The Americas: The Aztec & the Inca

Mr. Wilson

AP World History

Wren High School

The Aztecs

Rise of the Aztecs

• Aztecs (Mexica) migrate to Lake Texcoco in central Mexico c. 1325

• Founded city of Tenochtitlan in 1325

• Empire started in 1434• Aztec kings represented

civil power and served as a representative of the gods on Earth

Aztec Government

• City-states ruled by a speaker chosen from the nobility

• The Great Speaker, ruler of Tenochtitlan, was in effect an emperor• Increasingly considered a living god

• Conquered peoples maintained some autonomy if they paid tribute

Aztec Religion

• Aztec maintained traditional deities of Mesoamerica• 128 major deities

• Huitzilopochtli (right) was the Aztec tribal patron and patron deity of the cult of warfare and sacrifice

Human Sacrifice

• Human sacrifice was a typical part of Mesoamerican religion• Aztec expand practice

into a cult where military supplied war captives for sacrifice

• Why?• Political purposes

• Population control

• Cannibal kingdom

Human Sacrifice

Tenochtitlan

• On an island in Lake Texcoco

• Aztecs called it the “foundation of Heaven”

• By 1519 had a population of 150,000

• Connected by causeways and canals

Tenochtitlan “The Venice of the Americas

Aztec Economy

• Agriculture• Food often provided as tribute• Built chinampas

• Pochteca was a special merchant class which specialized in long-distance luxury trade

• Cacao beans and gold dust were used as currency; bartering was most common

Chinampas

Chinampas were man-made floating islands 17’ long x 100’ to 300’ feet wide. Aztecs built over 20,000 acres of chinampas.

Chinampas

Aztec Society

• Originally divided into seven clans called calpulli• Calpulli redistributed land, organized labor

gangs & military units, maintained temples & schools

• Eventually a class of nobility emerged• Nobility controlled the priesthood & military

Aztec Society

• Women’s primary role was the household• Women spent six hours a day grinding corn;

restricted women’s rights

• Marriages were arranged

• Polygamy existed amongst the nobility

• Women could inherit property

The Inca

Rise of Inca

• Founded by Quechua-speaking clans, ayllus, living near Cuzco c. 1350

• Inca (ruler) Pachacuti expanded the empire from 1438-1471• Built Machu Picchu

• Expansion continued after Pachacuti’s death

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Conquest & Religion

• Expansion motivated by split inheritance

• Polytheistic• Sun God was the

primary god

• Influenced by animism• Mountains, rivers, etc.

were considered holy shrines

Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu

Inca Government

• Divided empire into four provinces

• Developed a bureaucracy run by nobles• Nobility drawn from the ten ayllus

• Local rulers maintained their positions

• Colonized conquered areas• Relocated some conquered peoples

Inca Economy

• Unlike Aztecs, not a lot of trade• Tried to be self-sufficient

• Primarily agricultural• Terrace farming & complex irrigation• Over 200 types of potatoes

• Inca Socialism

• Used forced labor for massive projects• Mita

Terrace Farming

Inca Society

• Inca emphasis on military reinforced gender inequality

• Women worked in the fields, wove cloth, and cared for the household• Women worshipped fertility deities

• Recognize parallel descent• Women passed rights and property to their

daughters

Inca Technology

• Built a complex system of roads and bridges• 2500 miles of roads• Used a system of runners to carry messages

throughout the empire

• Beautiful pottery, cloth, and metalworking

• Quipu

• Masonry

Bridges and Roads

Quipu

Inca Metalworking