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Ancient Americas

Ancient Americas . Generally accepted consensus: First humans living here 15,000 years ago. Spread throughout North America to almost southern tip of South America by 11,000 BCE (9000 in your book) Hunters and gatherers 7000-2300 BCE domestication! Why is this important?

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Ancient Americas

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  1. Ancient Americas • Generally accepted consensus: First humans living here 15,000 years ago. • Spread throughout North America to almost southern tip of South America by 11,000 BCE (9000 in your book) • Hunters and gatherers • 7000-2300 BCE domestication! Why is this important? • Geographical local important…Maya versus Aztecs and Incas…

  2. The Olmecs: The first civilization in Mesoamerica • On coast of gulf of Mexico. • Intensive agriculture • San Lorenzo and La Venta • Undeciphered system of hieroglyphics • Ceremonial game • Collapsed around the 4th century BCE.

  3. The Zapotecs • Monte Alban • 20,000 + dwellers • Lived in terraced areas cut out of the mountain side (the sacred mountain) • Theocratic government • Farmers and artisans • Undeciphered writing system • Monte Alban suddenly abandoned in the late 8th century CE.

  4. Ca 200 BCE to 800 CE. Pyramid of the Sun (5th century CE) Human sacrifice 1-story stucco apartment compounds 35,000+ square feet Large market regions Obsidian mine nearby Teotihuacan: America’s First Metropolis

  5. Agriculturally based economy…also trade Wealth and power began to decline in the 8th century By 800’s, city had been abandoned, no one has yet decided why. Teotihuacan: America’s First Metropolis cont…

  6. On the Yucatan peninsula/Guatemala Cacao trees and obsidian Olmecs to the west Population expansion Agricultural expansion Small city-states arise Tikal (100,000+ inhabitants) Origins of the Maya

  7. Monarchies Wealthy land owners Priests and scribes Artisans and craftsmen (middle class) Farmers Chinampaplots/terraced hillsides Gender/labor roles Patrilineal Mayan political/social structure My advisor

  8. Maya ritual and kingship ca 600-850 CE

  9. Polytheistic Itzamna (chief deity) Ranked in order of importance Anthropomorphic Evil and good Ceremonial core of cities Central pyramid Ball courts Court: cosmos. Ball: sun. Losers were sacrificed to the gods. SSsssssss Mayan Religion Sun god: Tonatiuh

  10. Mayan Hieroglyphs and Calendars • Originated in the mid-first millennium BCE. • Hieroglyphic • Role of the scribes • ‘lies of the devil’…many were burned • Palenque (Pecal, ruler) • Long Count • Calculated time (lunar) • Ends in December 2012 *gasp*

  11. Started in 8th or 9th century CE. Copan (822 abruptly) Tikal abandoned by 870. Various theories Incessant warfare Internal revolt Natural disaster Recent evidence suggests over-cultivation of land and overpopulation combined with drought… Aliens…um, no. Classic Mayan decline

  12. Mexica (“maysheeka”) Unknown origins Migration began in early 12th century CE. Aztlan=Aztec Weak in beginning Alliances Excellent warriors Dominant by early 15th century…but not a centralized state… Tenochtitlan Huitzilopochtli Rise of the Aztecs

  13. Huitzilopochtli Coyolxauhqui

  14. Authoritarian state King Divine Secular Chosen by small group of officials that were also family Council of lords Prime minister Provinces/territories Tax collectors Aztec politics

  15. Male noble children sent to temple schools Manual labor, military training, memorize history/traditions Adulthood could choose 1) Military service, 2.) government official, or 3.) priesthood Commoners (calpullis), indentured workers, slaves Rigid gender/class roles Aztec Social Structures

  16. Child being punished

  17. marriage

  18. Polytheistic (100+) Nature spirits Patron deities Material and divine world Purgatory Good and evil Day of reckoning Sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli and the day of reckoning will be delayed Aztec Religion

  19. Aztec sins drinking and adultery

  20. Ritual sacrifice

  21. Aztec Ball Court

  22. The Great Inka in South America • 1440’s CE: • Pachakuti and his successors create a highly centralized state… • The ‘Four Quarters’ built by ingenuity and forced labor • Capital at Cuzco • 24,800 miles of roads, highways and bridges…we know the importance of roads in keeping an empire consolidated…

  23. The Inca had no writing system, but rather…’quipu’

  24. The changing face of Europe

  25. Europe after 1450: • Population growth • 1450: 60 million • 1550: 69 million • Commerce began to expand, increasing size of cities • By 1550, 10% of Europe’s population lived in cities • Antwerp: Netherlands. Emerging ‘world economy’ • Spain, France, and England began to centralize and colonize • Germany began to break up • Russia acquires an empire

  26. The Rise of Spain Queen Isabella King Ferdinand

  27. Granada

  28. Christian Reconquista: Holy War • Iberian occupation • 714: Muslim’s controlled all of Spain • Reconquista for 700 years, slow, but steady progress. • 1469: merging of Castile and Aragon with marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand • ‘Spain’ consisted of Granada (Muslim), Portugal and Navarre. • Reconquista shaped Spanish values… • War, conquest and military virtues became a way of life for all! • Land redistribution and powerful aristocracy… • sheep industry

  29. Carlos I (Charles V) and the Empire of Spain • An ‘empire on which the sun never sets’ • 4 million square kilometers • Protestant reformation • Spanish colonization of the ‘new world’ • Aztecs, Incas and the conquistadors…look at soon • A ‘lover of peace’ • Constantly at war, though mostly defensive in nature

  30. The New World and the Spaniards

  31. The First Voyages • Christopher Columbus: 1451-1506. Genoese. Asia reached by going west, Portuguese first, then Spain. October 1492, reached Cuba, Hispaniola, eventually all Caribbean islands and Honduras in Central America, went to his grave believing he had found Asia. • Others realized this was a new frontier…the finding of these lands was probably Columbus’ biggest legacy.

  32. Following Columbus. State sponsored, uh-oh. • John Cabot (English): New England • Pedro Cabral: South America (1500) • Spanish Conquistadors: upper class, privately funded…not funded by state…implications of this? • Hernan Cortes, 1519, reached Mexico, took over within 3 years. • Francisco Pizarro, took over Incan Empire in Peru.

  33. Spanish Policy in the New World • Queen Isabella and her Encomienda system…tribute and labor in exchange for protection and conversion… • The natives were ideally to be subjects of Spain, but. . • Spanish officials in ‘new world’ essentially did what they wanted. • Only respite, Catholic monks. • Spain opened door for other Europeans: Dutch, French, English. And they all played so well together.

  34. It all began with… Hernan Cortes…

  35. The ‘Invasion’ of America under Cortes • Spanish armies marched across Caribbean islands, slaughtering inhabitants. • In 1519, Spanish under Hernan Cortes reached Mexico, home of Aztec empire. • Aztecs dominated Central Mexico in 1519, extracting tribute and sacrificing human captives… • Capital at Tenochtitlan. • Cortes was thought to be a god…when he arrived, Moctezuma’s envoys were in awe… • Why was Cortes successful? Staff splitting, disease, intermarriage with locals, technology, ideology, etc…(p.71)

  36. Not everyone Agreed…

  37. Bartolomé de Las Casas • 1502 went to Haiti, received an Encomienda. • 1512/3 ordained a priest (Dominican) • 1513 participated in the conquest of Cuba • 1514 returned his natives to the governor • 1515 returned to Spain to speak on behalf of the natives • 1527 The Historia de Las Indias • 1542 The New Laws of the Indies • Charles V, ‘Good treatment and preservation of the Indians’ • 1550 Debate with Sepulveda • His goals?

  38. The Spanish New World Empire • By late sixteenth century, the Spanish had a powerful American empire. • 250,000 Europeans , 125,000 Africans, and indigenous peoples lived in Spanish colonies. • Population was racially mixed…hence the term ‘mestizo’…which actually means a person of mixed Spanish and Indian heritage…Cortes’ and Dona’s son Martin… • Skin color played a role…but ‘white skin’ did not necessarily mean status…’poor whites’…wealth was the key… • Atlantic Slave Trade…by end of 1700’s, some 9.5 million Africans had been forcibly brought to the Americas… • De-culturation • Lack of female African slaves…

  39. The African Slave Trade: A Picture of Brazil • Brazil ‘claimed’ by Portugal • ‘Private individuals’ charged by Portuguese crown to colonize Brazil…why? Portuguese women rare… • Needed a stable labor source…brazilwood, sugar, gold, diamonds…at first, natives used…unsuccessful…turned to Africans… • Lack of Portuguese women led to other unions… • At first, skin color played a major role…after a while, the lines became blurred… • The extent of slavery in Brazil led to an incredibly diverse country…even today…

  40. Times, they are a-changin… • Colonial culture in Latin America… • It has been described as neomedieval…what is this? • ‘Enlightenment’ ideals begin to make an impact…what was the Enlightenment? See next… • Latin American independence… • Deeply affected by American and French Revolutions (167)… • Creole elites and revolution… • nationalism • Haiti (1804), Mexico (1810), Venezuela (1813), Argentina (1811-12), Chile (1817), Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Columbia, Bolivia and all of Central America by 1824…

  41. The Enlightenment: “Man’s leaving his self-caused immaturity.” A philosophic movement of the 18th Century marked by… a. The questioning of traditional values and doctrines, and b. An emphasis on the idea of universal human progress. c. More involvement by the masses.

  42. From “Natural Laws” of Physics to “Natural Laws” of Society All of this is directly related to the Scientific Revolution, it, in essence, takes it farther.

  43. Enlightenment Buzzwords • Reason • Skepticism • Individualism • Utilitarianism • Toleration • Humanitarianism • optimism • Nature • Progress • Materialism • Equality • Justice • Liberty • Confidence • Application of • science

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