L.A Chapter 5 Cheezified

     Right after the independence happened in Latin America, the people there were very different and it was very hard for the government to decide on how they were going to run each of their own countries. Most countries decided to write constitutions like the U.S, but some had people called caudillos (CAH-uh-DEE-ohs) who led the country. Caudillos were leaders that were strong enough to put together a whole army that could control people.
       Caudillos usually were in charge of just an area in their country and if they were good enough, they would become the caudillo of the country. These caudillos were very important after the independence because they were a main part of keeping a country together. They were like our governors but more rough and mid-western.
      Even though the people in Latin America were able to find ways to control their area, they had a tough time dealing with the after scene of the Independence. The war scenes. Many beautiful countries were ruined by all the fighting that it took for freedom. Also, Latin America lacked efficient transportation at the time, and therefore it was hard for them to trade with other countries and continents.

Caudillos

After a war

Collapse Theory

          I believe that anemia, malnutrition and lack of iron, was a leading cause in why the Mayan, a strong civilization in southern Mexico that lasted 300-900AD, collapsed. I think that this is the reason that they collapsed because archeologists in Copan, Honduras, found skulls with spongy spots formed from anemia. This disease was found on 80% of the skulls here and I believe that the reason why the Mayans didn't know that they would be affected by not getting certain nutrients was because they didn't have too much knowledge on human's health. The Mayans probably did not know that they needed these certain vitamins, and their limited diets, like maize, didn't fit for all of the nutrients necessary, causing them to die from anemia. This was found on so many skulls that I think that many Mayans died from this, and that is why I think the Mayan Society collapsed.

 drawings of skulls with anemia

 maize, a main food in the mayan diet.

 a real skull affected by anemia.