Study Guide Answer Key for Latin American History
1. Montezuma II was the leader of the Aztecs. Atahualpa was the Incan leader. Hernan
Cortes conquered the Aztecs. Francisco Pizzaro conquered the Inca.
2. The Mayans had a 365-day calendar and used the number zero. These people did not
disappear, but they spread out and settled in Guatemala, and southern Mexico.
3. The Mayas were from Mexico and Central America; the Aztecs settled where modern
Mexico City is; and the Incas lived high in the Andes of Peru.
4. Tenochtitlan.
5. The Aztecs.
6. Mestizos – people of Spanish and Native American ancestry (third class layer of Mexico
or New Spain)
Mullatos – mixture of European and African ancestry
Ladinos – mixture of European and Native American ancestry
Peninsulares – people born in Spain; ruling class in Mexico (first class)
Criollos – people born in Mexico whose parents were born in Spain (second class)
7. Runners carried verbal messages across roads that were ordered to be built by Incan
rulers.
8. They both had a written language, and they both were excellent farmers.
9. Horses and textiles and livestock.
10. Maize, beans, squash, avocados, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers.
11. Cuba. Castro. No one was allowed to speak against the government or they would be
severely punished or killed.
12. Cuba. Haiti. (These are the answers based on the countries we asked you to know for
the political map).
13. Spanish and Portuguese
14. Father Miguel Hidalgo started the cry for independence in Mexico.
15. Simon Bolivar freed the northern parts of South America. Known as George Washington
of South America.
16. Portugal settled Brazil. They gained their independence without having to fight a war.
Many people of African descent live in northeastern Brazil because they were brought
over from Africa as slaves after millions of Native Americans died.
17. The purpose of the Panama Canal was to create a shorter passageway for ships to travel
from one side of North or South America to the other.
18. The Colombian Exchange was an exchange of goods and ideas between European
countries and Latin American countries. The impacts of the exchange gave Latin
America more goods to trade but also cause them hardship due to slavery.
19. The Zappatista were people who fought for farmer’s rights. They don’t like NAFTA
because they worry about having such close ties to the U.S. and Canada. They don’t
want these two countries to have too much control over Mexico.
20. Father Hidalgo died before Mexico gained independence. Touissant L’Ouverture died
before Haiti gained independence.