PLEASE COPY THE INFORMATION BELOW INTO YOUR FOLDABLE.
INCA
-Not first culture to develop in Americas
-Settled in Andes c. 1200
-At peak, Inca Empire measured 2500 miles
-Capital was Cuzco, meaning “center”
-Extended control through conquest
-By 1400s, it is an empire
-12 million people
-Ruler called Sapa Inca, owned all land
-Spoke Quechua
-No written language, draft animals,
wheels, or plows
-Quipu used to keep records
-Inca Road stretched 24,000 miles
-Terrace farmers who grew potatoes, corn,
Cotton
-Weakened in 1400s as members of the
ruling family fought amongst themselves,
and workers started to rebel against the
strict government
-Fell in 1533 to Spanish conquistador
Francisco Pizarro
MAYA
-First great empire of Central America
-Greatest period was from A.D. 250-900
-May have been influenced by the Olmec
-Occupied Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala,
Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras
-Farmers who used slash and burn
-Grew beans, squash, peppers, papayas,
avocados, and corn
-Corn (maize) was their most important
crop
-Polytheistic—worshipped sun, rain, and
corn gods
-Leaders lived in large palaces in the city
-Ordinary people lived on the edges of city
-Rituals involved human sacrifice
-Around 900, Mayans abandoned their cities
-Cities grew so big that land couldn’t support them
-Hurricanes and earthquakes destroyed houses and temples
-People grew tired of the cruelty of their kings
-Aztecs began attacking Mayan cities
AZTEC
-First settled in Valley of Mexico in 1100s
-Built capital in Tenochititlan about 1325
-Tenochititlan was located on a swampy
island in the idle of Lake Texcoco
-Legend says Aztec god of war told them to
build where they saw an eagle perched on
a cactus with a snake in its beak
-By 1470s, they had conquered
surrounding lands.
-Empire stretched from Gulf of Mexico in
the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west
-Aquaducts supplied water
-Built island gardens in shallow lakes
around the capital from rich soil dredged
up from the lake bottom
-Canals used to transport produce by boats to a huge marketplace near the capital
-Sun god was the most important. Believed
sun needed human blood to gain the
strength to rise and cross the sky.
-Created a calendar based on Mayan calendar and knowledge of astronomy
-Kept records using hieroglyphics similar to those used by Mayas
-Strict class structure
-More farmers than any other group of people
-War was a part of the Aztec Empire
-In 1519, Spanish conquistadors invaded Aztec Empire. Some conquered peoples joined with them to overthrow Moctezuma
In 1521, Aztec surrendered to Spanish.