Why the Europeans established colonies in the islands of the Atlantic Ocean in North America, how those colonies are viewed today, and an introduction to the island of Haiti, which will be the focus of this unit.

2. Latin America
A term used to identify the areas of
South of the US whose official
languages are Spanish, Portuguese,
or French (derived from Latin):
Mexico, South America, Central
America, and certain islands in the
Caribbean.

4. Common Usage in the US
In the US, when people
use the term “Latin
America,” they are
often only talking
about countries where
people speak Spanish
or Portuguese (i.e.
Mexico, Brazil, etc.)
and not French
speaking areas (Haiti).

5. European Conquests
Starting in the late 1400’s, various
European countries, including
Portugal, Spain, and France, began
claiming land and establishing
settlements throughout Latin
America and the Caribbean.

6. Colonies
These settlements,
which stayed
under the control
of the mother
country (the
country that
claimed the land),
are known as
colonies.

7. Why colonize?
European nations wanted colonies
for many reasons.
3Gs:
-God
-Glory
-Gold

8. Why colonize?
 This was part of the concept of mercantilism
 Mercantilism was the main economic system used
during the 16th, 17th, & 18th centuries.
 In this system, the government heavily regulated
foreign trade.
 Supporters of mercantilism believed that there was
only so much wealth and if you wanted more, you had
to take it from another country.

9. Why colonize?
 Mercantilists searched for a balance of trade that
would bring wealth into the country.
 This would happen when more precious metals (gold
primarily, but silver as well) came into the Mother
Country, and none of those metals went out as
payments for debts
 They also searched out colonies to gain more
wealth/trading partners.
A brief clip (2 min) on how mercantilism works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bouw3MvmrYM

10. Hispaniola
 The island of Hispaniola (modern day Haiti and
Dominican Republic) is located in the Caribbean.

11. Settlement of the Island
● In 1492, Columbus, working for Spain,
landed on the island of Hispaniola. He
set up the first European
establishment in this part of the world.
● Later, the island was colonized by both
the French and Spanish.
● The Spanish part was called Santo
Domingo. The French part, Saint-
Domingue.