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The Americas

Chapter 16. The Americas. Section 1. The First Americans. Pathway to the Americas. Ice Age  period when temperatures dropped sharply Most of Earth’s water was in glaciers Ice froze seas fell Beringia People in Asia possibly followed the animals they were hunting into North America

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The Americas

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  1. Chapter 16 The Americas

  2. Section 1 The First Americans

  3. Pathway to the Americas • Ice Age period when temperatures dropped sharply • Most of Earth’s water was in glaciers • Ice froze seas fell • Beringia • People in Asia possibly followed the animals they were hunting into North America • First Americans possibly arrived between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago.

  4. Hunting and Gathering • Gathered nuts, fruits, and roots • Hunted woolly mammoth (up to 9 tons), antelope, caribou, and bison

  5. First American Civilizations • Farming began in Mesoamerica 9,000 – 10,000 years ago. • Meso Greek for “middle” • Area includes the Valley of Mexico to Costa Rica • Rich volcanic soil and mild climate • Rains in spring and fall • First crops pumpkins, peppers, squash, gourds, and beans • began crossing corn with other grasses and created maize.

  6. Mesoamerican Civilizations • 1500 BC, the first civilization popped up • The Olmec • Near Vera Cruz, Mexico • Built a far reaching trading empire • Started around 1200 BC • Lasted around 800 years • Rich farming resources • Traded salt and beans for jewelry and obsidian • Used hematite to make polished mirrors and basalt for carving gigantic stone heads

  7. Mesoamerican Civilizations • As Teotihuacan’s power spread, a people called the Maya built another civilization in the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula • Used canoes to possibly reach the present-day United States. • Teotihuacan and Mayan cities reached their peaks in the AD 400s and 500s. • Causes • Overpopulation • Poor rebelled against rich rulers • The Mayans lasted 200 years more, but came to a mysterious end.

  8. Toltec • As the Maya left their cities, the Toltec took control of northern Mexico. • Built city of Tula • Conquered the Yucatan Peninsula • Held a monopoly to the trade in obsidian • This kept others from making weapons to challenge them • Around AD 1200, the Aztec took control of the region

  9. Moche • The Moche were in dry coastal desert of Peru • Ruled AD 100 to 700 • Dug canals to carry water from Andes Mountains • Hunted llamas and guinea pigs • Designed huge pyramids • No written language

  10. Inca • Lived in Andes Mountains • Capital was Cuzco

  11. Civilizations in North America • AD 300 Hohokam • Planted gardens between Salt and Gila Rivers • Thrived for about 1,000 years • Mid 1300s, they mysterious fled • AD 600 Anasazi • Collected water from cliffs • Controlled the trade in turquoise • Lived in huge apartment-like houses carved into cliffs • Spanish explorers called these buildings pueblos, meaning “village”

  12. Mound Builders • 1000 BC to 400 AD • Founders built huge mounds made of earth, some in the shape of animals • Adena and Hopewell tribes • Lands stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico • Lived mostly as hunter/gatherers • Tamed some plants (sunflowers, gourds, and barley) • Corn was introduced around AD 100

  13. The Mississippians • The Hopewell mysteriously declined and the Mississippians emerged • Became full-time farmers • Large-scale farming led to the rise of cities • The largest city, Cahokia may have had 30,000 people (southwestern Illinois) • Built pyramid shaped mounds • AD 1300s, the Mississippians collapsed, possibly due to attack or becoming too big to support.

  14. Section 2 Life in the Americas

  15. The Mayan People • Settled in Peten, Mayan word for “flat region”, in Guatemala. • Swamps and sinkholes year round source of water • Set-up city states • Rulers said they were descended from the sun • God-kings

  16. The Mayan People • Taught subjects how to please the gods • Human sacrifice. • Believed gods gave their life-giving fluid (rain) so humans should give theirs in return (blood) • When going into battle, Mayans wanted captives more than land. • During drought, priests offered captives to Chac (god of rain and sunlight) • Believed Chac lived in watery pits and threw captives here.

  17. The Mayan People • Religion was the core of Mayan life • Priests set up a strict social system • Calakmul at least two women served as all-powerful queens. • Kings and queens turned to priests for advice • Priests believed the gods revealed their plans through movements of the sun. • Developed 365 day calendar based on movements of the stars. • Developed system of counting based on 20. • Used system of hieroglyphics

  18. The Aztec • Arrived in 1250 and were given a patch of land filled with snakes. • Quetzalcoatl sun god and feathered serpent • Would know they found homeland when and eagle “screams and spreads its wings, and eats…the serpent” • 1325 settled on a soggy island in Lake Texcoco • Founded the city of Tenochtitlan

  19. The Aztec • Tenochtitlan “place of the prickly pear cactus” • A council of priests, warriors, and nobles picked each king from a royal family. • King was top of society • Others fell into four classes • Nobles • Commoners • Unskilled laborers • Enslaved people

  20. The Aztec • Largest group was commoners • Farmers, artisans or traders • Could join nobles by performing one act of bravery in war. • Saw death as honorable • Could reach after life if… • Soldiers died in battle • Captives gave life in sacrifice • Women who died in childbirth • Others went to “Land of the Dead”, the lowest level of the afterlife

  21. The Aztec • The god Huitzilopochtli vowed “We shall conquer all the people in the universe” • This promise inspired the Aztec to honor the god with a huge temple at the center of Tenochtitlan • Many captive were taken here and sacrificed

  22. The Inca Empire • Blamed earthquakes on the god Pachacamac “Lord of the Earth” • The greatest Incan leader took the name Pachacuti “Earthshaker” • 1438, he and his son built the largest empire in the Americas. • 2500 miles (LA to NY) • Set up a strong central government, but allowed local leaders to stay in power • In return, leaders’ sons were sent to Cuzco for training. • Required the people to learn Quechua, the Incan language

  23. The Inca Empire • Believed the sun god Inti protected Cuzco • Rulers called themselves “sons of the sun” • Rulers and wives were top of society • Head priest and commander of the army were next • Next, regional army leaders • Then temple priests, army commanders, and skilled workers (musicians, artisans, and accountants) • Bottom farmers, herders, and ordinary soldiers. • Further divided society into 12 job categories • Every one over the age of 5 had a specific job to hold.

  24. The Inca Empire • Rarely honored gods with human sacrifice • Only during earthquakes of times of trouble • Most often sacrificed children • Worshipped sacrificed children as gods • Built large works of stone • Machu Picchu • Used a quipu (a rope with knotted cords of different lengths and colors)

  25. Life in North America • People settled in Canada and Alaska around 3000 BC • Called themselves the Inuit (“the people”) • Igloos dome-shaped homes, from blocks of ice and snow • Dogsleds to travel by land • Hunted seals, walruses, caribou, and polar bears • Oil from animals used for oil lamps

  26. Life on the West Coast • Tlingit, Haida, Chinook • One of the most heavily populated areas north of Mesoamerica • Area of California had over 500 early American cultures

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