1. The Americas: Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies
The Americas, Exploration & Expansion
The Americas: Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies
This presentation should take a couple of days of class time. There are also lessons on the online curriculum planner to use with this presentation.
This Power Point presentation goes with the Mastering the TEKS in World History book by Jarrett, Zimmer, and Killoran.
Unit 4 – Chapter 12 1

2. Essential Questions
What were the major social, economic, political, and cultural characteristics of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations?
What were the major achievements of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations?

3. The Empires
of the
Americas

4. Background: Early Americans
How did the Ice Age effect the population of the Americas? What if it had not occurred?
Nomadic Asians followed herd animals into the Americas.
American Peoples experienced their own Neolithic Revolution.
Pre-Columbian (before Columbus) Civilizations
Grew maize (corn)
Did not live in river valleys
Developed complex societies
UCLA.edu

5. The Maya (1500 BC to AD 1546)
Present day Guatemala and the Yucatán Peninsula
Each city had a chief who was half man and half god
Social Structure
Hereditary nobility (performed sacred ceremonies and assisted ruler)
Craftsmen (made goods for nobility)
Farmers (most people)
Warlike people who
practiced human sacrifice
Based on the information above, what type of religion did the Mayans have?
Harvard.edu

6. Built magnificent cities with palaces, temples, and pyramids
Developed a system of hieroglyphics or picture words
Mayan Achievements
Complex system of math with use of zero, 365 day calendar
Created colorful murals and created a popular ball game

7. The Aztecs (1200-1521) Present day Mexico
Grew crops in “floating gardens” (chinampas) in wet, marshy lands
Complex Social Structure:
Emperor who was all powerful
Nobility served in government, army officers, and priesthood
Commoners who worked as farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and warriors
Slaves
Religion: Polytheistic
Warlike group that conquered all surrounding tribes
Wku.edu

8. Created accurate calendars based on the sun
Built complex temples that were aligned based on the movements of the sun and moon
Created accurate calendars based on the sun
Aztec Achievements
UNM.edu
Calendar SFA.edu
Built a large empire with a complex government structure and large cities
Sacrificed humans to their main god, the Sun god. Sacrifice was need to keep the universe in motion
wikimedia

9. The Inca Empire ( )
Present day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile
Terrace farmed and grew potatoes and other root crops
Raised llamas and alpacas for food, wool, and transportation
Uncp.edu

10. Built thousands of miles of roads to connect the empire
Excellent engineers that built buildings out of fitted stones
Machu Picchu
Incan Achievements
Used a system of knotted and colored ropes (quipu) for communication instead of writing
Built a large empire that covers present day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile
Inca Quipu Larco Museum Collection

11. Pre Columbian Art
La balsa Muisca (The Muisca raft), a pre-Columbian gold sculpture representing the Muisca´s offerings of gold.
Aztec jade mask depicting the god Xipe Totec
Carved Mayan flint dagger.
Describe Pre- Columbian art based on these works of art.
The Aztec goddess Coatlicue, mother of earth.
Inca Jar
Mayan jade mask

12. Women’s Roles in Mesoamerica
Harvested grains
Prepared food (made maize into flour)
Cared for livestock
Cared for children and home
Some sold goods in markets
Some were artisans
Some worked as priestesses
Does this suggest a strictly patriarchal society? Explain.

13. Americas Scavenger Hunt
Objective:
Students will use images to determine the impact of the civilizations of the Americas.
Directions:
Students will work in groups of four to six (a total of 6-8 groups) to correctly match images and clues related to the Americas.
Procedures:
Groups will elect one representative to go to the front of the room.
The teacher will hand each representative one clue to the various pictures posted around the room. Each representative will receive a different clue, so groups will start at different images around the room. (color coded clues work best to keep groups separate)
Students will remain at the front of the room with their clue until the teacher says “go”.
Once the teacher says “go”, the group reps can meet with their group members and find the image that corresponds with their clue.
Once they have matched the clue with the picture, they bring the clue back to the teacher.
If they have matched the clue correctly with the picture, they can move on to the next clue. If they have matched the clue incorrectly, they must go back to their source and rethink their answer.
The steps are repeated until all clues have been matched correctly by each group.
Once the class has finished the scavenger hunt, students will use the clues to answer the big picture questions about the civilizations of the Americas. Groups must be prepared to explain their answers to the class.

15. The Columbian Exchange
Jarett Publishing

16. Why the Interest in Exploration?
Asia
Marco Polo’s writings sparked European interest in Asia
Asian goods, especially spices and silk, were sought after in Europe
The Silk Road was cut off by the Ottoman Turks
Renaissance
A new spirit of inquiry arose
Europeans wanted to explore the oceans
New technology allowed for better navigation, especially the compass and triangular lateen sail
Caravel: TAMU.edu
What impact did the Ottoman Empire have on European Exploration?

17. The Age of Discovery
Both Spain and Portugal wanted to establish trade with Asia and financed overseas exploration
Spain’s Rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella
Captured the Muslim areas of Spain
Expelled Spain’s Jewish Community
Reunited all of Spain under Christian Rule
Sough to spread Christianity across the world
Portugal
Prince Henry developed a lighter sailing ship
He sponsored expeditions along the coast of Africa
Ferdinand and Isabella wedding portrait, unknown artist
Why would European monarchs spend so much money on exploration?

18. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
Sea Captain from Genoa, Italy
Sailed west in 3 ships in hopes of finding a quicker route to Asia
Sponsored by the King and Queen of Spain
Found instead the Americas
This new land brought riches and raw materials to Europe
Why would Columbus risk his life to find a new trade route?

19. Columbus’ Four Voyages
August 3, sailed out of Palos de la Frontera
land was sighted on October 12, 1492
Columbus called the island he “found”, San Salvador
thinking he had reached the East Indies, he called the people Indians
returned to Spain a hero
convinced he had reached East Asia
made three more trips
arrested for governing tyrannically
died penniless

20. The Columbian Exchange
Goods from America to Europe:
Tomatoes
Corn
Potatoes
Peppers
Squash
Pineapples
Chocolate
Tobacco
Turkey
Goods from Europe to America:
Wheat
Sugar
Cattle
Horses
Pigs
Sheep
Chickens
Grains

21. What other items might have been exchanged besides food and animals?
Wikipedia.com
What other items might have been exchanged besides food and animals?

22. The Americas, Exploration & Expansion
How is this map different from the previous one?

23. Impact of the Columbian Exchange
Impact on the Americas:
New livestock, including cattle, sheep, and pigs, as well as crops from Africa resulted in a change in diet.
Re-introduction of horses led to changes in transportation.
New diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza led to the deaths of millions of Native Americans; slaves from Africa transformed labor systems.

24. Impact of the Columbian Exchange
Impact on Europe:
New foods and plants resulted in a population increase.
The Americas became a valuable source of cotton and sugar, resulting and colonization and plantation systems where primarily forced labor was used, leading to the development of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The impact of the Columbian Exchange pushed beyond Europe into Asia where populations increased due to more nutrient- rich foods.

25. Later Explorers
Vasco de Gama ( )
Portuguese
Discovered an all-water route to India
Sailed around the tip of Africa in 1497 and into the Indian Ocean (1st European)
Ferdinand Magellan ( )
Crew 1st to sail around the world (1519)
What dangers might these men have faced in these voyages?

26. Early Voyages of European Exploration, 1487–1609

27. Other Explorers England France Dutch
John Cabot: claimed parts of North America
France
Jacques Cartier: explored the St. Lawrence River
Samuel Chaplain: explored the Great Lakes area
Robert de la Salle: explored the Mississippi River
Dutch
Henry Hudson: explored Hudson Bay and Hudson River looking for a “Northwest Passage” to Asia

28. The Conquest of the Americas
wikipedia

29. The Conquest of Mexico
1519: Hernando Cortez sailed from Cuba to Mexico.
The Aztecs first thought the Spanish were gods
1521 Cortez attacked the Aztecs with the help of other Native Americans.
The Aztecs were defeated mainly because a smallpox epidemic had broke out and killed many of them.
The Aztecs surrender to Cortex, The British Library
Based on what you know about the Aztecs, why would other tribes help Cortez?
The caption means “Now the Mexica (Aztecs) were finished.”

30. Conquistador fighting the Incas
The Conquest of Peru
1530 Francisco Pizarro left Panama to conquer the Incas.
The Incas just had a civil war.
The Spanish pretended to be friendly and ambushed and killed the emperor. Spain won because of their superior technology.
In 1533 Pizarro captured the Inca capital.
The Spanish forced the Inca to become Christian and were used as a labor force.
What advantages in technology did the Spanish have over the American natives?
Conquistador fighting the Incas

31. Colonial Latin America
Latin America= blend of European and Native American culture
Government: Viceroys (governor) ruled each Spanish province.
Spanish born citizens filled most positions in the government and military.
Gold and silver from the Americas was shipped back to Spain. This made Spain the strongest European power.
What problems in governing such a large territory might the Spanish have faced?
ushistory.com

32. Colonial Society
Peninsulares: (Spanish Nobles) owned the land – encomienda system of forced labor
Native Americans: worked the land
Jesuit priests: tried to convert the Indians to Christianity and keep them from becoming slaves

33. Colonial Society
After a while this social order developed into a complex social order:
Noble officials and landowners born in Spain (Peninsulares): head of colonial society
Spanish people born in the New World (creoles)
Mixed Spanish and Native American people (mestizos)
Native Americans (did most of the hard work) until the arrival of African slaves

35. The Colonial Class System
Peninsulares
What observations do you have about this social structure?
Creoles
Mestizos
Mulattos
Native Indians
Black Slaves

36. The English Colonies 1607: English established Jamestown in Virginia
1620: Pilgrims established the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts
1630: More Puritans arrive to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony near Plymouth
Eventually 13 colonies arose along the Atlantic coast

37. Land Claims in the Americas, c. 1700

38. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Disease killed many Native Americans
A new labor force was needed in the New World
In Africa conquering tribes sold their captives to the Europeans
Based on the map, which European power acquired the most African slaves?

39. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Triangular Trade
15 million Africans were enslaved
11 million went to Spanish colonies
Many died coming across the Atlantic in what has become known as the “Middle Passage.”

40. Interior of a Slave Ship

41. How has African culture effected American society and culture?
Encouraged African Warfare:
captured slaves were traded for guns, rum, and other manufactured goods
Disrupted African Culture:
destroyed Africa’s culture and heritage and led to violence, bitterness, and social upheaval
Increased Cultural Diffusion:
ideas, good, and cultures were exchanged in Africa and the Americas
How has African culture effected American society and culture?
Legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa