1. 6th Grade UBD - Unit 10- Latin American Societies

2.  How did the ancient societies in Latin America become so powerful?

3.  The Maya Empire- The Maya developed many of their unique characteristics because of their geographical location. The central location of the Mayan people, along with the warm and fertile climate, allowed them to share ideas with neighboring peoples.  The Aztec Empire- The Aztec civilization was located in central Mexico. It consisted of tribes that formed a Triple Alliance. They were defeated by Spanish conquistadores in the 1500s.  The Inca Empire- The physical geography of the Inca Empire impacted its people in many ways. The mountainous terrain and huge amount of land occupied by the Inca Empire made it a challenge to keep the empire united.

4.  The Maya lived in the highlands of southern Mexico and the lowlands of Central America.  The Maya built a large road system connecting them to other cities and civilizations.  Mayan farmers practiced terraced agriculture. Crops included corn, cacao beans, and rubber.  Each Mayan city was ruled by a separate leader, and they often fought each other.  The Maya developed a complex calendar system, a number system, a writing system, and a language that influenced modern languages still spoken in Central America and Mexico.

5. There were many smaller nations, but the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca developed into the three strongest empires of Central and South America.

6.  Long before the arrival of European explorers, South America was inhabited by peoples with their own distinctive cultures and civilizations.  These civilizations had their own complex societies and forms of government, with diverse styles of art and architecture, and many scientific innovations.

7.  Humans first traveled to the Americas between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago and quickly settled throughout the continents.

8.  The Mayan civilization first appeared in Mexico around 2600 BCE.  The Maya spread throughout northern Central America, interacting with other cultures from North and South America.

9. Mayan temples included giant limestone pyramids like this one from Chichen Itza.

10.  The Mayan civilization is organized into three eras: the Pre-Classic period (2000 BCE–250 CE) the Classic period (250–900 CE) and the Post-Classic period (900–1517 CE—1517 was the year the first Spanish explorers arrived in Mayan territory).

11.  The Maya built many great cities, including Palenque, Copán, and Tikal. The ruins of these cities, and the roads the Maya built to connect them, remain today.  Located between the civilizations of North and South America, Mayan cities were well placed to become trade hubs.

12. The Maya practiced terrace farming on hillsides, growing corn, cacao beans, and rubber.

13.  The Maya worshipped many gods, including the Toltec gods Quetzalcoatl (whom the Mayans called Kukulkan) and Tezcatipoca. They built the great religious center of Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula between 750 and 900, with its great step pyramid, the Temple of Kukulkan. Like the Toltec, the Maya practiced human sacrifice.

14.  Each Mayan city had its own leader; there was no centralized government. Cities often fought each other for territory and trade and competed in ball games.  The Maya were skilled builders, mathematicians, and astronomers.

15. The Maya had an extremely sophisticated culture. This Mayan observatory is called a caracol, or snail, because of its round tower.

16.  The Mayan developed a number system and a calendar to track the 12-month solar year. We use this calendar today.

17. Video- Maya Number System

18.  The Mexica were the tribe that became known as the Aztec. They would eventually build the Aztec Empire. Following their belief in a religious prophecy, the Mexica settled near Lake Texcoco.  All boys in Aztec society were trained to be warriors.  Girls in Aztec society were trained in domestic skills like cooking and sewing.  The Aztec believed in human sacrifice to their gods.  Montezuma expanded the Aztec empire and made improvements to the city of Tenochtitlán.  Cortés was a Spanish explorer who claimed Mexico for Spain.

19.  Modern-day Mexico and Central America were once the lands of the Toltec Empire, which thrived from about 800 to 1150 CE.  The Mexica people were one of many groups under Toltec rule. The collapse of the Toltec Empire meant upheaval for the Mexica, who were forced to leave their homeland of Aztlán in today’s central Mexico.  They traveled south until they reached a large lake where, according to the legends from this time, the people of Aztlán saw an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake—a sign that their god Huitzilopochtli had told them to look for. The Mexica settled on an island in the lake. Here, they would found a great city and a great empire as the Aztec.

20.  Aztecs were known as savage warriors.  They built the city of Tenochtitlán on an island on Lake Texcoco in part to protect themselves from their enemies.

21.  The fourth leader of the Aztec, Itzcóatl, came to power in 1427 CE and built a strong and powerful empire by joining with two neighboring peoples.

22.  The Aztec defeated the Tepanec Empire, expanding their power and their empire.  Itzcóatl centralized the government, gaining wealth and resources from conquered peoples who sent tributes to the Aztec to prove their loyalty.  The Aztec Empire grew until it ruled over much of south-central Mexico.

23.  The Aztec’s were polytheistic, with three major gods. There were many religious ceremonies held to worship Aztec gods and ensure the protection of the society; human sacrifice was often part of Aztec worship.

24.  Just as the conquered peoples of the empire paid tribute to the Aztec by sending goods and luxury items to the emperor, so too did the Aztec pay tribute to a higher power—their gods— by sending them the beating hearts and blood of their people.

25. Video- Culture and Power

26.  Aztec society was based on a class system.  The upper class of landowners and the lower class of workers strictly separated.

27.  All Aztec children attended school, with children of different classes and genders learning different skills in their segregated groups.  The lower classes became resentful of their lowly position in society, and this unrest grew as conquered tribes began to object to the tributes they had to pay to the government.

28.  Montezuma II rose to power in 1502. He ruled over more than 15 million people and assumed that he would continue the expansion of his empire over the course of his reign.  Montezuma never imagined that a small band of low- ranking foreigners would appear on the fringes of his lands, overthrow him, and crush his empire.

29.  Spanish explorers led by Hernán Cortés reached the Aztec Empire in 1519.  Montezuma was unable to gauge their identity, intentions, or strength, and he initially sent gifts to the explorers. However, he also warned them not to enter Tenochtitlán.  The Spanish did not comply, and Montezuma invited them to his palace, setting into motion the chain of events that would lead to his own death and the fall of the Aztec Empire.

30. Montezuma, the last emperor of the Aztec Empire, ruled from 1502 to 1520.

31.  The Inca used terrace farming on the steep hillsides of the Andes.  The Inca created a system of roads, sometimes linked by suspension bridges, which aided communication, travel, and trade.  The Incan emperors conquered huge expanses of land. Regional governments helped the emperors keep control of a large empire.

32. The Inca Empire extended over much of the length of the South American continent. The Andes Mountains terrain and climate presented difficult challenges for the Inca.

33.  The location of the Inca Empire in the Andes Mountains of South America, the highest mountains in the Americas, presented the Inca with many challenges, including high altitudes, highly variable daily temperatures, and rugged mountain terrain.  As a result, the Inca were forced to adapt their lifestyle to fit their environment, but they did so successfully and became one of the major pre-Columbian empires on the American continents.

34.  Because the Inca lived on such steep mountain slopes, farming was difficult.  To solve this problem, the Inca built terraces, or large steps, into the mountainside, which made it easier to irrigate, plow, and harvest crops, as well as preventing topsoil from washing down the mountain.

35.  The Inca also built canal systems to carry freshwater both to their crops and to the cities.  They also built a system of roads and bridges to connect cities and to make travel, trade, and communication throughout the mountainous region easier.

36. The Inca used llamas to transport goods over the rugged roadways and relay runners to deliver messages to locations across the empire quickly.

37. Video- The Inca Empire

38.  Over time, the Inca Empire expanded from its central location in present-day Peru to include parts of modern-day Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.  In some cases, the Incan army conquered neighboring regions, but in others, messages from the emperor promising wealth and protection were all it took to convince villages to join the Inca Empire.

39. The ruler of the Inca was a god-king who was believed to be descended from the sun god Inti.

40.  The emperor helped promote unity and maintain order throughout the vast empire by installing nobles from conquered areas in government positions.  While the emperor was the central figure in the Incan government, the empire was further subdivided into quarters, districts, and villages—led by imperial administrators, district governors, and village leaders.

41. Video- Incan Economics

42.  Cuzco was the capital city of the sprawling Inca Empire, the most impressive Incan city was perhaps Machu Picchu.  Located 8,000 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchu contained impressive architecture and engineering, with white granite walls, terraced land, walking ramps, freshwater canals, and an underground drainage system.

43. Nestled high among the mountain peaks of the Andes, Machu Picchu was a sacred ceremonial center for the Inca.