Deck 1: Latin American Economic History

Question 1

Large land holdings in Latin America during the colonial period were known as:

A) mitas.
B) tierras grandes.
C) presidiios.
D) latifundias.
E) none of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In colonial Latin America the term for the tax levied by Spain was:

A) mita.
B) economienda.
C) repartida.
D) aduana.
E) miercoles.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is related to the difficulty of raising taxes in Latin America?

A) mita
B) repartida
C) ecomienda
D) triangular trade
E) none of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The labor system used in colonial Latin America where workers could supply labor in order to pay their taxes was known as the _____ system.

A) econmienda
B) repartida
C) mita
D) triangular
E) none of the above

Question 5

Which nation was the Mita system used in?

A) Peru
B) Brazil
C) Mexico
D) Costa Rica
E) Columbia

Question 6

Which of the following was used to procure unpaid labor by the colonial authorities?

A) the mita system
B) repartida
C) amalgamation
D) the Kuznets system
E) none of the above

Question 7

Which of the following was not involved in triangular trade?

A) slaves
B) trade goods such as cloth and cooking utensils
C) rum
D) sugar
E) oil

Question 8

Which of these was not an important agricultural commodity produced during the era of triangular trade?

A) Tobacco
B) Cocoa
C) Sugar
D) Wheat
E) Indigo

Question 9

Which of the following stressed the importance of a trade surplus?

A) latifundia
B) minifundia
C) longitude
D) triangular trade
E) mercantilism

Question 10

Trade in Latin America was distorted by:

A) mitas.
B) latifundia.
C) mercantilism.
D) low transportation costs.
E) none of the above

Question 11

The Treaty of Tordesillas had the largest influence on which country in Latin America?

A) Mexico
B) Panama
C) Brazil
D) Peru
E) Costa Rica

Question 12

Which of the following is associated with Portugese control of Brazil?

A) mercantilism
B) colonial benevolence
C) Treaty of Tordesillas
D) slaves
E) none of the above

Question 13

The Brazilian equivalent of the latifundias were:

A) fazendas.
B) pampas.
C) mitas.
D) repartidas.
E) none of the above

Question 14

Sugar, tobacco, and slavery were most closely associated with which country in colonial Latin America.

A) Brazil
B) Colombia
C) Mexico
D) Peru
E) Panama

Question 15

Total migration to Latin America between 1492 to 1830 was _____ million.

A) 2.0
B) 4.2
C) 4.5
D) 6.6
E) 8.2

Question 16

About ___ million slaves crossed the Atlantic from 1492 to the 1830s.

A) 3.2
B) 7.5
C) 6.8
D) 5.9
E) 4.5

Question 17

The period of postcolonial turmoil in Latin America started in:

A) 1775.
B) 1820.
C) 1840.
D) 1870.
E) 1890.

Question 18

Fazendas are associated with which country?

A) Mexico
B) Peru
C) Paraguay
D) Chile
E) Brazil

Question 19

Engerman and Solokoff (1997) posited that if a country had an abundance of commodities, this could lead to the existence of:

A) an extractive state.
B) laws and institutions that protected the power of elites
C) heavy spending on education
D) large investments in infrastructure
E) a and b

Question 20

According to Maddison, the GDP in North and South America were roughly equivalent in what year?

A) 1800
B) 1500
C) 1900
D) 1700
E) 2000

Question 21

Which of the following was not a factor that led to the independence movements of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Latin America?

A) Taxation
B) Top administrative position being held by those born in Spain
C) Issue of land distribution
D) Women's suffrage
E) none of the above

Question 22

In what time frame did most of Latin America gain independence?

A) Early 1800s
B) Late 1700s
C) Late 1800s
D) Early 1900s
E) Mid 1600s

Question 23

Which of the following is not associated with Brazil?

A) The War of the Pacific
B) Treaty of Tordesillas
C) slavery
D) sugar
E) fazendas

Question 24

The European country with the most economic influence on Latin America during the Golden Age was:

A) France
B) the UK
C) Italy
D) Germany
E) Spain

Question 25

The Golden Age of Latin American economic history was:

A) 1790-1820.
B) 1820-1850.
C) 1870-1920.
D) 1930-1950.
E) 1970-1990.

Question 26

The Golden Age in Latin America corresponds to:

A) the late 17^th century.
B) the early 18^th century
C) the early 19^th century
D) the late 19^th century
E) none of the above

Question 27

The Golden Age was fueled by:

A) Import Substitution Industrialization
B) Commodity booms
C) Protective tariffs
D) Mercantilism
E) Import quotas

Question 28

Which countries fought a war over guano?

A) Bolivia
B) Chile
C) Peru
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 29

At the beginning of the twentieth century, economically speaking, Argentina was roughly equal to what nation?

A) Belgium
B) Japan
C) Australia
D) Canada
E) China

Question 30

Urbanization in Latin America can be attributed to:

A) relatively high wages in urban areas.
B) relatively low wages in rural areas.
C) poor infrastructure, education, and health care in rural areas.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 31

The Lost Decade occurred in the _____.

A) 1870s
B) 1930s
C) 1950s
D) 1960s
E) 1980s

Question 32

How did the existence of natural resources coupled with Spanish colonial rule tend to retard growth of GDP in Latin America?

Question 33

Describe the link between the discovery of gold and silver in Latin America and the beginning of the encomienda system.

Question 34

Describe triangular trade.

Question 35

How did mercantilism affect Latin America?

Question 36

How can the current problems of weak public education and poor infrastructure be traced to developments in colonial Latin America?

Question 37

Explain the differences between the colonial experience in Brazil and the rest of Latin America. What accounts for this difference?

Question 38

Why are institutions important for economic development in Latin America?

Question 39

What factors led to the rapid economic growth of the Golden Age?

Question 40

How did ISI affect Latin America?

Question 41

What is meant by the term "Lost Decade"?