1) Compare and contrast the British colonial rule and acquisition of colonies with the Spanish model in the 16th and 17th centuries. The first American colonies was founded by the Spanish in the 15th century. Britain began establishing colonies almost a century later. While extracting resources and profit from the new land, both empires had to with Indians and new systems of trade and farming. Despite these similarities, England and Spain ruled their colonies in distinctive ways. There were political, religious, and social differences between the two countries. 2) How did colonial societies change during the rule of Europeans? In what ways were they able to remain the same? The basis of American society has been built upon the individual …show more content…
How have Latin American society, economics, and politics changed from colonial times (16th century) to the 1920’s? In the early nineteenth century nearly all of the region gained its independence giving power to new countries, although some small colonies remain. In the colonial era most of the immigration came from Spanish and Portuguese settlers. Black African slaves were imported. Most were purchased by the sugar plantations in the West Indies or plantations in Brazil. During the 1920s the United States continued its attitude, which aimed to directly defend its interests in the region. 3. Compare and contrast Brazil, Argentina and Mexico during the late 19th/early 20th century. Brazil is characterized by huge and good agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, and a rapidly expanding middle class, Brazil's economy overpowered that of all other South American countries, and Brazil is expanding its presence in world markets. Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural area, and an industrial base. Mexico’s goals were to emphasize the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, integrate with the U.S. economy, and allow private investment in the energy …show more content…
What are the explanations offered for the relative “underdevelopment” of Latin America? Which explanation seems to be the most sufficient? There are two main theories that explain the underdevelopment of Latin America. The modernization theory and the dependency theory. According to the modernization theory, any society may achieve a better future by following the earlier example of Western Europe. Modernization theory accounts for gradual change rather than radical improvement to be more effective. This theory, however, tended to disregard cultural difference internal class conflict, and inside struggles for power within a nation. The dependency theory offers a more valid explanation. The dependency theory explains the only reason that Europe and North America advanced was because they were able to use other countries and, by weakening the development of other countries, were able to further advance their own countries. The agricultural economies got increasingly poor as the industrialized nations with which they dealt would gain wealth. This is seen in more often in history and so seems a more reliable theory than the modernization