Transcript Early Latin America Civilizations

Early Latin America
Civilizations
World Cultures X
Ch. 20 Sec. 3
@ 300 CE – 900 CE
Inside a Mayan City
• Mayan Civilizations ruled in
Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico &
Guatemala)
• How could cities thrive in the
difficult tropical forest?
• Farmers cleared the dense forest
then built raised fields for crops. If
too much rain fell, farmers would
open channels to drain the field
Mayan Society
Trade, language, and a common
culture linked the Mayas, although they
had no single unified empire.
King
Instead, each Mayan state had its own
city-state with its own king
The King controlled the military and
high-ranking military officials.
Nobles/Priests helped govern the city.
Artisans and Merchants supplied the
ruling class with fine cloth, gold, etc
and profited from trade with other city
states.
Peasants and Laborers grew food and
hauled stone to build temples and palaces.
Nobles/Priests
Artisans/Merchants
Peasants/Laborers
Slaves
(Prisoners of Wars/Criminals)
Slaves were the lowest class and
were made up of prisoners of war
and criminals.
Mayan Religion
• The Mayans believed that
gods controlled the powerful
forces of nature.
• Each day priests performed the
rituals to please the gods.
• Without these rituals, the gods
might send storms, drought, or
other disasters.
• Temples were built in cities to
honor different gods.
• Scenes on the wall in temples
recorded historical events or
told ancient legends.
Maya Achievements
• The Mayan civilizations
shocked the Spanish and
the rest of the world for
its achievements. The
Mayans are known for ->
• Their architecture.
• Great monuments and
temples.
• Developing a system of
writing known as
hieroglyphics (glyphs)
• Developing a calendar
• Developed complex math
• Learned to use zero
• Ruled for 600 years!
(Between 300-900 CE)
0
Pizarro’s Route to the Incan Empire
The Inca Empire
1197-1572
• By the late 1400’s, the
Inca Empire stretched
2,500 miles across what
is today Peru, Ecuador,
Bolivia, and Chile.
• The Inca’s were able to
acquire new skills and
survival techniques by
learning from the people
in the area and then
branching out.
Incas Farming, Religion, Government
(Achievements)
• Farming
• Religion
• Learned from earlier civilizations
about irrigations systems. (Allowing
them to channel water from
mountain streams into low areas.
• Came up with the concept of
fertilizer.
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Polytheistic: nature based
Chief god was the Sun god
Inca means “children of the sun”
Considered gold “the sweat of the
gods.”
• Government
• Inca emperor owned all lands,
mines and wealth of the empire.
• Officials told people where to live
and what to do.
• The government is responsible for
collecting taxes.
QUIPU
The Incan’s fall t/t Conquistadors (1572-73)
• Francisco PIZARRO
• Atahualpa
• just won a civil war
• “thirst for gold”
• Spanish weaponry and European
diseases
• small pox
• 80,000 Incan warriors defeated by 168
Conquistadors
• Pizarro vs Atahualpa
The AZTECS
• In 1325, the Aztec god
Uitzilopochtli told the people
where to settle when
• “you find an eagle perched atop a
cactus holding a snake in its beak.”
• Soon afterwards, the Aztecs
founded the city of Tenochtitlan.
• Generations later, Mexico City now
stands on the spot of the former
Aztec city.
• The snake, eagle and cactus have
become national symbols in Mexico.
The Aztec Empire
• Government
• Unlike Mayans, Aztecs had only one
ruler. (Not city-states).
• Chosen by a small group of priests,
nobles and warriors.
• Attacked other civilizations by 1450.
• When the Aztecs defeated a nation,
they left its ruler in place.
• type of rule?
• The defeated nation had to pay the
Aztecs in the form of maize, tobacco,
gold, precious stones and jaguar
skins.
The Aztec Empire
• Religion
• Polytheistic; nature based
• Priests recorded knowledge of science,
math and medicine.
• Believed in human sacrifice
• Aztecs would keep prisoner of war.
• They kept them as slaves or as sacrifices.
• Aztecs believed that the sacrifices would
please the gods and increase their success
in wars.
• This made the Aztecs the most feared
and hated group throughout Mexico.
The Aztec Empire
• Education:
• 1st society to educate both
boys and girls.
• Boys studied the art of
war. (Strategy, Combat,
etc.)
• Girls studied homemaking
skills and learned herbal
medicine.
• Women
• Gave women certain rights
in society. A woman
could:
• Own property
• Remarry if the husband dies
• Become a priestesses,
weavers, musicians and
midwives.
Tenochtitlan
• At the heart of the Aztec
empire was the bustling city
of Tenochtitlan.
• With a population of 150,000
people, it was considered the
largest city of its time period.
• It was a trading center for the
empire.
• Considered to be one of the
strongest, fortified cities in the
world.
The Aztecs fall t/t Conquistadors (1518-1525)
• Hernan CORTEZ
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660 men
16 horses
gunpowder
Cannons
Mayan allies
• Moctezuma
• Tenochtitlan
• Humans sacrifices
• mainly POW’s
• Cortez vs Moctezuma
Questions for Consideration:
• Who was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean?
• What early civilizations developed in the Americas?
• What are the major achievements of these civilizations?
• What are the key differences between each group?