Societies in the Americas

World Studies Summer School 2011

Early North American Cultures

• Native Cultures flourish throughout North America– Each Culture was very dependent upon location– Coastal tribes of the Northwest developed great

fishing societies– Tribes in Southwest became great builders and

farmers

• Anasazi build Pueblos in Southwest– Apartment style cities made of dirt and clay brick built

under cliffs– Abandoned around 1200 probably due to drought

Mesa Verde - Colorado

Southeastern Cultures

• Mound Builders– Culture built great elaborate burial mounds for

tribal leaders filled with gifts, copper and stone objects.

– Last mound builder culture the Mississippian, lasted from 800 to 1500

– They built large villages based on farming– Largest city was Cahokia with possibly as

many as 30,000 people.– Evidence exist that they traded as far south

as the Aztecs and into the Northeast America

Maya

• Maya 200 BC – 900 AD– Located in Southern Mexico on Yucatan

Peninsula and into central America– Build great City states

• Largest Tikal

– Each City-State had its own God-King ruler and center for religious ceremony

– Cities featured giant pyramids, temples, palaces, and elaborate stone carvings

Maya Pyramids

Maya City States

• Independent but Linked– Cities were linked through alliances and trade

• Cities exchanged their local products for others

– Farming provides the basis for life• Squash, beans, maize• Slash and burn farming• Terraced and raised bed farming

– No uniform currency• Beans and cacao at various times both served as

currency• Therefore farming could make you wealthy

Religion and Maya

• Many Gods– Corn, death, rain, war– Gods could be good or evil– Gods associated with 4 directions and colors

• Practices– Worship was done many ways

• Prayed, offerings of food, flowers, incense• Peirce bodies, and offered blood, believing it would

nourish the gods• Some human sacrifice usually captured enemies

Maya Calendar

• Two Calendars– 260 day Religious Calendar for identifying

wbhich god needed to be worshiped on each day.

– 365 day solar calendar for best times to plant crops, attack enemies and crown rulers

• Maya Calendar very accurate– Math work and concept of zero made them

very accurate and helped to develop society.

Maya writing

• Most advanced Writing system in Americas• 800 hieroglyphic symbols

– Some stood for words, others syllables– Writing occurred in stone or on thin bark paper called

codex– Only three codex books survive today

• Maya and Decline– History ends in Mystery

• Suddenly abandon their cities• Toltec’s from North move into cities and change culture• No one really knows what happened

Assignment

• Questions:–P.445 # 1-7

–P.449 # 1, 3-8

The Valley of Mexico

• Mesoamerican societies– Teotihuacan 200 BC – 700 AD– Toltec 900 AD – 1100 AD– Aztec 1400 AD – 1521 AD

• Valley where Modern Mexico City is located

• 7500 ft. above sea level

Teotihuacan

• First major civilization in Mexico valley

• Peak population of 150,000-200,000

• Center of trade network extending into central America– Most valuable item was obsidian

• No evidence they tried to make an Empire

• No evidence they were conquered

• City was virtually abandoned by 750

Pyramid of the Moon

Teotihuacan

Toltec

• Fierce warlike people who came to power in 900• Capital at Tula• Empire based on conquest

– Worships their War God who demanded blood and human sacrifice

• Around 1000 ruler named Topiltzin tried to change Toltec religion and move away from human sacrifice

• War God followers rebel and Topiltzin and his followers leave Tula and move to Yucatan where they influence late Mayan culture

• Topiltzin and his God, Quetzalcoatl, become legend in Mexico valley– Belief is the god left on a raft heading East and one day would

return to claim it rightful place bringing peace and prosperity

Aztec

• Mostly from Northern Mexico, they migrate south to fill the void left from the decline of the Toltec

• According to legend their god told them to found a great city of their own – Tenochtitlan

• Tenochtitlan and other great cities of the area form alliance to create Aztec empire.

• 80,000 square miles stretching from both coasts of Mexico. – 38 Provinces– 5-15 million people

Aztec Religion

• Many Gods were worshiped

• Human Sacrifice– Legend said Sun god would not have enough

strength to rise again the next day without human sacrifice.

– Without regular offerings, the sun would not rise

– Prisoners of war were preferred victims• Criminals and people offered by tribute

Aztec Fall

• Emperor Montezuma II– Empire so large it began to struggle with the daily requirements

for human sacrifice– Some provinces rose up against the oppression and war-like

state

• Spanish Arrive 1500s– Believing they were Quetzalcoatl coming back to take their

place, Montezuma welcomes Spanish and lavishes tributes of gold on them.

– Spanish become obsessed with gold and want more– They take Montezuma Captive and kill him– Aztecs chase them from city and Cortes and Spanish leave– They also left small pox which devastate the Aztec population

with disease– When Spanish return 1 year later, Aztecs are easy to conquer

Assignment

• Questions–P.458 # 1, 3-8

Inca

• Empire built on many different cultural foundations– Huari– Tiahuanaco

• Inca started high in the plateau of the Andes mountains of Peru

• Settle in the Valley of Cuzco– By 1200 they have established their own

kingdom

Inca Expands

• 1438 – Pachacuti– First great Incan Ruler– Expands Incan land by conquering all of Peru

and moving into neighboring lands– By 1500s Inca empire stretched 2500 miles

along the western coast of South America

• 1500s– 80 Provinces– 16 Million people

Incan Government

• Territory divided into manageable units governed by central bureaucracy

• Build new buildings in conquered cities with same architecture to project a uniform empire

• Government exercises complete control of trade and distribution of goods

• Enforce one Universal language in their empire to be taught in all schools

• Never develop writing system

Advancements

• Roads– With size of Empire they create and extensive

network of roads all leading to the capital of Cuzco– Master Engineers and stone masons– 14,000 miles of roads built– Build shelters along the way for travelers to rest

• Postal service called chasquis carried messages throughout the empire

• Oral traditions were passed down through families

• Quipu – set of knotted string used for record keeping

Social Structure

• Idea of community cooperation– Ayllu – extended family group

• Took on tasks too big for individual familes– Canals, irrigation, terraces, food storing

• Families divided into groups of 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000.• Chief leads each group• Chain stretches all the way to the capital of Cuzco

– Local Rulers allowed to keep local tribal traditions– Families contributed Mita or Labor to the state

• Every family had to contribute a certain amount of work during the year.

• Government made sure families did not starve during poor harvests

Incan Religion• Worshiped less gods than the Aztecs

– Focused on natural spirits • Moon, starts, thunder, etc..

• Believed their was a balance in nature between humans and the way they relate to each other

• Mamakuna– “Virgins of the Sun”– Women drafted for lifetime of religious service

• Worked full time for the state • Created goods for the priests to distribute to the people• Played roles in ceremonies

• Temple of Cuzco – Most sacred of Incan shrines– Decorated in gold

Incan Decline

• Reaches highpoint in early 1500s– Huayan Capac great leader– Receives gift in newly conquered city of Quito– Opens gift and moths and butterflies fly out which

legend says is bad omen– A few weeks later he dies, probably of smallpox

• Sons take over and split empire – Eventually it leads to Civil War

• Spanish arrive 1534– 600 Spanish are able to conquer Incas due to

smallpox wiping out 90% of population

Assignment

• Questions–P.463 # 1, 3-8