Chapter 11: the Americas 400-1500

The Peoples of North America Section 1

The Lands of the Americas

The People The First Americans The Peoples of North America

Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica Section 2

The Olmec and Teotihuacan Signs of Mesoamerica before the Spaniards arrived first appeared around 1200 BCE Mesoamerica is the name used for Mexico and Central America. The Olmec people were located in the swampy lowlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico south of Veracruz. They farmed along the muddy riverbanks in the area

Mesoamerica The first major city in Mesoamerica was Teotihuacan. Known as the place of the Gods.

Teotihuacan Located near Mexico City in a fertile valley, Teotihuacan had as many as 200,000 inhabitants at its height. The pyramid of the sun, rose in four tiers to a height over 200 feet.

Pyramid of the Sun

The Maya and the Toltec Far to the east of Teotihuacan, on the Yucatan Peninsula, another major civilization had arisen. It was known as the Maya and flourished between CE 300 and 900. It was one of the most sophisticated civilizations in the Americas.

Mayan Pyramid

Mayan Mayan cities were so protected they were not discovered until the 19th and 20th century. Location and the jungle being the reason

Writings and Calendar

Mayan cities Cities were built around a central pyramid topped by a shrine to the Gods. Some scholars believe that urban centers such as Tikal in present day Guatemala may have had 100,000 inhabitants. Mayan cities were always at war. Captured soldiers became slaves and captured nobles were used for human sacrifice to the Gods.

Temple at Tikal

Mayan people Most Mayan people were peasant farmers Most Mayan people believed that all life was in the hands of divine powers. The name of the supreme God was Itzamna. It means Lizard House

Picture of Itzamna

Writings and Calendar The Maya created a sophisticated writing system based on hieroglyphs or pictures. The Spanish conquerors in the 16th century made no effort to decipher the language or respect the Mayan’s writings. One of the most important collections of Mayan hieroglyphs is at Palenque

The Toltec The Toltec were a fierce and warlike people who extended their conquests into the Mayan lands of Guatemala. The center of the Toltec empire was at Tula, built in present day Mexico

The Aztecs The origins of the Aztecs are uncertain. They had a long migration and finished with their capital in Tenochtitlan. They eventually ran to Lake Texcoco which was made up of swamps after running from an attack. They bulit there for the next 100 years. Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec God of War Tenochtitlan also means place of prickly pear cactus

The aztecs

Aztecs cont… Tribute was something Aztecs were big believers of Tribute was goods or money paid by conquered peoples to their conquerors By 1500 as many as four million lived in the valley of Mexico and the surrounding valleys of central mexico

The legend of Quetzalcoatl Quetzalcoatl was an Aztec God and was known as a feathered serpent. According to tradition he had left his home in the tenth century promising to return in triumph. The story told of a prince whose return from exile would be proceeded by the sign of an arrow through a sapling.

Quetzalcoatl was an Aztec God

Spanish conquerors When the Aztecs saw a similar crest from the Spaniards they thought that represenatives of Quetzalcoatl had returned. Were they right or wrong?????

Aztec Religion The Aztec religion was based on a belief in an unending struggle between the forces of good and evil throughout the Universe.

Here comes Cortez In 1519, a Spanish force under the command of Hernan Cortes landed at veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico. 550 soldiers and 16 horses was all he had He made alliances with the enemies of the Aztecs along the way

Montezuma Montezuma was the ruler of the Aztecs who offered the Spaniards gold and a beautiful palace to live in. Tensions rose and the Europeans brought a very powerful weapon with them!!! In 1520 city fell and the Spanish now ruled what is modern day Mexico.

Montezuma was the Aztec Ruler

Montezuma

Section 3 Early Civilizations in South America

Moche Sometime around 200 BCE another advanced civilization appeared near the Pacific coast just south of the border of Ecuador. It was known as Moche and had the Moche river which flowed from the Andes into the Pacific Ocean. Corn was known as Maize to these people of this area

The Inca The Inca civilization took place about 1000 CE in the mountains of Southern Peru. Most lived at Cuzco a city that was located 11,000 feet high.

Picture of Maccu Pichu

The main man of the Inca empire The powerful ruler of the Inca empire was a man named Pachacuti. He launched a conquest that brought the entire region around them under control. He ruled in the 1440’s

Pachacuti His empire extended the boundaries of the Incan empire as far as Ecuador, central Chile,and the Edge of the Amazon basin. The Incan empire at this time had as many as 12 million people in it.

Statue of Pachacuti

Quecha Quecha was the language people were forced to use once they were conquered by the Inca’s. A noble of high rank was sent out to govern the region.

Machu Picchu Nothing shows the genius architecture of the Inca’s more than Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was built 8,000 feet off the ground and was surrounded by mountain tops. Quipu was the Incas writing system that was used by a system of knotting strings

The fall of the Inca In 1531, the Spanish attackers of 180 men led by Francisco Pizzaro attacked the Incan people. He used horses, Gun powder and small pox to kill the Inca’s. By 1535, Pizzaro had established a new capital for Spain after matching on Cuzco in modern day Lima.

These Inca are nothing to me!