The Aztec and Inca Empires: Rise and Influence in the Americas

1. The Americas: The Aztec & the Inca AP World History

2. The Aztecs

3. Rise of the Aztecs • Aztecs (Mexica) migrate to Lake Texcoco in central Mexico c. 1325 • Founded city of Tenochtitlan in 1325 • Empire started in 1434 • Aztec kings represented civil power and served as a representative of the gods on Earth

4. Aztec Government • City-states ruled by a speaker chosen from the nobility • The Great Speaker, ruler of Tenochtitlan, was in effect an emperor • Increasingly considered a living god • Conquered peoples maintained some autonomy if they paid tribute

5. Aztec Religion • Aztec maintained traditional deities of Mesoamerica • 128 major deities • Huitzilopochtli (right) was the Aztec tribal patron and patron deity of the cult of warfare and sacrifice

6. Human Sacrifice • Human sacrifice was a typical part of Mesoamerican religion • Aztec expand practice into a cult where military supplied war captives for sacrifice • Why? • Political purposes • Population control • Cannibal kingdom

7. Human Sacrifice

8. Tenochtitlan • On an island in Lake Texcoco • Aztecs called it the “foundation of Heaven” • By 1519 had a population of 150,000 • Connected by causeways and canals

9. Tenochtitlan “The Venice of the Americas

10. Aztec Economy • Agriculture • Food often provided as tribute • Built chinampas • Pochteca was a special merchant class which specialized in long-distance luxury trade • Cacao beans and gold dust were used as currency; bartering was most common

11. Chinampas Chinampas were man-made floating islands 17’ long x 100’ to 300’ feet wide. Aztecs built over 20,000 acres of chinampas.

12. Chinampas

13. Aztec Society • Originally divided into seven clans called calpulli • Calpulli redistributed land, organized labor gangs & military units, maintained temples & schools • Eventually a class of nobility emerged • Nobility controlled the priesthood & military

14. Aztec Society • Women’s primary role was the household • Women spent six hours a day grinding corn; restricted women’s rights • Marriages were arranged • Polygamy existed amongst the nobility • Women could inherit property

15. The Inca

16. Rise of Inca • Founded by Quechua-speaking clans, ayllus, living near Cuzco c. 1350 • Inca (ruler) Pachacuti expanded the empire from 1438-1471 • Built Machu Picchu • Expansion continued after Pachacuti’s death

17. Machu Picchu

18. Machu Picchu

19. Conquest & Religion • Expansion motivated by split inheritance • Polytheistic • Sun God was the primary god • Influenced by animism • Mountains, rivers, etc. were considered holy shrines Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu

20. Inca Government • Inca was considered almost a god • Divided empire into four provinces • Developed a bureaucracy run by nobles • Nobility drawn from the ten ayllus • Local rulers maintained their positions • Colonized conquered areas • Relocated some conquered peoples

21. Inca Economy • Unlike Aztecs, not a lot of trade • Tried to be self-sufficient • Primarily agricultural • Terrace farming & complex irrigation • Over 200 types of potatoes • Inca Socialism • Used forced labor for massive projects • Mita

22. Terrace Farming

23. Inca Society • Inca emphasis on military reinforced gender inequality • Women worked in the fields, wove cloth, and cared for the household • Women worshipped fertility deities • Recognize parallel descent • Women passed rights and property to their daughters

24. Inca Technology • Built a complex system of roads and bridges • 2500 miles of roads • Used a system of runners to carry messages throughout the empire • Beautiful pottery, cloth, and metalworking • Quipu • Masonry

25. Bridges and Roads

26. Quipu

27. Inca Metalworking