(Second of two parts)

The Jesuits arrived in the New World in the late 16th century. In the newly founded city of Córdoba in north-central Argentina, they were granted a manzana, or land parcel, in 1599, where they built a complex that eventually included a church, a university, a residence for Jesuit priests and a collegium, or secondary school. To finance the complex, the Jesuits established large estancias, or ranches, in the countryside surrounding Córdoba.

These estancias...

Henequen reigned as king in what is now the Mexican state of Yucatán, on the Yucatán Peninsula, for much of the 19th century. It was called “green gold” and made plantation owners wealthy, enabling them to own vast estates in the countryside and to build opulent mansions in Mérida, some of which can still be seen along one of the city’s major boulevards, Paseo de Montejo.

The earliest Spanish settlers built haciendas where they farmed and raised cattle, using the...

The Etruscans dominated a wide swath of Italy from approximately the eighth century to the fifth century BC. Their territory stretched from the Arno River south to the Tiber, although the boundaries were not rigid and meandered well beyond this area of north-central Italy. 

The Etruscans had edged out the indigenous peoples of the areas they occupied until they, themselves, finally were conquered by a stronger neighbor to the south: Rome.

At the height of Etruscan power,...