Library: Latin American Studies by Credo Reference: History

Ancient Civilizations

Maya: Topic Page
One of the great cultures of mesoamerica, Maya civilization extended throughout southern mexico and northern Central America.
Inca: Topic Page
Pre-Columbian empire, W South America. The name Inca may specifically refer to the emperor, but is generally used to mean the empire or the people.
Aztec: Topic Page
Member of an American Indian people who migrated south into the valley of Mexico in about 1168.
Olmec: Topic Page
Term denoting the culture of ancient Mexican natives inhabiting the tropical coastal plain of the contemporary states of Veracruz and Tabasco, between 1300 and 400 B.C.
Toltec: Topic Page

Member of an ancient American Indian people who ruled much of Mexico and Central America in the 10th-12th centuries, with their capital and religious centre at Tula or Tollán, northeast of Mexico City.

Events

Mexican War: Topic Page
1846–48, armed conflict between the United States and Mexico.
Cuban Missile Crisis: Topic Page
Confrontation in international relations in October 1962 when Soviet rockets were installed in Cuba and US president John F Kennedy compelled Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, by military threats and negotiation, to remove them.
Falklands War: Topic Page
An armed conflict between the UK and Argentina from March 1982 until Argentine surrender in June; resulting from Argentine claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
Texas Revolution: Topic Page
Conflict 1835-36 between US colonists and Mexican troops in Texas, then part of Mexico.
Virginius Affair
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Incident that came near to causing war between the United States and Spain. The Virginius, a filibustering ship, was fraudulently flying the American flag and carrying arms to the Cubans in the Ten Years War.
Ten Years War
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
The costly and bitter war was seemingly without result, but actually it foreshadowed the Cuban war of independence that broke out in 1895 and the subsequent Spanish-American War.
Spanish-American War
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists.

People

Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506): Topic Page
The eldest of the five children of a weaver, Columbus probably first entered his father’s trade, but before 1470 he went to sea and for some years voyaged and traded for various employers based in Genoa, his birthplace.
Hernán Cortés (1485 - 1547): Topic Page
Cortés went (1504) first to Hispaniola and later (1511) accompanied Diego de Velázquez to Cuba. In 1518 he was chosen to lead an expedition to Mexico.
Simón Bolívar (1783 - 1830): Topic Page
South American revolutionary who led independence wars in the present nations of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Fidel Castro (1927 - ): Topic Page
Cuban statesman: prime minister from 1959, when he led the Communist overthrow of Batista and president from 1976.
Miguel Hidalgo (1753 - 1811): Topic Page
Mexican priest and revolutionary, a national hero.
Juan Perón (1895 - 1974): Topic Page
An army officer, Perón was the leader of a group of colonels that rose to prominence after the overthrow of the government of Ramón Castillo in 1943, a group which supported the fascist and Nazi movements in Italy and Germany.
Hugo Chávez (1954 - ): Topic Page
Venezuelan political leader, president of Venezuela (1999–). Educated at the Military Academy of Venezuela (grad. 1975), for two decades he was a career army officer, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Porfirio Díaz (1830 - 1915): Topic Page
Mexican statesman, a mestizo, christened José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz.
Alberto Fujimori (1938 - ): Topic Page
President of Peru (1990–2000), born in Lima, Peru. The son of Japanese immigrants, he was educated in Peru and attended Univ. of Wisconsin.
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928 - 1967)

From Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Leaders, Movements, and Concepts
Revolutionary leader, born in Rosario, Argentina.