Great Civilizations in the Americas

The Maya, Aztecs and Incas

Earliest American Civilizations

• What is a “Civilization?” – an advanced culture

The Olmecs1. Earliest known American civilization2. 3,500 years ago3. Developed in the forests along the Gulf

of Mexico

The Maya

Mayan Cities

Mayan Society

Mayan society was divided by classes.

1. Warriors/Priests

2. Nobles, government officials

3. Peasant farmers

Advances in Learning

Advances in Learning Calendars

• Had 2 calendars. • One had 20 13-Day months for religious

purposes. • The other had 18 20-Day months, based

on the sun.• They linked the 2 together to identify

days that would bring good fortune.

Advances in LearningAstronomy

Why all the advancements?

• Developed knowledge in these areas to help understand their gods.

The Decline-Why?

Key Idea

• Through alliances and conquest, the Aztecs create a powerful empire in Mexico.

Valley of Mexico

• Good place to settle b/c it was full of lakes and fertile soil.

Tenochtitlan

Religion

• Religion plays a major role in Aztec society.

• Cities had many temples built for the different gods they believed in.

Religion

Religion

• People taken captive in war were the ones who were sacrificed.

• Causes a need for victims, leading Aztecs to fight their neighbors.

Aztec Society

1. Emperor

• Treated as a god as well as a ruler.

• Absolute power – total authority over the people he ruled Treated as a god as well as a ruler.

Aztec Society

Montezuma II

• Aztec empire starts to weaken under him.

• Spanish arrive (Cortez)

• Aztec empire falls to the Spanish

Incan Civilization

The Inca

Key Idea

• The Inca built a vast empire supported by taxes, governed by a bureaucracy, and linked by an extensive road system.

The Inca

• By 1500, the boundaries of the empire stretched along the Andes from modern Ecuador, all the way south to Chile and Argentina.

• 16 million people.

Religious Beliefs

• Worshipped the Sun

• Lined walls of palaces with sheets of gold

• Gold was “the sweat of the gods”

Farming

Engineering and Medicine

Other Advancements

The End of the Inca• Spanish arrive

(Pizzarro)

• Takes advantage of civil war

• Quickly, Pizzarro and Spain take control of the Incan Empire