United Fruit Company

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/united-fruit-company

1. What is the criticisms and controversies?
2. What was the United Fruit Company and when was it founded?
3. Why did the United Fruit Company become so powerful in countries like Guatemala and Honduras?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the criticisms and controversies?Accused of exploitative neocolonialism, significant influence on internal politics, and labor exploitation
2. What was the United Fruit Company and when was it founded?The United Fruit Company was a big business that grew and sold bananas. It started in 1899 when the Boston Fruit Company and Minor C. Keith's businesses joined together.
3. Why did the United Fruit Company become so powerful in countries like Guatemala and Honduras?It became powerful in places like Guatemala and Honduras because it owned huge banana farms, built railroads and ships, and could control every part of the banana trade, giving it a lot of influence.

Vertical Integration: A business strategy where a company controls multiple stages of production, from raw materials to final product.
Neocolonialism: The practice of using economic, political, or cultural influence to control or affect other countries, especially former colonies.
Monoculture: The agricultural practice of growing a single crop on a large area of land, year after year.