Languages and Religions of Latin America

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Languages and Religions of Latin America
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Languages and Religions of Latin America

• Spanish and Portuguese spread their languages and
  religions to the indigenous people they
  conquered.
• Over time the indigenous people replaced their
  native tongues with Spanish and Portuguese. They
  also replaced religious practices of idol worship
  and human sacrifice with the Catholic religion.

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Latin America

• Central and South America and the Caribbean
  Islands make up the region of Latin America
• The term Latin America was started in the 1800s
  to group the countries that spoke mostly
  languages based on the ancient Latin language of
  Spanish and Portuguese.

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Languages Today

• Spanish is the primary language of most of Latin
  America
• Portuguese is the official language of Brazil
• French, English, Dutch, and hundreds of native
  languages are still spoken

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Religions

• Catholic priests and missionaries built missions
  in the newly conquered areas. Missions were
  church outposts where Indians learned the Spanish
  language and the Spanish way of life.
• The missionaries tried to convert the indigenous
  people to the Catholic religion.
• The priests also ministered to the new European
  settlers in the area.
• The Spanish and Portuguese military helped
  provide protection for the missions.

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Missions
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Religions

• Sometimes the indigenous people were forced to
  convert to Catholicism.
• Sometimes they mixed their traditional beliefs
  with beliefs of the Catholic Church.

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Blending of Ethnic Groups

• Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans were
  the largest ethnic groups in Latin America
• Over time many people in these groups
  intermarried and developed their own unique
  cultures
• Some of the Native Americans were able to
  preserve their culture by moving into remote
  mountainous or jungle regions

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Mulattoes

• Mulattoes are people that are a mix of African
  and European heritage.

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Mulattoes

• There are numerous mulattoes today in Brazil,
  Panama, and the Caribbean Islands.

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Mestizos

• Mestizos are people that have a mix of European
  and Native American heritage.

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Mestizos

• Mestizos make up the majority of the population
  of Venezuela today.

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Blending of Ethnic Groups

• The main religion today in Latin America is Roman
  Catholic. However many of the Native Americans
  and Africans have blended their own religions
  with the Roman Catholic religion to form unique
  practices.