1. The Americas on the eve of invasion
Chapter 11
The Americas on the eve of invasion

2. Objective
How did the environment influence the development of societies in the Americas and how does that compare with the empires we have discussed so far?

3. 2500s BCE-400 BCE Olmec
300s-900s CE Mayas
900s-1200s CE Toltecs
1100s-1500s CE Incas
1300s- 1500s CE Aztecs

4. Olmecs (800 BCE) River-valley equivalent
Adopt agriculture and cultivate corn and potatoes
Lack system of writing
Create massive architecture
Domestication of dogs, turkeys and guinea pigs

6. Maya (400-700CE) Polytheistic Blood sacrifice
Intellectual Achievements
astronomy, calendric systems, hieroglyphic writing, ceremonial architecture, and masonry without metal tools

7. Toltecs (900-1150 CE) Adoption of earlier agricultural practices
Human sacrifice
Viewed as givers of civilization by later tribes (inaccurate)
Legend of Topiltzin & Quetzalcoatl
Possible contact with SW American Indians

8. Aztecs (1300s – mid 1521) Aggressive & warlike people
Continue practice of human sacrifice
Creation of divine kingship
Region trade and tribute from conquered peoples
Unable to remove women from economic activity
Provided necessary labor for food production
Due to lack of animal domestication or the wheel
Women were treated better (finally)
Empire conquered by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes

9. Aztec Religion Polytheistic religion Cult of Human Sacrifice 128 gods
Fertility, agriculture, creation, war, sacrifice
Still address the major theological questions of human existence
Cult of Human Sacrifice
Took a tradition and changed it
More and different

10. Aztec Agriculture Maize, beans and crops
Chinampas, man-made floating islands
Video
High yield farming
Most of the 150, ,000 people were not food producers
Maize, beans and crops

11. Aztec Social Structures
Calpulli:
Kin groups or clans
Historically 7
As the Aztecs grew in power the Calpulli changed
Became residential groups
Social stratification
Some Calpulli were more important than others
Within the Calpulli itself, some families were more important than others
Social separation was very apparent and widened as the empire grew

12. Tenochtitlan (Before and After)

13. Incas (1300’s – 1533)
Influenced by earlier Andean cultures, but not by Olmecs/Toltecs
Earlier societies known as intermediate horizon states

14. Incan Culture Culture of war and conquest
Cult of the Ancestor
split inheritance
Power given to one heir, wealth to remainder of male offspring
Wealth used to support deceased in afterlife
New ruler compelled to acquire new wealth through conquest to ensure his one care in afterlife
Gender-specific roles in the home and in society
Emphasis on cooperation
Inheritance passed through gender
Father to son, Mother to daughter

15. How the Inca’s maintained control
Development of regional government and state bureaucracy
Land and labor from conquered people, rather than monetary tribute
Considerate of local customs and traditions
Creation of complex system of roads (2500 miles)
More complex system of trade than Aztecs
No written language
Development of Quipu: knotted counting system

16. Inca agricultural
Development of agricultural terraces on mountainsides
Similar to Aztec chinampas

17. Incan Downfall Weakened by alliances and arranged royal marriages
Centralization was not as strong
Empire conquered by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro
Kidnapped the Inca
Killed Him

18. Comparing Incas and Aztecs
Both built on previous civilizations
Both represented success at imperial and military organization
Both created by the conquest of sedentary agricultural people and the extraction of tribute and labor from them
Both older kinship-based institutions changed with the rise in nobility
Both recognized local ethnic groups and powers
Aztec trade and markets more developed

19. Exit
How did the environment influence the development of societies in the Americas and how does that compare with the empires we have discussed so far?
Answer this please in your check for understanding worksheet