1. Aztec and Inca

2. The Aztec Wandered for 200 years Settled in Valley of Mexico
Their god told them to find a place with an eagle on a cactus—and they did:
Capital: Tenochtitlan (“place of the prickly pear cactus), island in Lake Texcoco(modern Mexico City)
Empire: AD
Called themselves “Mexica”
Defeated by Hernan Cortes in 1521

3. Eagle on a Prickly Pear Cactus…What modern-day country’s flag is this?

4. Chinampas
Floating Gardens that the Aztecs built at Tenochitlan to grow crops.

6. Calpulli
Aztec settlements where farming families worked together to grow enough food

7. Aztec Housing—made from reeds and mud

8. Aztec Life Similar to Maya Study nature and astronomy Human sacrifice
Architecture devoted to gods and astronomy
Accurate calendar to predict seasons (agriculture) and when to go to war

9. Aztec Warfare All Aztec boys were born to be warriors
In battle, they killed townspeople, but focused more on capturing warriors for human sacrifice.
Plundered (to steal, usually during warfare) homes of their enemies
Had no fear of death—it was an honor to die in battle, sacrifice, or in childbirth.
Commoners can rise in social class if they perform one brave act in warfare!

10. Fall of the Aztecs Hernan Cortes, 1521. Captures Montezuma II.
How did he beat the Aztecs?
Disease (smallpox)
Alliances (other tribes angry at Aztec domination)
Different styles of warfare
Spanish = superior weapons (guns, cannons, metal weapons like swords)

11. Conquistador
Soldier-explorers sent to the Americas by Spain (Columbus, Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro just to name a few)

12. Hernan Cortes
The Conquistador who conquered the Aztecs in 1521.

13. Montezuma II
The Aztec emperor who was captured and killed by Hernan Cortes in 1521

14. The Inca Modern day Peru—Andes Mountains 1400-1532 AD
Empire divided into 4 regions, whose corners met at capital city
Capital city: Cuzco
Defeated by Francisco Pizarro in 1532/33

15. Llamas
No beasts of burden (large animals) so used llamas instead!

16. Terraces
Flat areas on a hillside where people farm or have built houses. That land has been terraced, meaning "made into shelves."

18. Incan Life
Rarely (not very often) sacrificed humans—only in emergencies or special occasions.
Honored their gods by building huge stone buildings!

19. Sacsayhuaman Fortress built in the 1400s in Cuzco, Peru
NO MORTAR (a mixture like cement to hold building walls together)!!!
Spanish used many stones to build cities, but what they left still stands today

22. Machu Picchu Built around 1452 AD
May have been the estate of Pachacuti
Estate: (a large area of land usually with a large house and/or its own tiny village, owned by one person or one family)
Because of its location, the Spanish never found it, so they could not destroy it!

24. Quipu Incan number recording system—knots on different colored ropes
The colors may represent other information besides numbers, but we haven’t deciphered that yet.

25. Pachacuti Greatest Incan ruler who expanded and united the Inca Empire
Trained leaders’ sons at Cuzco to keep powerful families loyal to Empire
System of roads (25,000 miles)
Made everyone speak Quechua
Largest empire in Americas

26. Fall of the Inca Francisco Pizarro, 1532/33.
Inca were having a crisis of succession (two brothers were fighting over the throne)
This made the Inca vulnerable (weak, easier to defeat)
Atahualpa (Incan Emperor) captured by Pizarro, locked in a room
Atahualpa promised to fill the room with gold if Pizarro would let his kingdom free
Atahualpa kept his promise, but Pizarro killed him anyway
King of Spain makes Pizarro governor of “Peru”

27. Francisco Pizarro
Conquistador who defeated the Inca in 1532/33

28. Atahualpa
Incan Emperor who was captured and killed by Pizarro

29. Aztec/Inca Comparison Chart
Location/Capital
Class Structure
Religion
Warfare
Fall
Legacy

30. With your partner… Partner on the left reads pages 399-402
Team up with your partner to fill in the chart AFTER you finish reading.
Partner on the right reads pages
Team up with your partner to fill in the chart AFTER you finish reading.