Early Civilizations of Middle America*, Unit 2, Quiz 1 Review

*Middle America – a term used to mean Mexico and the 7 countries of Central America, (Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador)

Incan EmpireMayan Empire

Aztec Empire

The Incas: People of the

Sun!

During the reign of Topa Inca, the Incan Empire grew to over

2,500 miles with 12 million people under his rule.

During the reign of Topa Inca, the Incan Empire traveled south, from Ecuador to Argentina, along the coast of the

Pacific Ocean.

AqueductA combination of bridges and

tunnels, using stone pipes which would bring water from rivers to

people a few hundred miles away.

The Inca built great aqueducts (bridges and tunnels to transport water) in order to bring

water into their villages from the mountaintops.

A Census is an official count of all people living in an area. Quipas was a knotted string used by the Incas as a method of keeping records

_____

3,643

CensusOfficial count or total number of

people in an area.

The Inca kept excellent census records (population count and collecting taxes) with their quipus, but

most were destroyed during their conquest.

A wave of Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) in the early 1500s disrupted and destroyed many nations

native to the Americas.

CONQUISTADORConqueror, defeater

Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who sailed to

South America, in 1531.

The Inca were fighting a civil war (a war within a nation) in the 1520s, which allowed the Spanish to

easily defeat them.

Civil WarA war fought between two groups within the

same nation/civilization

Introduction to the Aztec Empire

Its importance is the Aztec transformed a lake into their capital city and ruled a huge empire.

Main Idea: The Aztec built their

empire in Mexico during

the 1400s, with their capital in Tenochtitlan.

Image found on the flag of Mexico

The Sun God, Huitzilopochtli (Wi–tsilo–pok– tly) told the Aztec leader to settle his people where he finds an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a

snake in the middle of a lake.

The Aztec looked to their king and gods for guidance. Below is

the story of how the Aztec found the right spot for their city

The Aztec Civilization began in

the Valley of Mexico. They

settled on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1325. It took time

to develop, but lasted through the

early 1500s.

The Aztec people were able to change

a swampy lake into a great city, which was called Tenochtitlan

which was its capitol city.

The floating island Tenochtitlan and the Aztecs are remembered

for great farming.

Anchored to a lake, Tenochtitlan had an endless supply of water.

The illustration above shows an

Aztec farmer sowing the

seeds. The illustration below shows an

Aztec farmer reaping what he

sows.

FarmingMain Idea: Most Aztec were farmers, and they built floating gardens

(chinampas).

Its importance is even if there’s no rain, the crops still have water. There will have water to drink and food to eat.

Then

And

Now

Building an Empire

Main Idea: The Aztec conquered other people and forced them to pay tribute (or become a slave).

Its importance is this allowed the Aztec Empire to expand and become rich with resources.

Later, these conquered tribes joined forces (formed alliances) with the Spanish Conquistadors to conquer the Aztec

AlliancesAgreement in which people cooperate for a common reason

Some nations or people form alliances in which they have an agreement or truce to look out for and

protect each other.In the case of the Aztec neighboring tribes, they formed alliances with the Spanish to defeat the

Aztec nation. The Aztec were not kind to their neighbors forcing many into slavery or human sacrifice.

Moctezuma was the leader of the Aztec Empire when the Spanish arrived in the New World. He demanded much from his people. He also made

enemies with tribes near the Aztec Empire, meaning very little peace with neighboring

tribes...

When Cortes arrived in Mexico, he found many of the Aztecs were willing to assist

him overtake Moctezuma. The Spanish and Aztec enemies formed alliances.

By 1521, the Aztec

people were

defeated by Cortes

ExploitTo take advantage of someone

Hernan Cortez exploited (took advantage of) the natives that helped his own needs of waging war against the Aztec. Afterwards, he enslaved them.

Aztec Culture and Religion

ITS IMPORTANCE IS THEY TOOK WHAT THE MAYA KNEW AND EXTENDED IT TO A NEW

LEVEL.IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE MAYAN EMPIRE CAME FIRST AND LASTED MUCH, MUCH LONGER

THAN THE AZTEC EMPIRE

Main Idea: Aztec culture was active with a strict guidance to their religion which included human

sacrifice, to please their gods.

Aztec doctors were able to make over a thousand types of

medicine from using plants.

However, they could

not develop…

Immunity Resistance to diseases

It’s too bad the Native Americans did not have immunity (defenses) to European diseases; it would

have made for a much fairer fight.

It only took 15 years for the Spanish to defeat 2 powerful empires in America

(Aztec and Incan Empires).

The Spanish brought disease to America, which the Native Americans had never experienced,

nor the immunity to protect them.

The Fall of the Aztec Empire

A combination of factors led to the fall of the Aztec Empire.

The Aztec had no immunity against the disease and tens of thousands died within years of the Spanish arrival.

The Spanish fought on horses as well!

Cortes persuaded the local tribes to fight with the Spanish against the Aztec.

Their limited protection and weapons were no match to superior guns, cannons and armor.

But probably the biggest reason of all was small pox.

EmpireDifferent groups of people ruled by

one leader or government

Much like ancient Rome, the Aztec built an empire (expanding nation) in which they conquered other Natives Americans and

took their land and resources.

The Aztecs are remembered for developing hieroglyphics, medicine,

designing jewelry, fine crafts and predicting eclipses.

The Aztec and Mayan form of writing was known as hieroglyphics.

This is a form of graphic writing, using signs and symbols instead of

letters, as we do.

The Mayan Civilization lasted from A.D. 250 – 900.

The Mayan Empire was the earliest of the three empires and was located in Central

America and Mexico.

Although the Mayan farmer grew a variety of crops, corn, known

as maize was its most important crop.

THE MAYANS ACCOMPLISHED MANY THINGS DURING THEIR EMPIRE’S REIGN, 250 – 900 CE

The Mayans are remembered for

being astronomers and developing an accurate calendar.

They had an alphabet. They,

built pyramids and temples. They introduced the value of zero, in

math.

Eventually, the people abandoned, left the cities to live on their own.

The Fall of the Mayan EmpireOne theory about the fall of the Mayans has them relying heavily on their king.

In turn, the people lost faith in the king.

These sacrifices did nothing but deplete the population and cause frustration among the people.

The people turned to their king to save the day.

The king would respond with more human sacrifice.

There were wars and there was crop failure from drought and soil erosion.

As time went on, things started to go wrong.

The Aztec, Incan and Mayan EmpiresTo review the histories of

For taking timeThank you