bourbon Reforms

Reforms enacted by the Bourbon monarchy to protect investments in the colonies, establish more ports, and expand the military.

Túpac Rebellion

Rebellion in Peru led by Túpac seeking to restore Inca rule while continuing to honor the monarch with the phrase: “Long live the king, death to bad government.”

Peninsular

A person born in Spain who moved to Latin America.

Creole

A person of Spanish descent born in Latin America.

Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)

A revolt carried out by enslaved people that defeated France and achieved independence.

Simón Bolívar

Leader known for saving Latin America by freeing it from Spanish rule and establishing Gran Colombia.

Gran Colombia

A single political entity governed by Simón Bolívar that mimicked colonial administrative structures.

Brazilian Independence

Independence process in which Brazil emerged as a monarchy rather than a republic.

Dom Pedro II

Brazilian-born monarch who ruled for a long tenure, achieved popularity, and compromised with local powers to maintain national unity.

Golden Law (1888)

Legislation that formally abolished slavery in Brazil.

Liberalism

Political ideology advocating for maximum individual liberty, as well as political, economic, and social reform.

Conservatism

Political ideology focused on conserving attitudes and practices of the past, particularly the monarchy and religion.

Caudillo

A political strongman or leader primarily associated with imposing stability.

Caudillismo

A system of rule wherein wealthy individuals, military figures, and high local power holders displace and assume the role of government.

Populism

A style of politics or political persona that connects with people through group identities.

Corporatism

A system of organizing people into categories, prioritizing organized popular groups over individuals.

Nationalists

Political actors who critiqued the preceding 50 years and admired Emiliano Zapata.

Descamisados

Literally “shirtless ones”; a term applied to rural-to-urban workers.

Mexican-American War (1847)

Conflict between the United States and Mexico over Texas, also characterized as U.S. intervention.

Santa Anna

Conservative president of Mexico who sold half of Mexico's territory to the U.S. after the war; his overthrow by liberals paved the way for the 1857 constitution.

Benito Juárez

Indigenous leader of the liberal Mexican Reform movement (1858–1872) who later re-established the restored republic in 1867.

Mexico's War of the Reform (1858–1861)

Civil conflict resulting in a liberal victory that returned Juárez to the presidency with stricter separation of church and state.

War of French Intervention (1862)

Conflict triggered when Mexican conservatives invited Napoleon's rule to restore the monarchy and the Catholic Church; concluded with Juárez establishing a restored republic in 1867.

Dollar Diplomacy

Foreign policy aimed at protecting United States economic interests abroad, such as in Cuba.

Spanish-American War (1898)

Conflict prompted by the explosion of the USS Maine; occurred in the context of José Martí's intellectual, poetic, and revolutionary leadership of Cuba's independence movement.

Mexican Revolution (1910)

Conflict recognized as the world's first modern social revolution.

Porfirio Díaz

Dictator who led Mexico for a prolonged era (Porfiriato), opposed U.S. intervention/involvement, and was ultimately forced from office.

Debt Peonage

A labor system in which individual debt can be sold, effectively functioning as a replacement for slavery.

1907 (Mexico)

A key year marked by struggles and movements for workers' rights in Mexico.

Francisco Madero

Mexican leader characterized by a deep devotion to democracy.

Zapata

Mexican revolutionary leader who fought specifically for the rights of the poor.

Pancho Villa

Northern Mexican revolutionary commander who advocated for reduced working hours, greater freedom, and rights for workers.

Articles of Note in the 1917 Mexican Constitution

Key constitutional measures mandating free public, federal education; establishing that land is national property distributed according to need; and guaranteeing labor rights.

Obregón

General who assumed the presidency of Mexico in 1920.

Cárdenas

Leftist populist president of Mexico (1934–1940) representing the Mexican Revolutionary Party who tested constitutional limits via land distribution and supported the social rights of democracy.

Vargas

President of Brazil who governed through a fascist-oriented regime.

Estado Novo (1937)

The “New State” authoritarian regime inaugurated in Brazil under President Vargas.

Juan Perón and Eva Perón

Argentine populist leadership that combined fascist elements into Peronism (populism).

Contra Forces

Nicaraguan armed group supported by the United States under the premise of upholding democracy.

UFCO (United Fruit Company)

United States corporate fruit enterprise active in Guatemala.

October Revolution (1944)

Guatemalan revolutionary uprising that forced the nation's U.S.-backed dictator to resign.

Árbenz

A key organizer of the October Revolution and the second democratically elected president of Guatemala, whom detractors labeled a communist.

Land Reform Law

Guatemalan statute empowering the government to expropriate uncultivated lands for redistribution, provoking severe pushback from the UFCO.