Transcript Chapter 12: Latin America Shaped by its history

Chapter 12: Latin America
Shaped by its history
12-1 Early Civilizations of Middle
America.
The Mayas
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The Mayas were an ancient
people who lived in Central
America and Southern Mexico.
They lived from about 250 – 900
A.D.
They built great cities in present
day countries of Mexico,
Guatemala and Honduras.
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Large temples often stood in the
middle of Mayan cities.
The Mayas worshipped many gods
and would perform religious acts that
included human sacrifice to please
their gods.
Mayan priests studied the stars and
planets. They invented an accurate
calendar.
The calendar was used to decide
when to hold religious celebrations.
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The Mayas created a system of writing
called hieroglyphics.
Their greatest inventions was the idea
of the number Zero.
With a writing system, Mayans were
able to write books. Their books were
made out of paper created from tree
bark.
Most of the people were farmers and
worked in the field near the cities. With
their most important crop being maize,
or corn.
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In about 900 A.D., the Mayas
suddenly left their cities.
Nobody knows why!
Many believe it may been due to
war, disease, drought or
starvation killed many of them.
Or people rebelled against the
control of the priest and nobles.
The Aztec Empire
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The Aztecs arrived in the area in
the 1100’s, they settled on an
island in Lake Texcoco.
There they created a great city
called Tenochtitlan. Which
became their capital city.
The Aztecs began conquering
other people.
They forced the conquered to
pay tribute, or taxes.
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An emperor ruled over the Aztec
lands. Nobles and priests
helped him.
Most of the people were farmers
When farming land was running
out they created new farmland
by building floating gardens.
Priests preformed ceremonies
such as human sacrifice to
please the gods.
They also created an accurate
calendar.
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The Aztecs used hieroglyphics
to help them keep records.
Aztec doctors made more then
1000 medicines from plants.
They also set broken bones and
practiced dentistry.
Trade was usually done by
barter – to trade goods for other
goods.
Unlike the Mayas, the Aztecs did
not abandon their cities. Instead,
people from far away conquered
them.
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Questions:
What
do you think
happen to the
Mayans?
Which civilization
would you have
wanted to be apart
of and why?
Summary:
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Answers:
12-2 The Incas
People of the Sun
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The Incas first settle in Cuzco in
about 1200 A.D.
Cuzco, a city in present-day
Peru, was a village in the Andes
Mountains.
It became the Incan capital.
Most Incas were farmers who
grew maize and other crops.
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1438 – Pachacuti became ruler
of in the Incas. He forced people
who were not loyal off their land.
Pachacuti’s son, Topa Inca, later
became emperor and expanded
the Incan empire.
He expanded the empire that
included present day Ecuador,
Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and
Argentina.
Incan Civilization
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The Incan emperor carefully
chose nobles to govern each
province (state).
Nobles conducted a census so
that the people could be taxed .
The government would care for
the poor, sick and elderly Incas.
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Without a written language, Incan
officials and traders relied on a
quipu to keep track of information.
Quipu – knotted string used by the
Incas to track information.
The Incas built large road system
high in the mountains of the
Andes.
The roads helped the government
to rule the empire.
Rope bridges were also built to
help travel in the empire.
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The Incas also built canals and
aqueducts to irrigate land that
would otherwise be too dry to
grow crops.
Using stones they built cities,
palaces, temples and fortresses
without the use of modern tools.
They used hammers and chisels
to cut stones so perfect that they
fit together without the use of
cement.
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The most famous Incan ruin is called
Machu Picchu.
Roads and stairs cut into the side of
the mountain.
http://www.machupicchu.org/
http://www.peru-machupicchu.com/index.php
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Like the Mayas and the Aztecs
the Incas believed in many gods
and practiced human sacrifice.
One of their most important
gods was the sun god, Inti.
The Incas believed that Inti was
their parent.
The Incas called themselves the
“Children of the Sun.”
The Quechua: Descendants of the Incas
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The Spanish conquered the Incan
empire in the 1500’s,
However, people descended from
the Incas still line in Peru,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and
Colombia.
They speak Quechua the Incan
language.
Today they live much like the
ancients Incas did high in the
Andes Mountain range.
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Questions:
What
are some of
the benefits of the
Incan road system?
How would the
canals and
aqueduct system
help the Incas?
Summary:
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12-3 European Conquest
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1492 Columbus discovers the new
world.
Spain and Portugal competed for land
in the Americas.
In 1492 these two countries signed the
Treaty of Tordesillas.
This created an imaginary line from the
North Pole to the South Pole. 45’W
Spain – West of the line
Portugal - East of the line
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The Spanish conquistador
Cortes went to Mexico in 1519.
The Aztecs’ enemies helped
Cortes attack Tenochtitlan and
kill the Aztec emperor,
Moctezuma.
In 1521 the Aztecs surrendered
to the Spanish.
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Francisco Pizarro arrived in South
America in 1531.
He had 180 soldiers and with in 4
years he was able to conquer most
of the Incan empire.
The Spanish were able to do this
because they had better weapons,
including guns and cannons.
Also they brought new diseases
that wiped out whole villages.
Colonization
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Settlers from Europe began
arriving in Latin America.
The Catholic Church sent
missionaries to spread
Christianity to Native Americans.
Spain ruled most of the
Americas south of what is now
the United States.
The territory was divided into
provinces.
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The two most important
provinces were New Spain and
Peru.
The people with the most power
came from Spain or had
Spanish parents.
People of mixed Spanish and
Native Americans ancestry were
called Mestizos.
Native Americans had the least
power.
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At first the Native Americans
were forced to work only on
haciendas.
When silver was found, they
also had to work in the mines.
Many Native Americans died
from overwork, lack of food and
illness.
As their population dropped, the
Spanish imported African slaves
to do the work.
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Questions:
What
were two
reasons the
conquistadors were
able to conquer the
Aztecs and the
Incas?
Mestizo
Hacienda
Summary:
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Answers: