CH 12: The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century

Americas: Aztecs & Inca Compared

Aztec & Inca Distinctions

Inca Empire was much larger than its Aztec counterpart.

Aztec Empire controlled only part of Mesoamerican cultural

region, while at its height Inca state encompassed nearly all

Andean civilization.

Aztec realm: Mexica rulers largely left their conquered people alone

& no elaborate administrative system arose to integrate

conquered territories or to assimilate their people to Aztec

culture.

Incas built a more bureaucratic empire.

Much more of a ‘state-controlled’ economy.

Aztec & Inca Distinctions

Aztec Empire extracted substantial TRIBUTE: goods from its

subject populations, while Inca primarily extracted labor services

from their subjects.

Aztec Empire: system of commercial exchange that was based

on merchants & free markets, whereas Inca government played

a major role in both production & distribution of goods.

Authority of the state penetrated & directed Incas’ society and

economy far more than did that of the Aztecs.

Inca & Aztec civilizations practiced “Gender

Parallelism”

-Women & men in “separate but equivalent

spheres”

-Parallel religious cults: women & men

-Parallel hierarchies of female & male

political officials (especially among Incas)

-Women’s household tasks were not

regarded as inferior

Men top positions in political & religious life

-Glorification of military probably

undermined gender parallelism

-Inca ruler & his wife governed jointly, were

descended from sun & moon, respectively

Engineering an Empire - The Aztecs

How did Aztec religious

thinking support the empire?

Aztec Empire extracted substantial

TRIBUTE: goods from its subject

populations, while Inca primarily

extracted labor services from their

subjects.

Aztec Empire: system of commercial

exchange that was based on

merchants & free markets, whereas

Inca government played a major role

in both production & distribution of

goods.

Authority of the state penetrated &

directed Incas’ society and economy

far more than did that of the Aztecs.

In what ways did Inca authorities

integrate their vast domains?

Emperor: absolute & regarded as divine

In theory: State owned all land & resources.

Subjects organized, at least in the central

regions of the empire, into hierarchical units: 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, & 10,000 people

Unit headed by local officials, supervised by an

Inca governor or by the emperor.

Imperial inspectors checked on provincial

authorities. Births, deaths, marriages, & other

population data were carefully recorded.

A resettlement program moved 1/4 or more of

the population to new locations.

Machu Picchu, high in the Andes Mountains, was constructed by the Incas in the 1400s on a spot long

held sacred by local people. Its 200 buildings stand at some 8,000 feet above sea level, making it truly a

“city in the sky.” According to scholars, it was probably a royal retreat or religious center, rather than

serving administrative, commercial, or military purposes. The outside world became aware of Machu

Picchu only in 1911, when it was discovered by a Yale University archeologist.

Machu Picchu Road to the Sky

The Incan Report with Bob Hale - Horrible Histories