The AMERICAS

1. The AMERICAS

2. American Civilizations • Enormous land area, many different regions • First Americans are believed to have crossed a land bridge in the Bering Strait between the Asian and North American continents during the last Ice Age when the sea level was low

3. North America • The Inuit – lived in the Arctic regions and northwest • Built igloos = houses made of ice blocks • Became skilled hunters and fishers • Other types of peoples include the Aleut and the Ingalik • The Mound Builders – eastern woodlands • Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, lived in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys • Built earth mounds as homes • Built some of the earliest cities in North America

4. One early group of mound builders was called the Hopewell peoples • Another group was called the Mississippians • The Iroquois – eastern woodlands (northeast) • Built longhouses • Women owned the dwellings and harvested the crops • Three “sister” crops: corn, beans, and squash • Men hunted and protected the community • Made up of five different nations: • Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Cayuga

5. Formed a joint gov’t called the Iroquois League • Created to end wars, was a council of representatives that met regularly to settle disputes • First experiment with democracy in North America • The Plains Indians – lived in the Great Plains • Consisted of different tribes • Sioux, Omaha, Comanche, Crow, and Blackfoot • Didn’t all speak the same language, so developed a form of sign language to communicate • Built teepees • Hunted buffalo with the introduction of horses from the Europeans • Used the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and tools

6. The Desert West • Hohokam • Lived in pithouses, in which people dug shallow holes in the ground and built walls and roofs with adobe • Adobe = a mixture of clay and straw • Anasazi • Developed pueblos = aboveground structures withmany rooms • Also had cliff dwellings • Other peoples = Apache and the Shoshone • Used materials that were available • Great Plains Indians built teepees and the Iroquois built longhouses

7. Mesoamerica • Name used for areas of Mexico and Central America • Site of the first farming settlements in the Americas • Maize, or corn, was the first domesticated crop • Olmec – first, appeared around 1200 BC • Farmed along the Gulf of Mexico, disappeared around 300 AD • Zapotec – lived in southern Mexico from 1500 BC to 750 AD • Their capital was the first true city in Mesoamerica

8. Toltec – lived in the highlands of Central Mexico from 900 – 1200 AD • Established military dominance over a large region • The Maya • One of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas • Developed around 1000 BC, built most of its cities between 300 – 900 AD • The Mayan civilization came to include much of Central America and consisted of 10 million people and 40 cities • Practiced slash-and-burn agriculture to farm the rain forest • Burning vegetation to clear the land for crops

9. Built splendid pyramids, temples, and palaces • Mayan cities functioned as city-states and were often at war with each other • The kings of the Mayan city-states claimed to be descended from gods • Had many rituals to satisfy the gods • One ritual involved piercing the tongue or skin to offer blood to the gods • Another was a game involving a rubber ball that you had to get through a stone hoop using only your elbows, knees, or hips – the losing team often were killed and their hearts sacrificed to the gods • Practiced human sacrifice to appease the gods

10. Among the first people to come up with the concept of zero • Had a 365 day calendar • Declined due to either overuse of resources, too much warfare, or peasant rebellions • The Aztec • Dominate from the 110s to the 1500s • At its height the Aztec controlled 5 million people and hundreds of cities • Forced conquered people to pay tribute, which was the basis of the Aztec economy • The capital city of Tenochtitlan was one of the largest in the world at the time, with 200,000 inhabitants

11. A system of roads helped with trade • The king, although he was elected by a group of nobles, claimed to be descended from gods • Religion was based on a belief in the unending struggle between forces of good and evil • Aztec religious ceremonies were particularly bloody • Believed that the gods needed human blood, hoped human sacrifice would postpone the day of reckoning • Aztec sacrificed as many as 20,000 victims a year • Mostly used slaves or prisoners of war as sacrifices • Warriors were responsible fro capturing the victims

12. South America • Chavin – 900 to 200 BC • Moche – 400 BC to 600 AD • Nazca – 200 BC to 600 AD • Best known for the huge designs they made on the desert floor • These Nazca lines show geometric shapes and outlines of animals • The Inca – 1300s to 1500s • Starts out in Peru, eventually includes 12 million people • Capital at Cuzco

13. The Inca Empire was built on war • Used a system of resettlement to limit the power of local leaders they conquered • The emperor had most of the power • Believed to related to the sun god • Mummies of dead kings kept at Cuzco and worshipped • Used the quipu to keep track of the movement of goods throughout the empire • Quipu = set of colored and knotted cords • The colors and knots represented numbers or dates • There were no slaves in the Inca Empire, but most people belonged to the lower classes

14. Religion was a key element of the Inca society • People worshipped many gods, although the sun god was the most important • Priests performed ceremonies, which included sacrifices of llamas, cloth, or food • Only practiced human sacrifices on rare occassions • Built 24,800 miles worth of roads • Had rest houses a day apart • The arrival of the Spanish brought an end to the empire