Daily Opener 5/22 1. What is the Popol Vuh? 2. What did the Europeans bring to the Americas that killed millions of Aztec and Inca?

The People of the Americas Study Guide

1.Where is Mesoamerica? between the present-day United States and South America 2. For how long did farmers use the fields they created with slash-and-burn agriculture? a few years 3. When did the Maya begin establishing villages in the highlands and lowlands of Mesoamerica? around 1500 B.C. 4. What type of religion did the Maya practice? The Maya worshiped more than 160 gods. 5. Who governed Mayan cities? Kings

4. What type of religion did the Maya practice? The Maya worshiped more than 160 gods. 5. Who governed Mayan cities? Kings 6. Who was one of the greatest Mayan kings? Pacal II 7. What is the Popol Vuh? a book telling the Mayan story of creation 8. On which number was the Mayan mathematical system based? 20

7. What is the Popol Vuh? a book telling the Mayan story of creation 8. On which number was the Mayan mathematical system based? What were some of the possible reasons for the decline in Mayan civilizations? overfarming, food shortages, famine, disease, warfare, and peasant revolts 10. Where did the Aztecs settle? in what is now Mexico 11. Why did the Aztecs living around Tenochtitlán need to develop the farming adaptation of Chinampas? swampy lands

10. Where did the Aztecs settle? in what is now Mexico 11. Why did the Aztecs living around Tenochtitlán need to develop the farming adaptation of Chinampas? swampy lands 12. At the empire’s peak, about how many people lived under Aztec rule? 6-12 million 13. What type of religion did the Aztec practice? They believed in about 1,000 gods 14. Which Spanish explorer helped bring about the end of the Aztec Empire? Cortés

13. What type of religion did the Aztec practice? They believed in about 1,000 gods 14. Which Spanish explorer helped bring about the end of the Aztec Empire? Cortés 15. What skill did Aztec boys begin intensive training for at age 15? fighting 16. Why were the Aztecs constantly at war? to expand the empire 17. Where did the Inca settle? In what is now Peru.

16. Why were the Aztecs constantly at war? to expand the empire 17. Where did the Inca settle? In what is now Peru. 18. How did the Inca communicate over long distances? They used chasquis to deliver messages 19. Who was the last Incan ruler? Atahualpa 20. Why was farming difficult for the Inca? The land was very high and steep.

19. Who was the last Incan ruler? Atahualpa 20. Why was farming difficult for the Inca? The land was very high and steep. 21. What did the Incan government require of people to help unify the varied people in the empire? to learn to speak the Incan language 22. What had weakened the Incan empire just before the Spanish arrived? civil war 23. What did Pizarro do to the Incan emperor? He had him executed.

22. What had weakened the Incan empire just before the Spanish arrived? civil war 23. What did Pizarro do to the Incan emperor? He had him executed. 24. What did the Inca use the quipu for? counting and recording events 25. What did the Europeans bring that killed millions of Incas and Aztecs? new diseases

26. Which bodies of water surround the area in which the Maya settled? Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean

27. Where is Palenque in relation to Tikal? to the west

28. Which of the following was not built after 800? Bonampak, Palenque, Tikal, Uxmal, Chichén Itzá

28. Which of the following was not built after 800? Bonampak

29. Which Mayan center is closest to the Gulf of Mexico? Uxmal

30. After 800, where were most Mayan centers built? Highlands

31. The Inca settled the Cuzco Valley in which century? The 1200’s 32. When did the Aztec empire reach the height of its power? In the early 1500’s 33. In what year was the Aztec capital destroyed? In what year did Pachacuti take power? For about how many years did the city of Tenochtitlán exist? almost 200