The Americas on the Eve of Invasion

CHAPTER 11

Previous knowledge

What are the main native American groups in Central and South America? Where were they located?

What group was 1st?What were the groups known for?Who conquered the major groups?Name any famous member of any group.

Postclassical Mesoamerica

Olmecs (1400-400 BCE) Mother culture

Introduced 1. hieroglyphs 2. calendar 3. concept of 0 4. ballcourt game (rubber balls) 5. Stone heads

Maya (300 BCE- 900 CE)Aztecs (1200- 1550 CE) Incas (1400- 1550)

Maya

Chichen ItzaTikalTulum

Teotihuacan

Site of civilization Central MexicoCollapsed 700’s

Toltecs Teotihuacan-Toltecs

Capital was Tula 968 Adopted cultural

aspects but add: 1. Strong military 2. expand human

sacrifice

Looked at as givers of civilization by Aztecs

Commercial influence Possibly to Miss and

Ohio Valleys Lasted until 1150

Aztecs

Known as Mexica (origin of Mexico)After fall of Toltecs people migrate to Valley of Mexico

(1325) Power and population shift

Found cities: 1. Tenochtitlan (1325)

By 1434 dominates area 2. Tlateloco

Rise of the 1. city-states (Triple Alliance) 2. pipiltin (nobility class)

AztecsAztec Social Contract

1. Pay tribute (leave alone) 2. surrender lands 3. military service 4. king is god on Earth

Tlacaelel (brother of Montezuma SP?)) Important official Helps move clans (CALPULLI) to

a unified societyMoctezuma II

Height of Aztec power

Aztec Religion

Many gods in many different formsCyclical patterns of world destruction (over and over)1. Gods of fertility

Agriculture etc2. Creator gods

Sun, moon sky etc3. Gods of warfare and sacrifice

Huitzilopochtli ((becomes main deity)

SacrificeGods get strength from sacrificeWhy? (different theories)

1. Exaggerated by Spanish (superiority and validate conquest)

2. religious act essential to receive gods blessings

3. terrorize neighbors and subjugate lower class

4. response to lack of protein and absence of large animals for sacrifice “cannibal kingdom” (Marvin Harris)

Aztec Economy

Chinampas Man-made floating islands (agriculture) Extremely fertile

Redistribution of tribute

Armed merchant class (pochteca) Control markets

Tlatelolco

Marriage and Family

1. Virginity highly regarded 2. Arranged marriage 3. Young girls trained by older women 4. Monogamy was common (polygamy only for rulers)

Aztec women vs Mediterranean Same in many ways (can own property, no gov roles) Technologically behind Med

Aztec women spent more time working (exp grinding grain)

Fall of Aztecs

1. Terror and tribute2. Rise of pipiltin

Led to social stresses Vulnerable to conquest

After 1492 Aztecs- Cortez Incas- Pizarro

Weapons and disease

South AmericaChavin (mother culture) Moche and Nazca (Nazca Lines) Chimu (lived in Chimor) Inca

Twantinsuyu

World of the Incas550-1000 CE

Tihuanaco and Huari Disintegrate

900-1465 Chimor (state) Emerges as most powerful

Pachacuti1438-1471Wars begin Incan Empire

Eventually largest empire in Pre-Columbian America Ruled from Cuzco Built Machu Picchu

Unified 1. Quechua (language) 2. Forced transfers

ExpansionTupac Yupanqui (son of Pachacuti)Huayna Capac (son of Tupac)Huascar and Atahualpa (sons of Huayna)

Atahualpa wins control Captured by Pizarro Ransom Room but Killed anyway 1533 Ends Incan Empire

22ft long by 17ft wide and 8ft high Filled 1x with gold (13,000 lbs) Filled 2x with silver (26,000 lbs) Lowest soldier received approx $750,000-$1,000,000

Pizarro 14-20x

World of Incas

Complex system of roads Tambos (way stations) (chasquis are runners)

Irrigation projectsRedistributive economy (Inca socialism)Split inheritance

Power to successor Wealth to male descendants (keep mummy “alive”) Keeps rulers conquering (Why?)

Religion and

CultureReligion

Sun God is supreme

Local gods (Huacas)

Culture Quipu

Knotted strings for accounting

Similarities and differences between

Inca and Aztec Similarities

1. Built on earlier empires 2. Intensive state controlled agriculture 3. Redistributive economy 4. Kinship transformed to hierarchy 5. Human sacrifice and priest class 6. Monumental architecture

Major Differences 1. Aztecs had better trade and markets

Large merchant class 2. Aztecs had a writing system 3. Inca tried to integrate their empire 4. Geography and climate (???)

Anasazi