The Americas

Pre-Invasion (ca 1492)

2 Major Regions:

• Mesoamerica– Maya (cities

abandoned around 8th C.)

– Toltec – Aztec

• Andean– Incas

Mayans

• 300 BCE-800 CE• Pyramids• City states• Religion and Society:

• Quetzalcoatl• Polytheistic• Human sacrifice• Popol Vuh• Patriarchal

Toltecs

• nomads who settled @ Tula around 968

• giver of civilization• Empire reached to Yucatan• economically reached SW

America: obsidian & turquoise

• Religion and Society:– Quetzalcoatl– Human sacrifice

Aztecs

• Nomadic invasions in central Mexico around 1150

• By 1434, Aztecs were regions’ dominant power• Capital located on island in Lake Texcoco,

Tenochtitlan (200,000?)• Religion and Society:

– Highly stratified society under a powerful leader; military elite was highest strata

– Expanded the practice of human sacrifice

Yes, I said human sacrifice

• Religion and Society con’d:– Balance of religion and war

demanded conquest (Huitzilopochtli)

– Warriors provided slaves for sacrifice

– Human sacrifice expanded to include cannibalism

– Women: no role in public; high honor as mothers of future warriors

Economy of Aztec Empire

• Tribute system– All conquered people lost land and

gave food in tribute

• Agriculture– Irrigation system around the capital,

Tenochtitlan– Chinampas– Maize, cacao, beans, squash

• Market for exchanging long-distance goods: jade, emeralds, parrot feathers, vanilla beans

• State-controlled mixed economy

Aztec Social Structure

• Calpulli—Aztec clans; by 16th C, became residential groupings as opposed to kinship groups

• Pipiltin (nobility) controlled military and priesthood

• Military values• Women inherited property, but subordinate to

men• Any similarities to other cultures?

Incas

• Emerged as civilization around 1300

• Why did they expand?– Economic gain– Political power– “split inheritance”all titles & power went to

successor, but wealth & land remained in hands of male descendents for supporting the mummyjustified endless expansion

Imperial Rule

• The Inca (emperor) considered a god• Ruled from Cuzco• Bureaucracy

– Local rulers (curacas) stayed in office in return for loyalty

– Exempt from tribute, received labor/produce from subjects

– Conquered peoples could retain culture/leaders

• Quechua

More Incan Policies

• Forced transferkept empire stable• Administrators:

– Complex public works system• Roads, bridges, causeways, etc.kept

military mobile• Built for people when too big for them

to do it themselves (irrigation projects)

– Mitarequired labor shifts– Conquered peoples provided land and

labor– Local resources taken and redistributed

• No writing system, but quipu (knotted strings) helped with accounting

Incan Society & Religion

• Hierarchy: Inca rulers aristocrats priests peasants

• Women– Wove cloth– Taken as concubines– Worked in households– Female inheritance– Idea of gender cooperation– Still, male dominance

• Religion– Sun god, Inti– Some human sacrifice, mostly animal– Sin = violation of social order

Aztecs, Incas, and…?

Location of empire

Capital city

Government

Policy toward conquered peoples

Religion

Agriculture

technology

On your own piece of paper, compare the Aztecs, the Incas, and one other culture (600-1450), using the categories at right…This means, create a chart!