300 likes | 321 Views
Chapter 1 – The Americas. Summary of Chapter 1. Culture and early life of Americans similar to Mesopotamia, Indus River, Egypt, Huang He Reliance upon water Geography & climate enable Americans to build a civilization. Sioux Warrior Shirt. Summary of Chapter 1.
E N D
Summary of Chapter 1 • Culture and early life of Americans similar to Mesopotamia, Indus River, Egypt, Huang He • Reliance upon water • Geography & climate enable Americans to build a civilization Sioux Warrior Shirt
Summary of Chapter 1 • The early inhabitants of the Americas probably traveled from Asia across aBering Strait land bridge produced by the Ice Age. • The Inuit, Iroquois, Hopewell, Plains Indians, and Anasazi were major North American groups. • The Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations developed and administered complex societies.
The Grand Council • The Iroquois League was as model for British colonies. • Ben Franklin used the Iroquois League as an example for American democracy. • The men were hunters and warriors. • The women owned the longhouses, and harvested the crops– corn, beans, and squash, called the “three sisters.”
The Great Peace =Alliance of the 5 groups of Iroquois • Principles of Great Peace: • do not act on self-interest • act for the welfare of the whole • act with the good of future generations in mind • Iroquois lived in Longhouses:
North American Natives • In North America, these early inhabitants included the Inuit people near the Arctic Circle • The Hopewell peoples of the Ohio River valley, known as “The Moundbuilders” • The Great Plains Indians lived in teepees
Video: Mystery of the Anasazi – The Ancient Ones – SW America – Disappeared suddenly
MesoAmericans • Name for areas of Mexico and Central America that were civilized before the Spaniards arrived. • Major civilizations were the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas • Most advanced civilizations of ancient Americas
The Aztecs • The Aztecs develop into an empire that could have rivaled Rome. • Floating city, pyramids, & aqueducts • Teotihuacán [TAY oh wuh KAHN] • (“Place of the Gods”) was Mesoamerica’s first major city. • Located near where Mexico City is today • 200,000 inhabitants • 200 ft tall Pyramids
The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality. Their concepts of space and time are associated with the four cardinal compass points and linked together by the calendar
A view of the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan which flourished from 200 AD to 600 AD, and which is the site of the second largest pyramid in the Americas
The Mayans • They developed an agriculturally intensive, city-centered empire consisting of numerous independent city-states. • The Mayans collapsed suddenly • There is no universally accepted theory to explain this collapse.
Incas • Located on western coast of S. America • Became an empire under the leadership of Pachacuti – created highly centralized govt. • A system of roads that extended 24,800 miles
Incan Empire • No writing system, kept records on quipu – a series of strings and knots • Like all the MesoAmerican civilizations, the Incas were no match for the Spanish Conquistadors and their steel weapons, gunpowder, and horses. • Diseasealso plays a large role in the downfall of Native American civilizations after contact with Europeans