The earliest Latin American civilization was the empire of the Mayans during two periods known as the Pre-Classic period from 2000 B.C. to 250 A.D, and the post classic period from 250 A.D. to 900 A.D. They controlled most of the Yucatan peninsula and part of southern Mexico. The Aztec empire first existed as many city-states, but eventually three of them formed a pact known as the Triple Alliance (Townsend, 2000). This Triple Alliance began to expand in earnest by overpowering smaller cities and overtaking the local
Also, due to the large amount of political changes that occurred during this expanse of time, the Silk Road also traveled through the new countries that began when the Roman Empire collapsed. This created the cultures of these nations along the Silk Road. In conclusion, the Silk Road’s basic purpose remained intact from 200 B.C.E. to 1450 C.E., but the important interactions that occurred on it did not. Empires collapsed, causing new nations to form, which in turn brought countless changes to the cultures and the interactions between the merchants and peoples along the Silk
Anthropology Notes 3/5/08 Santiago Atitlan Small town in the South West part of Guatemala 80% of Guatemalans are of Mayan decent Almost all the people in Santiago Atitlan are of Mayan decent The linguistic group they belong to is the Tzutujil (pronounced Chuchuchil) Spaniards invaded it about 450 years ago There was a temple there that the Spaniards tore down, and they rebuilt a new church there using the same blocks that they had from the last temple. However, the native people thought that there was just a new temple built, and still worshipped it the same. They worshiped catholic saints as if they were gods they deities they had always worshipped. (Saint Whatever = Deity X) The natives that lived there called their town Rumuxux
He briefly touches on the fact that America was predominantly composed of Englishmen up until the end of the 18th Century. At this time, there was too little English immigration into America to populate the growing country. This opened up opportunity for other groups such as the Irish, the Germans, the Dutch, and even the Scotch to come to the New World. Many of these people were brought over as indentured servants, meaning they had to work for seven years in order to earn their freedom. The new opportunity for immigration led to the second phase of Steinberg’s writing: expansion.
The Spaniards came and conquered Mexico, and the Indian population was reduced to one-and-a-half million pure-blooded Indians. The year of 1521, marked the birth of a new race, the mestizo, mixed Indian and Spanish blood. The mestizo explored parts of what it is now Texas. This move up north created an even stronger blend, the mestizaje, due to a mix of Mexicans, American Indians, and Spaniards. In the 1800s the Anglos took the mestizaje’s land and Mexico was forced to give up what it now is Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California.
The massive number of European immigrants that entered into America’s east coast from the late 1800’s and on forever influenced the growth and development of the country. Fleeing crop failure, famine, rising taxes, and land/job shortages, many immigrants journeyed to the United States because it was perceived as the land of economic opportunity. With hope for a brighter future, nearly 27 million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1880 and 1920. The majority of the immigrants entered through Ellis Island, leading it to become the gateway to America and become recognized as a national symbol. Many of the immigrants, not knowing the way America worked, didn’t stray too far from the East Coast and moved into areas filled with people of similar languages, traditions, and beliefs.
The Aztec Civilization Easier - Aztecs were a wandering Native American tribe who came to Mexico during the 13th century. There they built a great civilization including cities, pyramids, and temples. In 1519 Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico and defeated the Aztecs. Harder - Aztec comes from the word Azteca, which is derived from Aztlán ("White Land"). Aztlán is believed to have been the northwestern region of today's Mexico.
Colonial expansion under the crown of Castile was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through indigenous conversions. Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over four centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across most of present day Central America, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, and much of the rest of North America including the Southwestern, Southern coastal, and California's Pacific Coast regions of the United States. In the early 19th century the revolutionary movements resulted in the independence of most Spanish colonies in America, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, given up in 1898 following the Spanish-American War, together with Guam and the Philippines in the Pacific. Spain's loss of these last territories politically ended Spanish colonization in America.
THE MAYA INDIANS SETTLEMENT PATTERN According to William Claypole and John Robottom, in their book ‘Caribbean Story’, at the height of their civilization, the Maya Indians occupied 324,000 square kilometers of land which included the Mexican regions of the Yucatan Peninsula, Campeche and Tobasco, as well as the territory of Belize, Guatemala and the western edge of Honduras. Robert Greenwood and Shirley Hamber in their book ‘Amerindians to Africans’ placed the first civilization of the Maya Indians at around 2000 Bc. The authors of this book also mentioned the decline of the Maya civilization after AD 900. They claim that it emerged 300 years later as a modified form of Mayan civilization. Greenwood and Hamber suggested three reasons for the decline in the Maya civilization.
For decades Germany has not viewed itself as a country of immigration. These views were reflected both in public opinion and through German constitution and citizenship law. Germans have traditionally viewed their nation as an ethnically defined nation-state,[i] and have long perceived immigration to be a temporary measure. However the continuous influx of migrants in the years following 1945 contradicts this viewpoint. As the geographic and cultural distances of immigration countries have increased over time, so has the ethnic composition of Germany.