History Of Latin America
Latin America refers to countries in the Americas where Romance (Latin-derived) languages are spoken. This definition, however, is not meant to include Canada, in spite of its large French-speaking population.
Latin American countries generally lie south of the United States. By extension, some writers and commentators, particularly in the United States, apply the term to the whole region south of the United States, including the non-Romance-speaking countries such as Suriname, Jamaica, Belize, and Guyana, due to similar economic, political and social histories and present-day conditions.
Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the region was home to many indigenous peoples, many of which had advanced civilizations, most notably, the Aztec, Inca and Maya. By the end of the sixteenth century, large areas of what would become Latin America were colonized by European settlers, primarily from Spain, Portugal and to a lesser extent, France and the Netherlands (in Brazil).
In the early nineteenth century most of the region attained its independence, giving rise to new countries, although a few, small colonies remain.
Read more about History Of Latin America: Origin of The Term and Definition, The Pre-Columbian Period, Colonialism, Nineteenth-century Revolutions: The Postcolonial Era
Famous quotes containing the words latin america, history of, history, latin and/or america:
“Not only does the world scarcely know who the Latin American man is, the world has barely cared.”
—Georgie Anne Geyer (b. 1935)
“Throughout the history of commercial life nobody has ever quite liked the commission man. His function is too vague, his presence always seems one too many, his profit looks too easy, and even when you admit that he has a necessary function, you feel that this function is, as it were, a personification of something that in an ethical society would not need to exist. If people could deal with one another honestly, they would not need agents.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“... all big changes in human history have been arrived at slowly and through many compromises.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“She’s a Latin from Manhattan.”
—Al Dubin (1891–1945)
“[M]ost people have come to America ... to get away from everything they are and have been. . [But] it is never freedom till you find something you really positively want to be.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)