Transcript Presentation

Sections 2 and 3 on the
Rise and fall of
Mesoamerican and
South American tribes
The
Mayan People
The Aztec
The Inca
Key vocabulary
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quipu- a rope with knotted cords of different lengths
and colors that the Inca used to keep records. ( see
page 599 picture and primary source)
Igloo- dome-shaped homes made of blocks of ice
and snow where the Inuit people of the far north
lived.
Adobe- a type of home using sun-dried mud brick
where the people of the Southwest lived.
Confederation- a type of government that was set
up by the Eastern Woodland tribes that linked
several groups together.
Key People
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Pachacuti- an Incan leader who’s name
means “earthshaker.”
Iroquois- a native american group from the
Eastern Woodlands who formed the Iroquois
League to end fighting among themselves.
Key Places
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Petan- a flat region in present day Guatemala
where the Maya settled.
Tenochtitlan- Aztec city which means “place
of the prickly pear cactus.” (see page 586
picture of the layout of the city)
The Maya
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In 1839 Stevens and Catherwood found the ruins of the Maya
people.
The ancestors of the Maya live in present day Mexico,
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize.
The Maya chose their flat land with dense forest in present day
Guatemala. ( Peten)
The organized Mayan culture built up cities and fields in the
Peten.
A major accomplishment!!!
The Maya set up city-states with a ruler providing leadership and
military service.
City-States often fought with one another.
Life in the Mayan Cities
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Rulers believed that they were descended from the
sun and ruled as god-kings.
The Mayan people were to serve them and to build
huge monuments to honor them.
One way of serving the god-kings was human
sacrifice.
The Mayans battled for captives!!
The Mayan priests would sometimes offer these
captives to the god of rain and sunlight known as
Chac.
Life in the Mayan Cities
continued
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Gods controlled everything!!
Religion was the core of Mayan life.
A huge pyramid with a temple at the top towered
over each city.
Strict social class
Royalty married from city-state to city-state which
helped to create alliances and strengthened trade.
Women played a crucial role in Mayan city-states
and some even served as all powerful queens.
Mayan Science, Writing, and
Sports
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The Mayan kings and queens turned to the priests
for advice about the gods.
The priests studied the movements of the sun, stars,
and moon to reveal the gods plans.
They developed the 365-day calendar to keep track
of the heavens, to predict eclipses, to schedule
religious festivals, planting, and harvests.
They also developed a system of math based on the
number 20.
Mayan Writing
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Invented a written language to record
numbers and dates.
Used symbols to represent sounds, words,
and ideas that nobles could only read.
After the collapse of the Mayan civilization no
one could determine what the symbols
meant. ( some scholars are trying)
National Geographic
Sports and Contest
Mayan Ball Game
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Mayan city-states had ball courts.
In a Mayan ball game, teams of 2 or 3 players tried to drive a hard
rubber ball through a decorated stone ring.
Players wore helmets, gloves, knee and hip guards made of animal
hide to protect themselves against the ball.
They could not use their hands or feet to throw or bat the ball.
The stone ring was placed 27 feet above the ground on a large
rectangular field.
Mayan players had to have remarkable skill to score!!
Making a goal was so rare that when a player scored, the crowds would
reward the player with clothing and jewelry.
The Mayan sporting contest was also had religious meaning as well as
deadly consequences.
The losing team was sacrificed to the gods in a ceremony after the
game.
Collapse of the Maya
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The Mayan city-state of Teotihuacan started
to decline in A.D. 600.
By A. D. 750 the city had been destroyed.
No one is sure why but these are some of the
theories;
Overpopulation
A long drought or period without rain
Poor people rebelled against the rich rulers
The Aztec
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Captured Tula from the Toltec (northwest of
present Mexico city) about A.D. 1200 and
took control of trade and built a huge empire.
The Toltec king thought he could rid the
warrior nomads by granting them snake
infested land but instead they ate them and
built a huge kingdom.
Aztec Legend- page 586
Named their new city Tenochtitlan.
The Aztec Government
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Well organized government that was guided by the gods through
the priest.
Told to build a great city- Tenochtitlan where workers toiled day
and night.
Built floating gardens
Dreamed of conquest and wealth
Strong kings who claimed descent from the gods and were chose
by warriors, priests, and nobles picked each king from the Royal
family.
Most of the time they chose the kings son but not always.
A king was expected to bring glory to the Aztec and to lead his
troops in battle.
Life in the Aztec Empire
King or Emperor
Nobles
CommonersLargest group to include farmers, artisans,
And traders.
One brave act they could join noble rank!
Unskilled laborers
Enslaved people
Life in the Aztec Empire
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The Aztec saw death as honorable.
Those worthy of an afterlife included;
Soldiers who died in battle
Captives who gave their lives in sacrifice
Women who died in childbirth
Others went to the “land of the dead” the
lowest level in the afterlife
Life in the Aztec
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At a very early age children learned about the
glories of war and their duties as an Aztec.
According to the god Huitzilopochtli who
spoke through the priest, “ We shall conquer
all the people in the universe” led to the
inspiration of building the huge pyramid
(known as the Great Pyramid) in the city of
Tenochtitlan.
Thousands were sacrificed at the Great
Pyramid.
Collapse of the Aztec
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A Spanish noble named Hernan Cortes along with his followers
attacked the Aztec killing 6,000 people and took over the city in
1519.
Cortes took the Aztec leader named Montezuma as a hostage so
the people would not rebel.
Cortes orders the Aztec to stop human sacrifice which results in
rebellion.
Montezuma is killed in the fighting and the Spanish are
outnumbered.
The Spanish fought their way out of the city and hid in the hills
with their allies.
Then….. Smallpox disease hit and greatly weakened the Aztec
In June 1521, the Spanish destroyed the Aztec capital.
The Inca
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Settled in South America in the Andes
mountain ranges of present day Peru.
Built up the largest empire in the ancient
Americas.
Cuzco was the Incan capital founded in A.D.
1100.
Life in the Inca Empire
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Pachacuti was the highest Incan god who took his
name from the god Pachacamac who was lord of
the earth.
His name means “ Earthshaker.”
Pachacuti and his son Topa built the largest empire
which stretched north to south about 2, 500 miles.
Pachacuti created a well organized government by
taking local rulers sons to Cuzco for training.
He required people to learn the language of
Quechua and designed a system of roads of 25,000
miles.
An Organized Society
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The Inca believed that the sun god Inti
protected the Cuzco capital.
The Incan rulers were called “ sons of the
sun.”
Rulers wives were known as Coyas
Incan Society
“Sons of the sun”
And the Coyas
Head Priest
Commander of the armies
Regional Army Leaders
Temple priest, army commanders, and skilled workers.
Skilled workers- musicians, artisans, and accountants.
Farmers, herders, and ordinary soldiers
Inca Society
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They further divided society into 12
categories which allowed for every ONE to
have a job.
Every man, woman, and child over 5 years
old had work to do.
Incan Culture
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The Inca rarely committed humans for sacrifice- only
in times of crisis where children were given to the
gods for their purity.
Built large works made of stone by skilled engineers.
Built Machu Picchu which was a retreat for Incan
kings.
Developed a way to record math calculations using
the quipu.
Collapse of the Inca
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By the 1530s, the Inca was threatened by
smallpox and Francisco Pizzaro.
The Incan leader Atahualpa was captured by
Pizzaro, but ended up being tried and
sentenced to death.
Pizzaro was made the governor of Peru in
which he chose the new Incan ruler who
would have to answer to him
Opened South America to Spanish rule.