The Americas

The Americas

Cocaine, human sacrifices, & the end of the world. Mesoamerica 

Locations

• Mesoamerica & the Andes

• Cities became trading hubs

• Debate how people got to the Americas

Mesoamerican & Andean Transportation

• No wheels

• Mesoamerica had no large animals

• Mesoamerica domesticated maize 

• Andes domesticated llamas & alpacas

• Andes = land bridges

Andes Civilizations

• Domesticated the potato

• Chewed coca

• Divided into clans

• Clan leaders trace lineage to the huaca

  • Huaca = space/thing that had sacred characteristics

Settlements

• Inca Empire - around Lake Titicaca (modern-day Bolivia & Peru)

• Aztec Empire - around Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico in Mesoamerica 

Inca

• Ruling family of largest & last Andean Empire

• Ruled over Cuzco since 14th century

• Regent in 1420, Viracocha, wanted to expand

• Inca was invaded in 1438, regent fled, but his son stepped up

Pachacuti

• Viracocha’s son whose conquests formed the Inca Empire

• Forced language & religion on conquered territories

• Difficult to govern the entire empire

Inca Religion

• Pachacuti combined ancestor worship & split inheritance

• Ancestor worship - dead emperor’s spirit was still present & his mummy was venerated

• Split inheritance - dead emperor retained all lands, commanded loyalty of his subjects, & received tribute

North American Native Societies 

• Characterized by their mound-building

• Mississippian cultures settled in the plains along the MS River

• Cahokia = where MS & Missouri Rivers meet

Climate Changes

• 2 droughts: 1130-1180 CE & 1275-1300 CE

• Little Ice Age 1300-mid 1800s CE

• Short growing seasons, less crop yield, warfare over resources, etc

Mesoamerican Olmecs

• Laid the foundation for future empires

• Mexico coastal lowlands from 1500 - 300 BCE

• Religion - building large pyramid temples & sacrificial rituals

Mayas

• Inhabited present-day Guatemala & Yucatan

• Developed most complex writing system in the Americas

• Mayan calendar had 365 days that ended in 2012

Aztecs

• Mexica people settled on Lake Texcoco with Tenochtitlan as its capital

• Sustained themselves through military conquest

Aztec Military

• Men who distinguished themselves in war held the highest state positions

• Beneath military leaders were warriors 

• Male children’s lives were devoted to military training

Aztec Life

• Commoners held their land plots for life

• Landless workers/serfs were bound to their land

• Slaves were mainly POWs but could buy their freedom

• Women expected to be mothers, weavers, & homemakers

New Rulers

• Council of high nobles chose the new ruler

• New rulers would go on campaigns answering questions

• Rulers with unsuccessful campaigns were often killed

• Ahuitzotl was a ruler that wanted to reinvigorate the empire after a series of unsuccessful rulers

Blood Sacrifices

• Believed Earth had been destroyed & recreated 4 times

• Apocalypse could be forestalled by divine intervention

•  Sacrifices showed humans were worthy of the intervention 

Aztec Relationship with the gods

• Day you were born predetermined a lot about life

• Gods obscured human ability to see the future & past

• Day-keepers were closest to the gods

• Dreams were communication with supernatural world P

Fall of the Empire

• Lack of land left to conquer meant little promise of prosperity

• Less POWs from conquered land meant less blood sacrifices

Moctezuma II

• Last Aztec ruler that tried to reform the empire

• Some people refused to be conquered

• Spaniards, led by Hernan Cortes, allied with Aztec foes

• Moctezuma was killed

• Spaniards left behind smallpox