Download - The Americas on the Eve of Invasion
The Americas on the Eve of Invasion
Chapter ElevenAP World History
Ms. Tully
Mesoamerica: Before the Aztecs
• Pre-Columbian• Teotihuacan – Classical
Era• The Maya • Toltec Empire – Post-
Classical Era• Collapsed by 1150 to
nomadic invaders
The Aztec Rise to Power
• Political power/ppl moved to shores of lakes in Mexico valley
• Aztecs (Mexica) migrated to Lake Texcoco ca. 1325
• Tenochtitlan est. 1325• 1434 – Aztecs dominate central valley and begin
to conquer other city-states • Establish a tribute empire • Independent kingdoms opposed Aztecs – Tlaxcala
Aztec Society• Subject peoples forced
to pay tribute• Stratified society under
supreme ruler • Clans (calpulli) dictated
social status • Social gaps widen
(nobility vs. commoners)
• Organized for war and motivated by religious zeal
Aztec Religion• Cyclical Worldview impending destruction• Animism – connection between spiritual and
natural world• Pay tribute to gods through festivals, ceremonies,
feasting, dancing, warfare, and sacrifice• Cult of Sacrifice Huitzilopochtli• Increase in Human Sacrifice• Flower Wars captives became sacrificial victims
Aztec Economy• Agrarian community• Chinampas: man-made floating islands that
yielded large amount of crops• Vibrant daily markets highly regulated by state• Tribute system also supported the economy
Aztec Gender and Technology
• Women’s primary domain: household, cooking, weaving
• Arranged marriage• Women could inherit
property• Technological
restraints
The Inca Empire (Twantinsuyu)
• Chimor Kingdom (900-1465)
• Quechua-speaking clans (ayllus) around Cuzco
• Expansion under Pachacuti (ruler, or Sapa Inca)
• Controlled 3000 miles of empire; between 9-13 million ppl
Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule
• Highly centralized bureaucracy
• Tribute empire based on labor & integration Mita
• Military: system of roads, way station (tambos), storehouses
• “Split Inheritance” necessitates conquest
Inca Society• Ayllus basic unit of
society• Women had property
rights; still subordinate
• Emphasis on reciprocity & hierarchy
• Privileged nobility; basis of bureaucracy
• No merchant class limited trade
Inca Culture• Polytheistic, animistic
Viracocha (creator/sun god) is highest
• Huacas holy shrines (mountains, stones, rivers, caves, tombs, temples)
• Many cultural achievementso Pottery & clotho Metallurgy (copper, bronze)o Quipu – knotted strings for
accountingo Complex irrigation
Aztecs vs. Incas• Similarities
o Build on earlier empires that preceded them (Toltecs, Chimor)o Excellent organizers (imperial, military)o Intensive agriculture under state controlo Clans transformed to hierarchyo Ethnic groups allowed to surviveo Animistic religion
• Differenceso Aztecs have sophisticated trade, markets; Inca have no
separate merchant classo Aztecs developed a system of writing, while the Inca did not
Peoples of the Americas
• Great variety; adapt to their region• Overall pop. Unknown; around 67 million ca. 1492• Long distance/regional trade• Caribbean Islands: hierarchical societies, divided
into chiefdoms• North America: Mixture of agriculturalists &
nomads• Two great imperial systems by 1500, but
Mesoamerica and Andes weakened by European contact
• Communities are technologically behind Europeans, Chinese, Arabs