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The Americas on the Eve of Invasion. Chapter Eleven AP World History Ms. Tully. Mesoamerica: Before the Aztecs. Pre- Columbian Teotihuacan – Classical Era The Maya Toltec Empire – Post-Classical Era Collapsed by 1150 to nomadic invaders. The Aztec Rise to Power.
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The Americas on the Eve of Invasion Chapter Eleven AP World History Ms. Tully
Mesoamerica: Before the Aztecs • Pre-Columbian • Teotihuacan – Classical Era • The Maya • Toltec Empire – Post-Classical Era • Collapsed by 1150 to nomadic invaders
The Aztec Rise to Power • Political power/ppl moved to shores of lakes in Mexico valley • Aztecs (Mexica) migrated to Lake Texcoco ca. 1325 • Tenochtitlan est. 1325 • 1434 – Aztecs dominate central valley and begin to conquer other city-states • Establish a tribute empire • Independent kingdoms opposed Aztecs – Tlaxcala
Aztec Society • Subject peoples forced to pay tribute • Stratified society under supreme ruler • Clans (calpulli) dictated social status • Social gaps widen (nobility vs. commoners) • Organized for war and motivated by religious zeal
Aztec Religion • Cyclical Worldview impending destruction • Animism – connection between spiritual and natural world • Pay tribute to gods through festivals, ceremonies, feasting, dancing, warfare, and sacrifice • Cult of Sacrifice Huitzilopochtli • Increase in Human Sacrifice • Flower Wars captives became sacrificial victims
Aztec Economy • Agrarian community • Chinampas: man-made floating islands that yielded large amount of crops • Vibrant daily markets highly regulated by state • Tribute system also supported the economy
Aztec Gender and Technology • Women’s primary domain: household, cooking, weaving • Arranged marriage • Women could inherit property • Technological restraints
The Inca Empire (Twantinsuyu) • Chimor Kingdom (900-1465) • Quechua-speaking clans (ayllus) around Cuzco • Expansion under Pachacuti (ruler, or Sapa Inca) • Controlled 3000 miles of empire; between 9-13 million ppl
Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule • Highly centralized bureaucracy • Tribute empire based on labor & integration Mita • Military: system of roads, way station (tambos), storehouses • “Split Inheritance” necessitates conquest
Inca Society • Ayllus basic unit of society • Women had property rights; still subordinate • Emphasis on reciprocity & hierarchy • Privileged nobility; basis of bureaucracy • No merchant class limited trade
Inca Culture • Polytheistic, animistic Viracocha (creator/sun god) is highest • Huacas holy shrines (mountains, stones, rivers, caves, tombs, temples) • Many cultural achievements • Pottery & cloth • Metallurgy (copper, bronze) • Quipu – knotted strings for accounting • Complex irrigation
Aztecs vs. Incas • Similarities • Build on earlier empires that preceded them (Toltecs, Chimor) • Excellent organizers (imperial, military) • Intensive agriculture under state control • Clans transformed to hierarchy • Ethnic groups allowed to survive • Animistic religion • Differences • Aztecs have sophisticated trade, markets; Inca have no separate merchant class • Aztecs developed a system of writing, while the Inca did not
Peoples of the Americas • Great variety; adapt to their region • Overall pop. Unknown; around 67 million ca. 1492 • Long distance/regional trade • Caribbean Islands: hierarchical societies, divided into chiefdoms • North America: Mixture of agriculturalists & nomads • Two great imperial systems by 1500, but Mesoamerica and Andes weakened by European contact • Communities are technologically behind Europeans, Chinese, Arabs