Do Now: Who are the “Power Players”
at Wantagh High School?
Name: _________________________________
Period: _________
Date: __________
45
Aim: Who controlled Latin American Society after Independence?
Power Player #1:
Power Player #2:
Positives on People:
Positives on People::
Negatives on People:
Negatives on People:
Power Player #3:
Power Player #4:
Positives on People::
Positives on People::
Negatives on People:
Negatives on People:
Power Player 1: Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church was a religious organization that had
almost complete control over religion in Latin America. Like
in Europe, the Catholic Church owned much of the land in
Latin America.
This gave them a lot of power and wealth. The Church was
also able to keep the tithe in place which brought in taxes.
Because of these reasons, the Church supported many
traditional government that DID NOT want change.
On the social side, the church was responsible for baptizing
children, marrying couples, and funerals. This gave the
church control over birth, life, and death in the colonies.
The church also built schools and provided children with
education. This was done so children could read the Bible
and write about God. Health-Care and
Charity work were also given out to many
people in the colonies by the church.
The Church also organized
festivals on many of the major
holidays, and became part of the
culture in Latin America.
Some Native Americans were forced to
convert, although other changed their
religion because it allowed them to be
treated better.
Power Player 2: The Latifundia
The Latifundia were rich landowners in Latin America. They
were a small percentage of the population that owned large
amounts of land.
They controlled plantation-like plots of land. Many of these
landowners did not even live on the farms they owned. Most
resided in cities and rarely visited their plantations (called
haciendas).
The Latifundia were not interested in change, and most
supported conservative governments. Land to the Latifundia
was more important than even selling goods.
Many peasants worked on the Latifundia’s land. The
peasants took care of the cattle and sheep. They also farmed
crops. In return for there services, the Latifundia provided the
peasants with shelter, food, and clothing in exchange for their
work.
The peasants however were stuck in poor social classes and
likely would always remain poor. Many peasants were treated
in similar ways to the
serfdom life of the
middles ages.
This meant that they
were almost slaves to
the land that they
farmed.
Power Player 3: The Caudillos
The Caudillos were the dictators of Latin America. The
Caudillos rose to power even though many Latin American
revolutions were based on the ideas of the Enlightenment, the
American Revolution and the French Revolutions. This was
due to several reasons.
Unlike America and even France, the people of Latin America
did not know what it was like to vote or hold elections. The
Latin American countries also never experienced democracy
before and had no real idea how to actually carry it out.
This caused many leaders in the Latin American revolutions
to favor dictatorships over democracies. The Caudillo’s felt
Latin America simply wasn’t ready for representative
government.
The Caudillos were called “Strong-Men” because they ruled
Latin America with “an iron fist.” The Caudillos even wrote
constitutions, but few followed their
own set of laws.
Most of these dictators were very
aggressive and many had military
backgrounds. Many Caudillos were
afraid of being overthrown because
of corruption in Latin America.
This caused them to be very strict in
how they ruled their countries.
Dictators took back peoples rights.
Power Player 4: Foreigners
The Foreigners were investors from other nations, mostly
from The United States and Europe. These foreign investors
were made up of big business groups that wanted to profit off
of the natural resources found in Latin America.
Banana’s were a big crop in Central America, Rubber in
Brazil, Oil in Venezuela, and Copper in Chile. American and
European companies that needed these resources would set
up shop in the Latin American countries.
They would pay the government and take up huge amounts
of land. In return, the companies provided jobs to Latin
Americans. Some workers received schooling, housing, and
health-care.
Most of the jobs however were very low paying. Latin
Americans worked long days with horrible conditions. The
money being made by the foreign companies also did not
stay in Latin America.
Any profits were sent back to the country that the foreign
investment was from. The investors also did not favor social
change because traditional government were more favorable
to them.
Name: ____________________ Period: ________
Question: Why did democracy ultimately fail to take hold
after the Latin American Revolutions?