Chapter 5 – Lesson 2

Vocabulary

Creating a Mexican Culture

civilization

• A culture that has a complex economic, governing, and social system.• More advanced in technology

Olmecs

• The Olmecs were the earliest civilization in Mexico.• They lived in small houses made of reeds and straw.• The people fished and farmed near the rivers.• They developed a calendar and a counting system to keep track of

the flood season.• They used picture writing.• They are best known for their carvings and artwork.• Their most important god was the jaguar that they believed brought

rain.• They moved giant stones 50 miles without modern technology.

Maya

• They farmed in the rain forests.• Their largest city was called Tikal.• They borrowed the jaguar symbol from the Olmecs.• They created a 365 day calendar to keep tracking of

planting, harvesting, and flooding.• They developed a number system, including a symbol for

the number zero.• They used picture writing.

Aztecs

• They had an accurate calendar and used mathematics to help grow their crops.

• They developed a system of writing.• Their largest city was called Tenochtitlan.• Their empire was made up of over 5 million people.• Their descendants speak their native language today

called Nahuatl.• Many of their foods are now traditional foods of the

people of Mexico. For example, their cornmeal pancake is called a tortilla today.

The Spanish

• Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztec empire and claimed the land for Spain.

• Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.• Mexico remained a Spanish colony for 300 years.• Spanish is the official language of Mexico today.• The majority of Mexicans are Roman Catholic as that is

the primary religion in Spain.• Many of the churches in Mexico are built the same way

as Roman Catholic churches in Spain.

innovation

• New ways of doing things.

reclaim

• Taken back

missionary

• Religious teachers that came to Mexico to teach the Roman Catholic religion.

fiesta

• Festival

mestizo

• A person of European and American Indian descent, living in the Spanish colonies.