World History

Chapter 9

The Americas

Section oneThe early Civilization of the Americas

Geography and its impact

• Early civilization developed in North America, South America and Central America

• Latin America= Central America, Mexico, South America and some Caribbean Islands

• Spoke Latin based languages– Spanish, Portuguese and French– Caused by being annexed (colonized)

Land and Climate of Latin AmericaPlains • Cover most of Mexico, and South America• Highland plateaus –farming and grazingMountains• North American into Mexico

– Sierra Madres

• South America– Andes Mountains

• (the whole of the western coast)

Land continued…..

Rain Forest

• Important geographical feature

• Largest Rain Forest in the world– Amazon River Basin rain forest– In South and Central America

Climate

• Mountains – Colder than in the lowlands– Snow on mountains

• Coast and Interior– Tropical, wet to hot and dry climates

The first Americans crossed the Land bridge

• 13,000 years ago

• Siberia (northern /Russia) connected to Alaska

• Nomadic Asian people crossed this land bridge into the Americas to scatter through out the Americas

Between 3,400 B.C. learned to grow Maize

• An important agricultural element

• Became the basics of their diet

• Dried after harvest and stored to serve as winter food.

• Ground into flour for bread and cooked in a variety of ways

Olmecs Zapotecs

• Earliest known civilization in the Americas

• Gulf of Mexico 1200 BC• Fishing and farming• Rubber trees

– Rubber balls used on Stone courts

• Art – Gigantic carved stone head

• Calendar

• Southeastern Mexico 500 B.C.

• Writing system• Pyramids of the Sun and

the Moon• Farmers, craft workers

artisans, builders, merchants, warriors

• traded with others• Priests and the rulers

governed the city

Olmec Influence on the Mayans

• Maize

• Ceremonial centers with temple pyramids

• Mayan’s Calendar based on the Olmec

• Ball games

• Rituals involving human sacrifice

Maya

• Location– Guatemala, Belize and Yucatan Peninsula

• Sports – basketball

• King ruled-priests and nobles helped• Social classes

– Artisans, merchants, Peasants, Farmers, laborers

• Independent city-states roads connected• Wealthy owned slaves

Gods and Priests

• Gods controlled the weather

• Daily rituals to please the gods

• Built huge pyramid temples in honor of the gods

• Human sacrifice

Achievements Arts and Sciences

• 3651/4 day calendar

• Studied astronomy and predicted solar eclipses

• Math– first to use the concept of Zero

• Writing system

Toltecs

• Dominated Central Mexico 950-1200 A.D.

• Mining and trading empire

• Pyramid building• Gods

•Murals•Depicting gruesome battle scenes•Chief Bird Warriors•Piercing his own cheek for losing battle

Aztecs

• Central Mexico1200 A.D.

• Unified empire under a Ruler chosen by the noble and priest

• Calendar

• Warriors

• Miners-gold, precious stones

• Farmer- maize, squash, beans, tobacco,

Continued…..

• Human sacrifices to the Gods– Most were prisoners– To be Sacrificed was a honor for the victim

and the family

• Schools– Boys- astronomy and religion– Both- trained on the what was required to be

a adult.

temple

The Aztec Empire is part of Mexico today.

• According to Aztec legend, the gods told the nomadic people who had entered the Valley of Mexico to search for an eagle perched on the top of a cactus. The eagle would be holding a snake in its beak.

Tenochititlan

Quetzelcoatl

• was a former white skinned and bearded priest.

• came from the east and promised to return.

• The god of civilization and learning.

Section 2

Peru and the Incan Empire

Peru

• Along the Pacific coast of South America

• Land is forested• Small % suitable

for farming

Chavin Moche

• Northern Peru – 900-200 B.C.

• Built stone temple made of Adobe– Bricks made of sun

dried clay– To honor the animal

gods• Jaguar, serpent,

alligator

• 200-100 B.C.• Built no cities/urban

center• Aggressive people• Engineers built roads and

irrigation canals• Collapsed 900 A.D.

– Possible reasons• Drought, severe flooding

Do you believe in Aliens?

What do you think?

Nazca lines (Peru)

• The are a series of drawings located in the Nazca Desert, a high arid plateau that stretches more than 50 miles. Believed to have been created between 200BC and 700 AD. There are hundreds of individual figures, ranging in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks or orcas, llamas, and lizards.

Spider

Monkey

Humming Bird

The Incas

• Western coast of South America in the Andes Mountains

• 1500A.D.

• Little is known about the early years.

• Aggressive people

• Skilled architects– Built roads, stone walls, palaces– Postal service, (runners) (no writing system)

Incan Societyhighly developed religion and well defined social

classes

Polytheistic• many gods: Moon, Stars, thunder, Sun God

most important• Spirits live in every aspect of nature• Woman were trained to serve the Sun God

Incan Social Classes

Social Classes• Pure Inca- ruling family and nobles

Adopted Inca• Nobles from (conquered) neighboring lands

Provincial nobles• Allowed to rule large estates

Ordinary people• Lowest class, highest %

Inca Families• Families formed into groups (by 10)• 1 man served as administrator• No taxes –supplied labor for social services• Services

– given food, benefits for orphans and windows, feast for holidays

• Government– Strict rulers

• permission to travel through the empire

– Clothing• Wear clothing connected to the people and from where they

lived

Inca farming

• Families belonged to a group

• Owned the land jointly

• The leader of the group followed government orders and assigned jobs to the family group

farming

Crops

• Potatoes

• Corn

• Squash

• Tomatoes

• Peanuts

• Cotton

Llamas Alpacas

Section 3North American Groups

Native Americans

• No unified empires

• No cities, palaces,

• Hunter gathers, farmers, trading with each other

• Developed different languages, cultures, style of dress.

• Adapted to the environment instead of changing it

Geography

• Huge land mass-

• Varying climates – No rain, lots of rain, hot, cold

• landforms – mountains, deserts, plains, forests– Rivers, lakes, and oceans

Western Groups

• Eskimos/ Inuit's (Northwestern)– Arctic region of Canada and Alaska– Tents made from animal skins– Tools made from teeth and bones

western

• Anasazi (Southwestern)– 4 corners-Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico,

and Utah– Apartment style homes-adobe

• Navajos – Farmers and ranchers

• Apaches– Lived on the open plains– Hunters, Raiding others

Eastern groups

• Mound Builder– Hopewells– Mississippi and Ohio river valley– Disappeared in the 17th century

Iroquois and Hurons

• New York and Great Lakes area

• Farmers

• Built longhouses

• Wampum- colorful breads

• Formed a confederacy– To get along