Title: History of Latin America - Wikipedia
Headings: History of Latin America
History of Latin America
Contents
Origin of the term and definition
The Pre-Columbian period
Colonial Era
Colonial-era Religion
Traveling to the New World
Religion in Latin America
The wars of independence
19th-century revolutions: the postcolonial era
20th century
Rise of the Latin American left
Late-20th-century military regimes and revolutions
Washington Consensus
21st century
Turn to the left
Turn to the right
See also
Pre-Columbian
Colonization
History by region
History by country
Other topics
References
Further reading
Historiography
Colonial era
Independence era
Modern era

Content: Political independence resulted in political and economic instability in Latin America immediately after independence. Great Britain and the United States exercised significant influence in the post-independence era, resulting in a form of neo-colonialism, whereby a country's political sovereignty remained in place, but foreign powers exercised considerable power in the economic sphere. During the Cold War, Latin America experienced social revolutions, rural and urban guerrilla movements, overt and covert United States interventions, and military coups . Contents
1 Origin of the term and definition
2 The Pre-Columbian period
3 Colonial Era
4 Colonial-era Religion
4.1 Traveling to the New World
4.2 Religion in Latin America
5 The wars of independence
6 19th-century revolutions: the postcolonial era
7 20th century
7.1 Rise of the Latin American left
7.2 Late-20th-century military regimes and revolutions
7.3 Washington Consensus
8 21st century
8.1 Turn to the left
8.2 Turn to the right
9 See also
9.1 Pre-Columbian
9.2 Colonization
9.3 History by region
9.4 History by country
9.5 Other topics
10 References
11 Further reading
11.1 Historiography
11.2 Colonial era
11.3 Independence era
11.4 Modern era
Origin of the term and definition
See also: Latin America: Definition
The idea that a part of the Americas has a cultural or racial affinity with all Romance cultures can be traced back to the 1830s, in particular in the writing of the French Saint-Simonian Michel Chevalier, who postulated that this part of the Americas were inhabited by people of a " Latin race ," and that it could, therefore, ally itself with " Latin Europe " in a struggle with " Teutonic Europe ," " Anglo-Saxon America " and " Slavic Europe." The idea was later taken up by Latin American intellectuals and political leaders of the mid- and late-nineteenth century, who no longer looked to Spain or Portugal as cultural models, but rather to France. The actual term "Latin America" was coined in France under Napoleon III and played a role in his campaign to imply cultural kinship with France, transform France into a cultural and political leader of the area and install Maximilian as emperor of Mexico. In the mid-twentieth century, especially in the United States, there was a trend to occasionally classify all of the territory south of the United States as "Latin America," especially when the discussion focused on its contemporary political and economic relations to the rest of the world, rather than solely on its cultural aspects.