The Americas Olmecs The Ancient Mayas Farming

The Beginning of the Americas
• People came across
The Americas
the Bering Strait
10,000 years ago
• Followed the herds
• 8000-2000 B.C.villages appear
– Maize: corn
– Potatoes, peppers,
tomatoes, and
squash
• Nile and Mississippi
Rivers
Olmecs
The Ancient Mayas
• First known
American
Civilization that
developed in the
tropical rainforests
along the Gulf
Coast of Mexico
• “Mother Culture”
– Later civilizations
adopted the Olmec
culture
Farming Methods
• Slash and Burn Agriculture:
– Burning down and clearing of forests to
make the land suitable for farming.
– Depleted nutrients and eventually lead
to erosion
• Raised fields
Mayan City-States
• Palenque, Copan
• Tikal
– Was the largest and held the most
power of all the Mayan states
• Ruler
– Nobles
• Scribes, painters, sculptors
– Merchants
Farmers- made up the bulk of the population
Slaves
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Mayan Achievement
• Stela: stone monuments
• Hieroglyphic writing system
• Polytheistic Religion
• 260 Day Ritual Calendar
• 365 Day Solar Calendar
• Numbering system
– Included place values and the concept
of zero
Aztecs
•TEOTIHUACAN
– 200200-750 A.D.
•CITY THAT
INFLUENCED
THE AZTECS
AND LATER
CIVILZATIONS
•TENOCHTITLAN
– A.D. 1325
BECAME THE
CAPITAL OF THE
AZTEC EMPIRE
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Empire
• What’s the
legend of the
city?
• This would
become the
capital of the
empire and is
still the current
capital of Mexico
today.
Farming
• Chinampas:
Artificial
islands made
of earth piled
on reed mat
that were
anchored to
the shallow
lake bed.
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Aztec Empire
Aztec Religious Beliefs
• Created an empire through conquest and
• Polytheistic
• Priests were held to a higher standard
• Huitzilopochtli- the Aztec Sun God
shrewd alliances.
• Tribute- payment from conquered
peoples.
• These payments funded the Aztec Empire
for continued expansion and conquest.
– Is said to have fought the forces of darkness at night
and be reborn by morning.
• Human sacrifices were made to the Gods
– Prisoners of war, Slaves, Sometimes the sons of noble
families
• Quetzalzcoatl: Feathered Serpent
– Ruled over earth and water.
Huitzilopochtli
Education and Learning
• Had an accurate calendar
• Priests were good at astronomy and
mathematics
• Believed illness was a punishment from
the Gods
• Could set broken bones, fill cavities, used
herbs and steam baths to cure certain
illnesses
The Incan Empire
Early Peoples of Peru
• Chavin: built
a complex
society
around 900
B.C.
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Incans Unite an Empire
• Moche
• Pachacuti
–Located on the north coast of
Peru
–100-700 A.D.
–Influenced the Incas
–Adobe: mixture of clay and
plant fibers that becomes hard
as it dries in the sun
– Founder of the Incan Empire in 1438
• Empire stretched from Ecuador in
the north to Brazil in the South
The Coya
• Queen of the Inca Empire
• Carried out important
duties and would even rule
the empire in the absence
of the Sapa Inca or
emperor.
Cuzco
• Capital City of the Inca Empire
• All roads ran through Cuzco
• Meaning all happenings of the
Empire revolved around Cuzco
• Still exists today as a modern
city
Roads and Runners
• To unite the empire the Incas had
their own language (Quechua) and
religion.
• Road system was 12,000 miles long
• The roads allowed armies and news
to move rapidly throughout the
empire.
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Government and Society
• Sapa Inca (God King)
• The Coya (Queen)
• Nobles (Provinces)
• Local Chieftains
• Officials
Religion
Quipu
• A collection of
knotted
colored
strings.
• Used to note
dates and events
• Record statistics
European Conquerors
• Inti- Incan Sun God
–Sapa Inca was the son of
Inti
–“Chosen Women were his
special attendants
–Polytheistic
Europeans Begin Exploring Americas
1.
Motives
1.
2.
3.
Religious zeal
Gold
Glory
2.
Christopher Columbus
A.
1492-1493 Voyage
A.
B.
C.
First to reach Latin America
Landed in the Caribbean.
He named them West Indies.
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Europeans Begin Exploring America
1. Conquistadors: Spanish
conquerors of the Americas.
2. Hernan Cortes
3. Amerigo Vespucci
a) Explorer from Florence 1500s
b) Wrote letters describing the lands
he saw.
i.
Fall of the Aztecs
A. 1519 landed in Gulf of Mexico.
B. Took Montezuma hostage.
C. Brought the small pox.
Led to the use of the name America
for the new lands.
4. Ferdinand Magellan
3. Aztecs Fall
Montezuma and Cortes.
A. Disease and war defeated them.
Spanish took control of area.
a) Sailed around the tip of South
America, then around the world.
Vespucci
Conquest of the Incans
1. Francisco Pizarro
A. 1530 landed on Pacific side of South America.
B. Brought small pox and spread it to the Incans.
2. Fall of the Incans
A. Emperor died of small pox and civil war starts.
B. Pizarro takes advantage of confusion and
captured the capital at Cuzco.
C. By 1535 Incans were defeated and Pizarro moved
the capital to Lima.
Spanish had much more powerful weapons than the Incans.
Colombian Exchange
•
•
•
Colombian exchange: Transatlantic trade including the trade of food,
ideas, disease, and people.
Old World: Europe.
New World: Americas.
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