1. Americas on the eve of invasion
Stearns Ch 11

2. MesoAmerica Olmecs, 1200 - 300 BCE (classical)
Toltec, CE (post)
Maya, , continued….

3. Toltecs - influence Aztecs
Quetzalcoatl - feather serpent, later considered God
capital at Tula
contact with Anasazi (turquoise for obsidian) and Cahokia (?)
decline of Toltecs (open for Aztecs)

4. Aztec geography

5. How did they (Mexica) take power?
military conquest from the north of lake Texcoco (Aztlan) in 1300s
Triple Alliance - Acolhuas Tepanecs by 1400
military cult - human sacrifices from war captives (terror threat)
flower war: expand for religion

6. How did Aztecs hold power?
political domination, not direct control
social contract: forced others to pay tribute, give land and military service
local leaders left in control
state control and distribution of food
merchant class or pochteca, specialized in trade (cacao)

7. How did Aztecs hold power?
Chinampas - food surplus, supply
Tribute empire: dependent upon the loyalty of the other “city states
Decline - decrease in food production, end of calpulli

8. chinampas

9. culture Nahuatl language Mesoamerican calendar
Toltec religion - united people
128 total gods - male / female form; major cults of devotion to gods who ruled natural world
mythology - similar to Greek or Hinduism

10. transitions
traditional calpulli (clans) replaced by military and administrative nobles
significance of military cult (born into)
egalitarian principles disappeared in expanding empire (hiercharchy)
lack of technology - limited role of women (maize)
continuation of classical civ: “militarized afterglow of earlier achievements”

11. Tenochtitlan

12. Practice sourcing
“With a core population recently estimated at 5 to 6 million people, the Aztec Empire was a loosely structured and unstable conquest state that witnessed frequent rebellions by its subject peoples. Conquered peoples and cities were required to regularly deliver to their Aztec rulers impressive quantities of textiles and clothing….The process was overseen by local imperial tribute collectors…..”
Secondary Source: “The Aztec Empire” in Ways of the World by Robert W. Strayer; p. 590

13. Inca geography
3,000 miles

14. How did they (Twantinsuyu) take power?
Tihuanaco was previous regional empire
Pachacuti (Inca) - expanded Cuzco pastoralists into larger empire
variety of methods
Chimor (previous empire) by force
others through alliances, trade
Twantinsuyu - 4 parts put together
split inheritance - need for more land

15. How did Inca hold power?
capital in Cuzco regional governors (curacas) loyal to “inca”
9-13 million people, different ethnicities - gave land and labor (mita) in return for redistribution of goods, food, projects
complex roads / bridges / tambos (supply center)
cult of ancestors (common religion)
ayllus - clans, family groupings (nobles)

16. Inca agriculture - human interaction with the environment
If Aztecs created alliances by FEAR, Incas could encourage cooperation because of their agricultural system

17. Inca culture Quechua oral language - actively spread
Temple of the Sun at Cuzco
gold, silver and bronze work
knots as numbering system
engineering - roads, bridges, terrace farming

18. Quipu size of knot (0-1o) placement on cord (100 - 1000)
color = subject
purpose - mita (labor tax) and production

19. Machu Picchu

20. ? on succession?