Early history of the Americas

Beringia:• Land bridge between North America and Asia

that existed thousands of years ago• Belief that the first people crossed this area,

into North American continent during the ice age

• Believed to have been hunting game across the land bridge• The actual date

of the arrival of the first Americans is still unknown

Development and agriculture• Agricultural

revolution hit central Mexico around 7000 BC• By 3400 BC

farmers in Mexico began to grow maize (corn)

• Development of stable agriculture led to the rise in advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica, beginning around 3000 years ago, as well as South America –Mesoamerica: area

that stretches south from central Mexico to Northern Honduras

Olmec1200BC to 400 BC

• Located in the jungles of southern Mexico• Lived along the

Gulf Coast• Referred to as a

Mesoamerica’s “mother culture”

Religion

•Prayed to a variety of nature gods–(animism)

Accomplishments• Constructed earthen

mounds, courtyards, and pyramids.

• Developed stone columns and alters

• Created sculpted heads representing the Olmec rulers- weighed as much as 44 tons

Accomplishments (continued…)• Directed a trading

network that spanned from Mexico City to Honduras

• Olmec and Zapotec advances paved the way for the development of the Mayan civilization

• Reason for the collapse in 400 BC is unknown

Zapotec• Located in southwest

Mexico in the present-day Mexican state of Oaxaca–Contained fertile soil,

mild climate, and enough rainfall to support agriculture

• Constructed advanced city at Monte Alban

Early Empires of South America

Nazca civilization (200 BC to 600 AD)

• Flourished along the southern coast of Peru

• Developed irrigation systems, using underground canals

• Nazca lines– Etched on the southern plains

of Peru– More than 1000 drawings of

animals, plants, humans– Can only be recognized from

the air

http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/the-nazca-lines/

The Mayas (250-900AD)

The Mayas(250-900 AD)

Geography• Area stretched from

southern Mexico into northern Central America• Included the Yucatan

Peninsula• Received ideas from

the Olmecs

Mayan Cities• Created during the classical

period (250-900 AD)• Included Tikal- major

center in Northern Guatemala

• Featured giant pyramids, temples, palaces and stone.

Mayan cities cont…

• Ruled by god-kings.• Served as centers

for religious ceremonies and trade.

Religion• Polytheistic• Believed each day was a living god

whose behavior could be predicted with the use of calendar.–Two calendars:•Religious •Solar

equinox

Religion continued…

•Made offerings of food, pierced and cut their bodies, and sometimes used human sacrifice.

Social structure: •Mayan king- hereditary position;

passed on to eldest son• Nobility- priest and warriors•Merchants and skilled artisans

• Peasants

Writing system•Most advanced of the ancient

Americans• Used glyphs- 800 hieroglyphic

symbols• Codex- bark paper books in which

the Mayans recorded important events

Decline• History of the

Mayas ends in mystery• In 800s Maya

suddenly abandoned many cities

Theories for decline…• War broke out in

70s, creating economic hardship and disrupted trade• Population growth• Over-farming

• When Spanish arrived in 1500s

Mayan civilization consisted of

small, weak city states

The Aztecs1200-1521 AD

Geography• Located in the

Valley of Mexico City• Area had several

large, shallow lakes, accessible resource, and fertile soil

Origins• Empire found by the

Mexica- poor nomadic people from the deserts of northern Mexico–Aztec god

Huitzilopochtli told them to found a city in their own

• Discovered home on a small island in Lake Texcoco

• In 1325 AD founded capital city of Tenochtitlan

• Used warfare and developed alliances with neighbors to expand empire in the 1400s

• By 1500 controlled empire that covered 80,000 square miles

Cities • Capital and center- cities

Tenochtitlan– Home to 200,000 to 400,000

people– Built on original site of the

empire– Contained the Great Temple-

giant pyramid with two temples dedicated to the gods

– Center of religious life

Religion• Polytheistic• Worshipped over

1,000 gods–Huitzilopochtli

(sun god) was the main god

• To make sure the sun would rise daily, Aztecs performed human sacrifice– Victims included

enslaved people criminals, and people offered as tribute

– Sacrifice done on a massive scale

– Armies would conquer areas for people not land

– Sacrifices would be conducted at the great temple

Social structure• Emperor• Nobles- government

officials, generals, religious leaders

• Commoners- merchants, soldiers, farmers who owned land

• Enslaved people

Decline of the Empire

• Montezuma II–Crowned

emperor in 1502 AD–Called for more

tribute and sacrifice from conquered areas

Decline of the Empire• Arrival of the Spanish and

Hernando Cortes- 1519 AD–Montezuma believed

that he was Quetzalcoatl–With superior

technology, and European diseases such as smallpox, the Spanish defeated the Aztecs by 1521 AD

The Incas1200-1535

Geography

• Settled on fertile plains in the Valley of Cuzco.

• empire stretched 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America–From Ecuador (north) to Chile (south)

• Largest empire of the Americas–Known as the “Land of the Four

Quarters.”

• With an area so large with a large population (16 million), Incan rulers used the following–Divided territory into small units

governed by a central bureaucracy–Efficient economic system–Extensive road system- 14,000 miles–Official language- Quencha–Social groups identified by clothing

Cities

• Built cities in conquered areas to exercise control over empire• Cuzco–Capital and heart of the Incan

Empire–Area where all roads led to

Machu Picchu

–Served as a religious center for the Inca–Possible

estate of Pachacuti

Government

• Pachuacuti (1438 AD)–Conquered all of Peru and moved into

neighboring lands• Similar to socialism- state exercised

almost total control over economic and social life–Ex.) regulated production and

distribution of goods

• Demanded tribute in the form of labor known as mita

• Chasquis- system of runners who traveled roads to warn of any revolts/danger

Social Structure

• Based on an age-old form of community cooperation known as allyu–Undertook tasks

too big for a single family such as irrigation projects, etc

Writing System

• Never developed a writing system• Quipu- counting device used to

record data–Knots and their positions on a

string indicated numbers–Colors of the strings represented

different types of information

Religion • Reinforced power of the

state• Virachocha- primary

Incan god; god of creation• Inti- sun god who rulers

traced ancestry to• Temple of the sun– Located in Cuzco–Most sacred of all Incan

shrines

Decline of the Empire

• Following the death of Huayna Capac, empire was plunged into a civil war that weakened the empire

• In 1533 AD Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro captured ruler Atahualpa–After receiving ransom, Atahualpa was

killed–Pizzaro conquered Incas and captured the

city of Cuzco