Independence in Latin America · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

New flags over old fields

History · World History · ages 16-18
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Who led the independence movements?

    • Foreign kings ruling directly
    • Locally born Creole elites
    • No one at all

  2. How did Napoleon's invasion of Spain create the opening?

    • Officials lost authority and juntas claimed rule
    • Spain grew stronger overseas
    • Colonies voted to pay more taxes

  3. After independence, the poor generally kept the same landlords and labour.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Why did Spanish America fragment while Brazil held together?

    • The ocean dried up
    • Rival regions and caudillos split it; a prince kept Brazil united
    • Maps were never drawn

  5. Enslaved recruits fight in the wars, yet peace deals favour landowners. What does that show?

    • The wars never happened
    • Landowners fought alone
    • Victory coalitions broader than the peace that followed

  6. A new republic keeps slavery for decades and plantations dominate. What changed most?

    • The soil itself
    • The climate
    • The flag, more than the fields

  7. Elites feared a second Haiti during these revolutions. What limit did that fear produce?

    • Revolutions freed everyone faster
    • Revolutions banned all flags
    • Revolutions steered away from ending slavery or sharing land

  8. Compare Latin America with Africa a century later on one point.

    • Both happened in the same year
    • Early kept landlord power; later faced imperial borders
    • Neither involved any elites
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

New flags over old fields W1-mt_pQVJQQrKvm-s1

  1. Locally born Creole elites · Creole leaders steered most movements to victory.
  2. Officials lost authority and juntas claimed rule · With the king gone, provinces claimed power back.
  3. True · Estates and forced labour survived under new flags.
  4. Rival regions and caudillos split it; a prince kept Brazil united · Brazil's imperial path avoided republican splitting.
  5. Victory coalitions broader than the peace that followed · Many fought, but Creole estates captured the peace.
  6. The flag, more than the fields · Rule changed hands; land and labour barely did.
  7. Revolutions steered away from ending slavery or sharing land · Fear of revolt kept the answers to who counts narrow.
  8. Early kept landlord power; later faced imperial borders · Timing and borders differ, but narrow answers to who counts rhyme.
Worksheet · LightMySky