ELEMENTS OF EUROPEAN ORIGIN UP TO THE PRESENT IN LATIN AMERICA - HISTORY - 2025

Some of the elements of European origin that have remained until the present in Latin America are language, food or religion. The European colonizers brought to the New World an accumulation of customs that gave rise to a new generation of settlers, who had to succumb to the domination imposed throughout Latin America.

This manor implied the foundation of colonies to promote a new territorial conception, as well as the implementation of social, political and economic systems, always under European guidelines.

The colonization process induced a marked transculturation that is in force today.

Main elements of European origin that have remained until the present in Latin America

1) Language

One of the main aspects transferred from Europe to the American territory is, without a doubt, the language.

The countries colonized by Spain adopted Spanish as the language of common speech. Similarly, in the case of Brazil, conquered by Portugal, Portuguese has been the main language ever since.

The fact of establishing the language of origin in the New World was conducive to communication with the countries of origin, and this in turn, facilitated the promulgation of the guidelines issued by the respective governments.

2) Religion

Evangelization sought to educate the native Indians and black slaves brought from African lands in the Catholic world. Hence, the American continent is, today, one of the territories with the largest number of faithful in the world.

Catholic missionaries used dialogue as the main method of evangelization. They chose to learn the native language of the indigenous people, to communicate effectively with them.

Through the teaching of Catholicism, evangelizers seized the opportunity to teach the beliefs, rules, and traditions inherent in this religion.

Consequently, the identity of the New World citizen was predominantly embedded in a religious framework.

3) Miscegenation

It is the process of mixing between races. It took place during colonization, given the cultural exchange between the natives and the European colonizers.

Today a mixture composed of European, indigenous and African traits is still perceived, to a greater or lesser extent, generating a new race.

4) Architecture

The European settlers brought with them architectural preferences of Baroque art, with which they decided to implement these design lines in new Latin American constructions.

Thus, the main churches and cathedrals that were erected in the New World had a characteristic typology of European architecture, as did the government headquarters, health centers and settlers' homes.

Some of these buildings had artistic expressions of miscegenation. For example: the adoration images of the American churches (saints and angels), had characteristics of the indigenous or Afro-descendant phenotype.

5) Food

The Europeans brought with them endless foods that they included in the diet of the inhabitants of Latin America, and that are still in vogue today.

Among the animals coming from Europe are pigs and cows. In the area of ​​cereals, the conquerors brought wheat, rye, oats and barley to America.

They also brought in their boats: coffee, citrus plants (oranges, lemons, grapefruits, limes), lettuce, carrots, spinach, radishes, alfalfa, bananas and asparagus. In addition, sugar cane and olive oil stand out.

References

1. Positive Cultural Contribution of the Spanish (2011). Recovered from: faculty.cord.edu
2. Customs brought by the Spanish to America (2017). Recovered from: apunteshistoria.info
3. The process of colonial miscegenation in America and its historical influence (2007). Recovered from: pensamientodiferente.wordpress.com
4. Fernández, I. (2013). What did the Spaniards inherit in America? Recovered from: israelfernandez1c.blogspot.com
5. Méndez, M. (2012). Food brought by the Spanish to America. Recovered from: abc.com.py
6. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2017). Spanish-American colonial art. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org