Transcript Chapter 16 Section 1

North American
Societies
Chapter 16
Section 1
Quick Review…
Remember where the North American
societies came from?
 From Asia over the Bering Straight
 Remember their lifestyle?
 Hunter-Gathers (chasing the Mammoths)

Complex Societies of the Northwest

The early Americans were located in the
modern-day Pacific-Northwest
– Lots of Natural Resources
– Abundant food
 Used the Pacific Ocean to hunt whales
– Complex society
– Potlatch – Families displayed their rank and
prosperity by giving back to the community
 Food, Drink, and Gifts
Accomplished Builders of the Southwest

Those settlers in the southwestern portion
of North America lived different lives all
together.
– Farmers
 Used irrigation
 Corn, beans, squash
– Made pots rather than baskets – this is
evidence that they were in contact with the
Mesoamericans.
Tribes of Early America

Anasazi
– Lived near modern-day
“4-Corners” Area of
Utah, Colorado, New
Mexico, and Arizona
– Cliff-dwellers
– Lived in Pueblos –
apartment-like buildings
of clay and stone
 Largest (Pueblo
Bonito) housed about
1,000 people
CLIFF DWELLINGS
Anasazi Pics
Pueblos
Tribes of Early America

Iroquois
– Group of 5 tribes in
the Northeastern
part of America
(New York area)
– Formed the Iroquois
League
 Create by Chief
Hiawatha (legend)
 Political Alliance
 Promote Defense
 Spoke similar
language
Tribes of Early America

Mississippian
– Lived in modern
“Midwest United
States”
– Known for being
MOUND BUILDERS
– Villages based on
Farming and Trade
– Used Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers
for trading
SERPENT MOUND (OHIO)
Cultural Connections

Purposes of connections within tribes was
primarily economic and cultural.
Cultural
Economic
Trade
Rivers
were
trade
routes
Similar
religious
beliefs
The
land
was
sacred
Shared social
patterns
Believed
in
nature
spirits
Totems –
symbol of
unity of a
group or
clan
Totems
Symbol of the unity of
a group of a clan
 Defined behaviors
and relationships
 Displayed on masks,
poles, or boats
 Used in rituals (i.e. –
weddings, funerals,
births, etc.)

This Week...

We’re going to
spend the rest
of the week
talking about 3
major
civilizations
– Mayans
– Aztecs
– Incas
Maya Kings and Cities
Chapter 16
Section 2
Where are the
Maya located?
Yucatan
Peninsula
Maya Create City-States
Review – What other group that we
studied formed city-states??
 That’s right – THE GREEKS
 Review – What were two of the most
popular city states??
 Yep, Sparta and Athens

Maya Create City-States
Where: Southern
Mexico into Central
America (Yucatan
Peninsula)
 When: 250 A.D.
 They were influenced
by the Olmecs

Mayan City-States: Urban Centers

The Mayans built large cities
– Tikal (in modern Guatemala)
Each city-state was independent
 Ruled by a god-king
 Cities were religious centers
 Cities were trade centers
 Buildings: Pyramids, temples, palaces,
stone carvings, ball court (for religious and
political purposes

Mayan City-States: Agriculture &
Trade Support Cities
Each city state was independent,
but they were connected with
TRADE
– Trade items: salt, flint,
feathers, shells, honey, cotton
textiles, jade ornaments
– Chocolate beans sometimes
served as money
 Agriculture was big
– Maize, beans, squash

Mayan Social Structure
King
Nobles
Priests
Leading Warriors
Merchants,
Skilled, Teachers
Peasants
Majority of the population
Religion Shapes Mayan Life

Polytheistic – belief in many gods
– Examples: god of corn, god of rain, god of
war
The Maya believed that each day was a
god, whose behavior could be predicted
with the help of a calendar
 Worship included: prayer, offerings, selfmutilation, human sacrifice (usually
captured enemies)

Mayans and Math

Calendar
– Calculated the year to be 365.2420 days long
(this is only .0002 of a day short of our
current calendar.
– The did this with careful observation of the
sun, stars, and planets.
– They used the calendar to decide when the
best time to plant crops, attack an enemy,
and crown new rulers.

Concept of Zero
Mayan Written Language
Helped preserve their history
Alphabet consisted of about 800 hieroglyphic
symbols known as GLYPHS.
Recorded major events in CODEX – a book of
bark paper.



SKY
HOUSE
CHILD
CITY OF PALENQUE
KING
http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/dictionary/montgomery/syllabary_a.htm
Mysterious Maya Decline


Historians are unsure of why the Mayan
Civilization collapsed.
Historians have the following “reasons” why they
think that the Mayans disappeared:
1. Warfare between the city-states = Trade problems =
Economic issues
2. Over-population = over-farming = famine & disease
**These two situations lead to weakened citystates that were vulnerable to invasion
from outside peoples.**
Control
Central
Mexico
Chapter 16
Section 3
Pre-Aztec Mexico

Teotihuacan (tay-oh-tee-wah-kahn)
– First major civilization of Central Mexico
– Trade center
 Most valuable item – obsidian – green or black
volcanic glass (used to make razor-sharp weapons)
– About 200,000 inhabitants
– Declined for unknown reasons
Pre-Aztec Mexico, continued

Toltecs
– Began to dominate central
Mexico after the decline of
Teotihuacan.
– Violent people
– Worshiped QUESTZALCOATL
(feathered serpent)
 This god demanded human
blood and sacrifice
The Aztec Empire
Where: Valley of
Mexico, modern
Mexico City
 Aztecs were preceded
in this region by the
Olmecs and the
Zapotecs (Remember those guys

from Chapter 9?)

When: A.D. 1200
Aztec Origins

How they started:
– Originally called the “Mexica”
– Poor, nomadic from the desert of North Mexico

Started a city called Tenochtitlan
(ten-nach-te-lon)
– It was on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco
Formed the Triple Alliance with two other large citystates
 The Aztecs based their power on 1) military
conquests and 2) tribute (taxes) that they collected
from the people that they conquered.

Tenochtitlan



Population: as many as
400,000 (bigger than
London at the time)
It was an island in the
middle of the Lake
Texcoco, that was
connected to the
mainland by three raised
roads
Other cities circle the lake
Aztec Social Structure
Emperor
Military Leaders
had great power
at the height of
the Aztec Empire
Nobles
Gov’t & Religious Officials,
Leading Warriors
Commoners
Merchants, Soldiers,
Landowners
Enslaved People
Emperor had
absolute power
Religion Rules Aztec Life
Hundreds of temples in their capital
 1,000s of gods to worship
 Many religious festivals to honor various gods
 The most important god was: Huitzilopochtli

– God of the Sun
– Made the sun rise every morning, to maintain this
power, he needed blood.
– 1000s were sacrificed (hearts cut out) each year
– Many military conquests that the Aztecs fought
were not for more land, but for more people to
sacrifice (did not try to kill in battle, but capture)
Illustration of Aztecs Sacrificing People
Decline of the Aztecs
Spanish invasion (from Europe)
 High Taxes (Tribute) made people mad,
and some rebelled
 People saw “bad omens,” and did not trust
their leader (Montezuma II)

– Omens – Lightning Strikes, Solar Eclipse, etc.
The Inca Create a Mountain
Empire
Chapter 16
Section 4
Incan Beginnings
Started out in the
high plateau of the
Andes Mountains
 Settled
permanently in the
Valley of Cuzco
 The city of Cuzco
was their capital
(religious center
too)

Pachacuti Builds an Empire

Trying to
gain
loyalty
Pachacuti
– Great Incan ruler, led the Inca to conquer all
of Peru and then neighboring lands
– By 1500 the Incan Empire had 80 provinces,
and had 16 million inhabitants
– Incans conquered people thru diplomacy and
military force
– The Incan only used force when necessary
– Usually gave their enemies the chance to
Incans Create Unity

The Incans used several strategies to create unity in their
empire
– Divided into provinces with solid leadership, and a
central government
– Efficient economic system
– Extensive road system to connect the provinces
– One official language
– Similar government buildings in all cities
– All roads led to the capital of Cuzco
– Built new cities in conquered areas
Incan Government



Would
this work
now in
the US?
The Incan Government controlled almost all social and
economic aspects in the empire
Social System of AYLLU was used.
– Communities (extended families) would help each
other out.
– Example: If an irrigation canal needed to be built,
the entire community would help out.
Paying Tribute in the form of Labor – called MITA.
– Example: All able-bodied citizens had to work for
the state a certain number of days each year.
Incan Roads
Incans were known for their roadways
 14,000 miles of road connected the
empire
 A system of runners was posted along the
roads to send communication thru the
empire
 Roads allowed troops to easily move to
various parts of the empire

Incan Record Keeping
 Incans
never
formed a writing
system
 History and
Literature were
passed on thru
memorization
Important!
Inca Religion
 Fewer
gods than the Aztecs (1000s)
 Mainly nature spirits
 Most important: creator god and the
sun god
 Sacrificed llamas
 Both women and men (virgins) were
used in religious ceremony.
– This was their job for life!
Decline of the Incan Empire
Height of the empire was in the 1500s
 Their king died, and his sons split the
empire
 This led to civil war within the empire
 Spanish took advantage of this – they
eventually conquered the empire

A view of Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the
Incas," This was the last stronghold of the Inca,
and now an archaeological site.