APUSH Unit 1.2 (Unit 1, Topic 2)

In Central America…

  • The Aztecs, also known as the Mexica, (Aztec…Mexica…Same-ica) built large cities, had written language and complex systems of irrigation

  • The Maya developed large cities, built giant stone temples, had complex irrigation and water systems, and palaces whom they believed were descended from the Gods

In South America…

  • The Inca established their civilization in the Andes Mountains which is now, modern day Peru

  • The empire was massive with 16,000 people and 3,000 square miles of land

  • The success of the Inca people was based on their farming on ertile mountain valleys where they grew potatoes and other crops

Maize

  • All three civilizations grew and relied heavily on maize

  • It was a nutritious crop

  • As it spread to the north, it began to heavily shape societies amongst Native Americans and helped established later tribes in the Americas

  • “Maize is a big deal.”

Spreading to the North…

In Southeast North America…

  • The Pueblo resided in present day Arizona and New Mexico

  • They were a sedentary population which meant they didn’t move around and stayed in one place

  • Most were farmers of maize and other crops

  • They built adobe and masonry homes in the open and on the sides of cliffs

  • They were a highly organized society with religious centers and craft shops

In Great Plains and Great Basin…

  • The Ute lived out a hunter lifestyle and needed more flat, plains land to do so

  • They lived in small egalitarian kingship based bands

  • They did not build permanent settlements and move around a lot to follow the buffalo

In the Pacific Northwest…

  • The Chinook people relied on fishing and the elk they found

  • They used cedar trees to construct giant plank houses which could house up to 70 members of the same kinship

  • The Chumash lived further south in present-day California

  • They hunted and gathered but instead of moving around like the Ute, they built permanent settlements in areas with another game (animals) and vegetation to support their gathering and hunting

In the Mississippi River Valley…

  • The Hopewell people lived in towns about 4,000-6,000 people and they traded extensively with other regions, as far as Florida and the Rocky Mountains

  • The Cahokia was the large settlement in this region

  • Their population size was amount 10,000 to 30,000 people

  • The government was led by powerful chieftains who centralized the government and engaged in extensive trade networks from the great lakes all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico

In the Northeast…

  • The Iroquois lived in villages made up of several hundred people where they grew crops such as maize, squash, and beans

  • They built and lived in longhouses where they lived with anywhere between 30 to 50 of their family members