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Learn about the ancient civilizations of the Americas, including the Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, and Inca. Discover their cultural achievements, religious beliefs, and impact on the region.
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Chapter 11: the Americas 400-1500
The Peoples of North America Section 1
The People • The First Americans • The Peoples of North America
Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica Section 2
The Olmec and Teotihuacan • Signs of Mesoamerica before the Spaniards arrived first appeared around 1200 BCE • Mesoamerica is the name used for Mexico and Central America. • The Olmec people were located in the swampy lowlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico south of Veracruz. • They farmed along the muddy riverbanks in the area
Mesoamerica • The first major city in Mesoamerica was Teotihuacan. Known as the place of the Gods.
Teotihuacan • Located near Mexico City in a fertile valley, Teotihuacan had as many as 200,000 inhabitants at its height. • The pyramid of the sun, rose in four tiers to a height over 200 feet.
The Maya and the Toltec • Far to the east of Teotihuacan, on the Yucatan Peninsula, another major civilization had arisen. • It was known as the Maya and flourished between CE 300 and 900. • It was one of the most sophisticated civilizations in the Americas.
Mayan • Mayan cities were so protected they were not discovered until the 19th and 20th century. • Location and the jungle being the reason
Mayan cities • Cities were built around a central pyramid topped by a shrine to the Gods. • Some scholars believe that urban centers such as Tikal in present day Guatemala may have had 100,000 inhabitants. • Mayan cities were always at war. Captured soldiers became slaves and captured nobles were used for human sacrifice to the Gods.
Mayan people • Most Mayan people were peasant farmers • Most Mayan people believed that all life was in the hands of divine powers. • The name of the supreme God was Itzamna. It means Lizard House
Writings and Calendar • The Maya created a sophisticated writing system based on hieroglyphs or pictures. • The Spanish conquerors in the 16th century made no effort to decipher the language or respect the Mayan’s writings. • One of the most important collections of Mayan hieroglyphs is at Palenque
The Toltec • The Toltec were a fierce and warlike people who extended their conquests into the Mayan lands of Guatemala. • The center of the Toltec empire was at Tula, built in present day Mexico
The Aztecs • The origins of the Aztecs are uncertain. • They had a long migration and finished with their capital in Tenochtitlan. • They eventually ran to Lake Texcoco which was made up of swamps after running from an attack. They bulit there for the next 100 years. • Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec God of War • Tenochtitlan also means place of prickly pear cactus
Aztecs cont… • Tribute was something Aztecs were big believers of • Tribute was goods or money paid by conquered peoples to their conquerors • By 1500 as many as four million lived in the valley of Mexico and the surrounding valleys of central mexico
The legend of Quetzalcoatl • Quetzalcoatl was an Aztec God and was known as a feathered serpent. • According to tradition he had left his home in the tenth century promising to return in triumph. • The story told of a prince whose return from exile would be proceeded by the sign of an arrow through a sapling.
Spanish conquerors • When the Aztecs saw a similar crest from the Spaniards they thought that represenatives of Quetzalcoatl had returned. • Were they right or wrong?????
Aztec Religion • The Aztec religion was based on a belief in an unending struggle between the forces of good and evil throughout the Universe.
Here comes Cortez • In 1519, a Spanish force under the command of Hernan Cortes landed at veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. • 550 soldiers and 16 horses was all he had • He made alliances with the enemies of the Aztecs along the way
Montezuma • Montezuma was the ruler of the Aztecs who offered the Spaniards gold and a beautiful palace to live in. • Tensions rose and the Europeans brought a very powerful weapon with them!!! • In 1520 city fell and the Spanish now ruled what is modern day Mexico.
Section 3 • Early Civilizations in South America
Moche • Sometime around 200 BCE another advanced civilization appeared near the Pacific coast just south of the border of Ecuador. • It was known as Moche and had the Moche river which flowed from the Andes into the Pacific Ocean. • Corn was known as Maize to these people of this area
The Inca • The Inca civilization took place about 1000 CE in the mountains of Southern Peru. • Most lived at Cuzco a city that was located 11,000 feet high.
The main man of the Inca empire • The powerful ruler of the Inca empire was a man named Pachacuti. • He launched a conquest that brought the entire region around them under control. • He ruled in the 1440’s
Pachacuti • His empire extended the boundaries of the Incan empire as far as Ecuador, central Chile,and the Edge of the Amazon basin. • The Incan empire at this time had as many as 12 million people in it.
Quecha • Quecha was the language people were forced to use once they were conquered by the Inca’s. • A noble of high rank was sent out to govern the region.
Machu Picchu • Nothing shows the genius architecture of the Inca’s more than Machu Picchu. • Machu Picchu was built 8,000 feet off the ground and was surrounded by mountain tops. • Quipu was the Incas writing system that was used by a system of knotting strings
The fall of the Inca • In 1531, the Spanish attackers of 180 men led by Francisco Pizzaro attacked the Incan people. • He used horses, Gun powder and small pox to kill the Inca’s. • By 1535, Pizzaro had established a new capital for Spain after matching on Cuzco in modern day Lima.
