1. The Americas on the Eve of Invasion
Chapter 11

2. Classical Era in the Americas approx. 600-900
Indigenous peoples built upon the past
Similar religion & architecture
Created thriving civilizations
Political organization
Advanced math, astronomy
Agricultural techniques
Population growth and urbanization
Social Stratification
Developed economies & trade
Major Classical Civilizations
Teotihuacán (teh-o-tee-Wah-kahn)
Maya

3. Teotihuacán 30 miles northeast of modern-day Mexico City
Height of power in 600
Largest city in Americas: 125, ,000 ppl
Urban population lived in apartment compounds
live in city & work on farms outside city
Government:
Most likely ruled by alliance of elite families & priests
Elites & priests distinguished themselves through diet, dress, residence
Religion:
Polytheistic: Quetzalcoatl most impt. God
Human sacrifice
Pyramid temples
Economy:
Agriculture and trade
Chinampas (floating gardens)
Military to protect trade
Collapse around 650
Likely due to class struggles, mismanagement of resources, invasion

4. Maya Tropical Climate, poor soil Government:
Variety of ag. techniques depending on environment
Slash & burn (aka swidden agriculture)
Drain swamps for land
terracing
Government:
Series of rival kingdoms w/ hereditary rulers
Rulers serve both political & religious function

5. Maya Empire http://www.adishakti.org/images_foreign/mayamap_L.gif

6. Maya Religion Science/Technology
3 layer cosmos (underworld, human world, heavens)
Close tie b/t warfare and religion
Rituals & fasting before war
Use of war to gain captives
Many used for human sacrifice; others for labor
Bloodletting, tattooing, painting of skin
Elaborately decorated temples
Symbolic of the cosmos
aligned w/ sun & planets
Science/Technology
Sophisticated calendar-making
Hieroglyphic writing system
Concept of zero in mathematics

7. Maya Collapse of the Maya Cities abandoned between 800 and 900
No clear explanation
Possible reasons
Disease
Decline in trade (likely associated with fall of Teotihuacán)
Environmental degradation
Decline in agricultural production
Internal warfare

8. Post-Classical Americas approx. 900-1500
Continuity:
Many characteristics of the classical period continue
Architecture, religion, social structure, urban organization
Change:
Compared to earlier periods, the Post-Classical period was characterized by
Increased agricultural production, population growth, increased warfare and conquest

9. Toltecs Created military state in Mexico and Central America
Capital: Tula
Influential on later Mesoamerican empires
Warlike culture
Temples and art depicts scenes of war and human sacrifice
Dual Kingship
Led to weakness and division
Power struggle and decline around 1000
1156: Tula invaded and Toltec culture overrun by other groups

10. Toltec Warriors http://www.kidspast.com/images/toltecs.jpg

11. Aztec Mexica (Meh-she-ca)
Moved into Central Mexico after decline of Toltecs
Originally, clans who served other more powerful groups
Began to buildup powerbase near Lake Texoco
1325: construction on Tenochtitlan & Tlateloco
Twin capitals- Foundation of Mexico City
Began to expand & take new territory
Buildup of an empire

12. Aztec

13. Aztec Government: Single ruler chosen by council of aristocrats
Did not have absolute power
Ruler chosen from royal family, but not based upon primogeniture
Military conquest to display their power
Tie between war and religion

14. Aztec Social Structure: Great degree of social & economic inequality
Power and land controlled by elites and warriors
Lower classes often worked as slaves or landless commoners on estates owned by elites
Little opportunity for social mobility
Highest positions in society were hereditary

15. Aztec Economy: Relied upon ag. to feed urban population
Irrigation, dikes, chinampas to increase ag.
Tribute system supplied other goods to city
Conquered peoples sent food, cloth, luxury items, military equipment, and sacrificial victims to city
Trade important
Barter system

16. Aztec Religion: Polytheistic Most gods were both male and female
Temples dedicated to gods
Extensive use of human sacrifice
Thousands annually
Both religious and political function
Aztecs believed Huitzilopochtli required a steady supply of human hearts in order to bring the sun’s warmth to Earth
Public sacrifice helped deter rebellion and opposition

17. Northern Peoples
By 900, organized societies had emerged in the American Southwest and Mississippi River Valley regions.
Much like the societies of Mesoamerica, these northern peoples depended upon maize, beans, and squash to help feed their populations.
Major societies:
Southwest: Anasazi
Mississippi Mound Builders

18. Anasazi “ancient ones” Influenced by Mesoamerica
Located in American Southwest
Large community in Chaco Canyon of NM
Influenced by Mesoamerica
Beans, maize, squash
Urban life centered in underground buildings (kivas)
Accomplished as basket-making, cloth-weaving, and pottery w/ geometric patterns
More on Anasazi on p. 280

20. Mississippi Mound Builders
Initially hunter-gatherers who then adopt ag.
Population increase leads to growth of cities
Most settlements near rivers
Government: Chiefdom
Urban centers had a plaza surrounded by large earthen mounds
Height of culture at Cahokia
Mounds served as residence for chiefs, temples for religious ceremony, and burial sites for elites
Decline of Cahokia in 13th century, smaller settlements continue to thrive until the arrival of the Europeans

21. Andean Civilizations
In South America, a series of cultures grew in a most unlikely place
Harsh environment
Mountains (Andes)
Desert along west coast (Atacama)
Rainforest to the east
Andean civilizations typically followed the same plan for organization of society and the economy

22. Andean Civilizations Society:
Territorial states ruled by hereditary aristocrats and kings
Clan-based societies
Clan known as Ayllu
Each Ayllu owned land communally
Households in the Ayllu tied together by system of reciprocal obligation to help each other

23. Andean Civilization Economy:
On a larger scale, each state was organized in a system known as mitá
System required each ayllu to contribute workers to perform various forms of labor
Each person assigned a task (based largely upon gender)
To help promote efficiency, each community tended to specialize in a certain type of work based upon the environment
Ie. Coastal areas produced fish
Colonies were also sent out to exploit resources in the area
Societies used various ag techniques to improve productivity in the harsh environment
Irrigation, terracing, growing frost-resistant crops, etc.
All goods produced in the mitá system were then brought together for exchange
Use of quipu to keep records
Series of knotted colored cords

25. Inca Among the Andean Civilizations, the Inca are the best known
The Inca began as a chiefdom that began to expand its power in the 1430’s
Developed an imperial state in the Andes Mountains of South America
By 1525, population of over 6 million
Capital: Cuzco (Peru)

26. City constructed at height of Inca Empire
Machu Picchu
City constructed at height of Inca Empire

27. Inca Use of typical Andean social and economic organization
Mitá system
Buildup of military
Government:
Rulers began reign with military conquest to prove their power
Heirs of the rulers taken hostage to ensure cooperation

28. Inca Achievements of the Inca: Skilled at stone work
Stone buildings constructed w/o mortar
Cuzco constructed to look like a Mountain Lion
Palaces and temples in the center of the city
Temple of the Sun
Interior lined w/ gold
Temple used for ritual, ceremony, and occasional human sacrifice
Ruler used temple & ceremony to justify his rule
Quipu: record keeping system
Build upon earlier developments
Astronomical observation conducted by priests

29. Inca Highly structured, government-regulated economy led to prosperity
Imperial system created inequality
Ie. Commoners could be executed for daring to look the ruler in the face
1525: Stage is set for European conquest
Inca were weakened by internal division
Ruler died, triggering a power struggle between his two sons
Civil war weakens the Inca
Making them vulnerable to Europeans