1. Chapter 16: The Early Americas
Section 1: The Maya
Section 2: The Aztecs
Section 3: The Incas

2. Section 1 The Maya
The Maya was located in an area known as Mesoamerica.
The Maya settled in present-day Guatemala.
Thick Tropical Forrest on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Begin living in small isolated villages, then began building large cities in Mesoamerica
Crops: beans, squash, avocados, and MAIZE

4. Mayan Classical Age Height of the Maya was AD 250-900 Trading
Exports: cotton and cacao beans
Imports: obsidian, jade, colorful bird feathers
Built pyramids, palaces, and plazas
King Pacal’s Temple in Palenque
Special Ball Game: tlachtli

6. Mayan Culture Social structure and religion were major aspects
Religion: Polytheistic
Gods could be helpful or harmful
Gods needed blood to prevent disasters or the end of the world
Structure:
king, priests merchants noble warriors (higher class)
farming families (lower class)

8. Mayan Achievements Built observatories Made 2 Calendars
365 day (harvest)
260 day (religious)
Number system with symbol for zero
Writing like hieroglyphics
Amazing Art and architecture
Mayan jade and gold jewelry

9. Mayan Decline People stopped building
Moved from cities to the countryside
Fall of Mayan: Historians aren’t really sure, but could have been a combination of factors:
Burden of working for the king
Warfare between the cities
Food shortages
Climate Changes and Droughts

11. Section 2 The Aztecs
Farmers migrated to Central Mexico in the middle of Lake Texcoco
Capital city was Tenochtitlan (200,000 people)
Built causeways to overcome geographic challenges
Canals
chinampas
War, trade, and tribute were key factors in the Aztec Civilization.
Cotton, gold and food
spies
Conquered nearby towns
Controlled trade network
Large markets

14. Aztec Complex Structure
Aztec king
Most important in society
Trusted Nobles
Collected taxes, judges, government officials
Warriors and Priests
Religious ceremonies
Highly respected
Kept calendars
Merchants and Artisans
Farmers and Laborers
Made up majority of the population
Paid the most tribute
Found it hard to survive; only slaves struggled more
Slaves

15. Religion and Warfare Cultural Achievements
Worshipped many gods
Gods controlled nature and human activities
Priest made as many as 100,000 human sacrifices a year
Victims came from frequent battles with neighboring peoples
Stone pyramids and statues
Jewelry and Mask made of gold gems, and bright feathers
Women embroidered colorful designs on clothes
Astronomy and School
Calendar like the Mayans
Kept detailed records
Strong oral tradition (riddles and speeches)

16. Cortes Conquers the Aztecs
Conquistadors reached Mexico in 1519 led by Hernan Cortes
Cortes was looking for gold, land, and to convert natives
Moctezuma II (Aztec Emperor) believed Cortes to be Quetzalcoatl (ket-suhl-jyg-WAH-tuhl)
legend
Moctezuma II gave the Spaniards gifts, but Cortez captured Moctezuma.
The Aztecs attacked the Spanish and managed to drive them out.
Moctezuma was killed in battle.
The Spanish returned within a year and conquered the Aztec.
Help from natives
Better weapons
Natives scared of horses
Small pox killed thousands of natives

17. Section 3 The Incas
While the Aztecs were ruling Mexico, the Inca Empire arose in South America (near the Andes).
Capital was Cuzco (KOO-skoh), now Peru
Pachacuti (pah-chah-KOO-tee) expanded the Inca territory
By 1500s, the Inca territory stretched from Ecuador to central Chile
To rule effectively, they set up a central government

19. Government and Economy
Removed leaders of the people he conquered and replaced them
Made conquered children go to school in Cuzco to learn Inca way of life.
Language unified the empire
Quechua (KE-chuh-wuh)
Today many people in Peru speak Quechua
Government controlled the economy
Told families how to work
Labor tax system called Mita
No merchants or markets; government officials distributed goods through mita
Leftover food was stored in capital for an emergency

20. Well-Organized Economy
Farmers
Tended to government land, in addition to their own
Villagers
Made cloth and other good for the army
Soldiers
Worked mines, built roads and bridges

21. Inca Life and Religion
Common people had little personal freedom, but government protected empire
Upperclass vs. Lower class
Rulers relax in luxury at royal retreats like Machu Picchu
No slaves
Warmer valleys
Maize and peanuts
Cooler Mountains
potatoes
Raised llama (South American animal related to camels) for meat and wool
Thought their rulers were related to the sun god and never really died
Mummies
Animal sacrifices
Magical powers

22. Inca Achievements Inca temples Master Builders Artwork Weavers
Masonry
Network of Roads/Two Major Highways
Artwork
Pottery, gold/silver jewelry
Weavers
No writing system, but used quipus (KEE-pooz) to keep records
Also had an oral tradition (oral memorizers)

23. Pizarro Conquers the Incas
Conquistadors arrive in South America
Civil Wars begin in South America
Atahualpa (ah-tah-WAHL-pah) won the war, but had weakened the army
Francisco Pizarro led in an army, the Spanish attacked the Inca by surprise.
The Spanish quickly conquered Atahualpa.
The natives gave the Spanish gold, silver, and precious metals worth millions of dollars today.
Despite the huge payment, the Spanish kill Atahualpa.
The Incas fight back, but the Spanish eventually defeated the Incas and took over the empire.