America

America The regions of Latin America were conquered by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The Portuguese and the French also had their presence there. The political power of the South American cultures such as the Incas and the Aztecs was destroyed by these colonial powers. The colonizers ( conquistadores ) brought to an end the local religious beliefs and introduced Catholic religion. The colonial rule in Latin America was brutal and was marked by widespread genocide and decimation of the indigenous population. The native people were made to work as slave labourers in the farm lands as well as the mines of the colonial masters who exported goods such as sugar, coffee, gold and silver to European nations. Atrocities of Conquistadores Latin America today consists of many nations such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, and Caribbean countries in Central and South America. In October the royalists staged a rising of their own in Paris. The army led by a rising officer and one-time Jacobin named Napoleon Bonaparte came to their assistance. Fearful of bloodshed, the Thermidorians agreed to concentrate power in the hands of a Directory of five men. In four years, under one pretext or another, Napoleon gained power. In Napoleon staged a coup which in effect gave him dictatorial power. In Napoleon made the Pope crown him as the Emperor of France. The French revolutionaries may have been defeated, but much of the revolution’s heritage survived to shape the modern world. Impact of French Revolution The French revolution created a deep impact, not only in France but also all over Europe, and even inspired anti- colonial intellectuals and movements across the world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The French revolution brought to an end the rule of Louis XVI in France. It reduced social inequality. The privileges given to certain sections of the society based on birth were curtailed. It introduced a republican form of government with electoral rights. The feudal system was abolished Slavery was abolished though it took some more years for the total abolition of slavery The