Modern nations — economy and migration
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Flip to reveal answersWhat was the main technological driver of economic transformation in the Americas, 1860-1929?
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All 12 Flashcards — Modern nations — economy and migration
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Question
What was the main technological driver of economic transformation in the Americas, 1860-1929?
Answer
Railroad construction — it connected interior farms, mines and ranches to ports for export, triggering industrial growth and urbanization.
Question
Define neocolonialism.
Answer
Foreign economic control over a country that is politically independent — the country rules itself, but outsiders own its key industries.
Question
Define dependency (in this economic context).
Answer
Relying on other countries for capital, markets and manufactured goods, often locking an economy into supplying cheap raw materials.
Question
How much railway did Argentina have by 1914, and who mostly owned it?
Answer
Over 33,000 km — mostly built and owned by British companies.
Question
Who ruled Mexico from 1876-1911, and why is his rule the key case study for the neocolonialism debate?
Answer
Porfirio Diaz — he welcomed huge foreign investment in railroads and mining, producing export growth alongside deep rural poverty and elite wealth concentration.
Question
Name three migrant groups who arrived in the Americas during this period and where they mainly settled.
Answer
Italians/Spaniards (Argentina, Brazil, USA), Eastern European Jews (USA), Chinese labourers (USA railroads/mines, Peru, Cuba), Japanese migrants (Brazil, Peru, US West Coast).
Question
What did the US Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) do, and what does it reveal?
Answer
It banned nearly all Chinese immigration to the USA; it reveals that migration policy reflected racial hierarchies, not just labour demand.
Question
What was Argentina's Conquest of the Desert (1878-1885)?
Answer
A military campaign that used force to clear Mapuche and other Indigenous peoples from Pampas land wanted for European settlement and export farming.
Question
Outline the process by which migration and rail expansion changed land use in the interior.
Answer
Land declared "empty" -> Indigenous peoples forced out (often by military campaigns) -> communal land fenced into private export farms -> Indigenous communities marginalized onto poorer land.
Question
Compare the 'genuine modernization' and 'neocolonial dependency' arguments about this period.
Answer
Modernization view: foreign capital built real infrastructure and raised national income. Dependency view: profits left the country, economies stayed narrow, and local elites/foreign investors captured the wealth while the majority saw little benefit.
Question
Why does inter-American trade stay smaller than trade with Europe/USA in this period?
Answer
Most American countries produced similar raw materials (grain, beef, minerals) rather than the manufactured goods each other needed, so they traded more with industrialized Europe and the USA.
Question
What is the strongest essay strategy for a 'to what extent' Paper 3 question on this topic?
Answer
Take a clear position, support it with specific evidence for and against, and reach a substantiated (even partial) judgement — e.g. 'genuine growth, but structured dependently.'
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Full study notes for Modern nations — economy and migration
Topic 11.5 hub
The formation of modern nations in the Americas (1860–1929)
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