Topography of Middle America
Largest country in the region of Middle America.
Mexico
Mountain that runs on the east side of Mexico.
Sierra Madre Oriental
Name of Spanish explorer who sailed west to Mexico and defeated the Aztec.
Cortes in 1519
What was the Columbian Exchange?
European explorers carrying plants, animals, diseases, and ideas between the Western and Eastern Hemisphere.
1840
Home to two great civilizations: Maya and Aztec
Mexico
Mountain that runs along the west side of Mexico.
Sierra Madre Occidental
Countries in Central America seized by the Spanish.
Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica
What did Fr. Hidalgo attempt to accomplish.
End slavery and improve conditions for the Mexican Indians.
What was the result of the Mexican American War?
Mexico lost the war and agreed to give one-third of its territory in the Mexican Cession, which became California and the southwestern United States.
Colonized Mexico in the 1500s
Spanish
Located in the northern boundary of the Caribbean Sea.
Greater Antilles
Explain the impact the Spanish had on Middle America.
Native Americans could not fight the diseases from Europe and many died.
When did Mexico defeat the Spanish?
1821
What was written in 1917 to try and improve the conditions in Mexico?
A New Constitution
Vital waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean
Panama Canal
Chain of smaller volcanic islands separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.
Lesser Antilles
Explain the Encomienda System.
Spanish government gave colonists grants to demand labor from Native Americans.
Who declared independence from Spain in Central America?
Creoles
Why did the U.S support independence for Panama?
In return for control of the Panama Canal.
Largest country in the Caribbean.
Smallest country in the Caribbean
Cuba
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Causes molten rock to rise up to the surface and form volcanoes in the Volcanic Region.
Pacific plates pushing beneath Mexico and Central America.
Social Classes:
Who were the peninsulares?
Who were the creoles?
Who were the mestizos?
European people born in Spain.
American born descendants of Spanish settlers.
People of mixed American Indian and European descent.
Who are the United Province of Central America and when did they declare Independence?
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica; 1823