Chapter 15
Section 1
First Aztecs were
farmers from
Northern Mexico
Migrated south in the
1100s but all of the
good farmland was
taken
To survive, the Aztecs
hired themselves out
as skilled fighters
 Aztec Warriors conquered
many towns
 Also, made alliances or
partnerships with other
tribes
 In the 1420s, formed a secret
alliance with two other cities
on Lake Texcoco and
defeated the other towns
around the lake
 The Aztecs made people
they conquered pay
tribute: a payment to a
more powerful ruler or
country
 Had to pay for goods such
as cotton, gold, or food.
 Controlled a huge trade
network
 Most towns had a market
where local farmers and
artisans brought their
goods to trade.
 The Aztec capital city
 Located on an island in
the middle of Lake
Texcoco
 Built three causeways:
raised roads across water
or wet ground, to connect
the island to the shore.
 Made of rocks covered in
dirt.
 Although surrounded by
water, the water was
undrinkable
 The Aztecs built a stone
aqueduct to bring fresh
water to the city.
 Limited land available for
farming
 Built “floating gardens”
called chinampas.
 Made by putting soil on
rafts anchored to trees in
the water.
 Became the greatest city
in the Americas
 Had huge temples, a busy
market, clean streets, and
a magnificent palace.
 At its height, Tenochtitlan
had 200,000 people.
 Conquistadors: Spanish
explores who arrived in
the Americas in the late
1400s in search of new
lands, gold, and to spread
their Catholic religion.
 Hernan Cortes:
Conquistador who
reached Mexico in 1519
looking for gold.
 Moctezuma II: believed
Cortes was the Aztec god,
Quetzalcoatl, who was
supposed to return to
Mexico in 1519.
 Moctezuma sent Cortes
gifts, including gold.
 Cortes marched on
Tenochtitlan and captured
Moctezuma and the city.
 The Aztecs attacked and
drove the Spanish out.
 Moctezuma was killed.
 Cortes came back in 1521
with many Indian allies
and conquered
Tenochtitlan
Alliances
The Spanish forces
made allies with
tribes who did not
like the Aztecs
Malintzin:
Malinche, guide
and interpreter for
Cortes.
 Better Weapons
 Guns, armor, and horses
 Geography
 Blocked Tenochtitlan’s
causeways, bridges, and
waterways.
 Cut off drinking water and
supplies.
 Thousands of Aztecs died
from starvation.
Disease
Spanish had brought
diseases such as
smallpox to the
Americas
These were new
diseases to the
Aztecs and swept
through Aztec
communities, killing
thousands.
Why were neighboring
tribes willing to fight
with the Spaniards
against the Aztecs?
How did the Spaniards
use the local
geography to defeat
the city?
Do you think
Moctezuma was too
trusting of Cortes and
his men? Explain your
answer.
 They did not like losing
battles and paying tribute
to the Aztecs.
 The Spaniards blocked
causeways, bridges, and
waterways; cut off
drinking water and other
supplies.
 Possible Answer—If
Moctezuma had been less
trusting, the empire
would have been less
vulnerable.
Section 2
Aztec people had
clearly defined roles
Aztec society
organized into groups
called calpullis: a
community of families
that shared land,
schools, a temple, and
an elected leader.
 King was the most
important person in Aztec
society
 Lived in a palace that
had gardens, a zoo, and
an aviary.
 Some 3,000 servants
attended his every need
 Was in charge of law,
trade and tribute,
warfare
 Aztec Nobles, such as tax
collectors and judges,
helped manage for the
king.
 Noble positions were
passed down from fathers
to their sons.
 Young nobles went to
schools to learn the
responsibilities they
would face as government
officials, military leaders,
or priests.
 Priests had a great
influence over Aztecs’
lives.
 Kept calendars and
decided when to plant
crops or perform
ceremonies.
 Passed down Aztec
history and stories
 Performed various
religious ceremonies,
including human
sacrifice.
Aztec Warriors fought
to capture victims for
religious sacrifices.
Respected for the
wealth they brought
to the empire
 Merchants gathered
goods from all over
Mesoamerica and sold
them in the main market
 Became very rich
 Built large, impressive
houses and sent their
sons to special schools
 Artisans were also rich
and important
 Made goods like feather
headdresses and gold
jewelry.
 The lower class of Aztec
society
 Most people were farmers
who grew corn, beans,
and other crops
 Did not own their land
and were very poor.
 Had to pay so much in
tribute that they often
found it tough to survive.
 Slaves had been captured
in battle or couldn’t pay
their debts.
 Sold as laborers to nobles
or merchants.
Job or Task
 Ruled the Empire and lived in
luxury
• Served as important officials,
such as tax collectors and judges.
• Performed many important
duties, such as keeping calendars.
 Kings
• Nobles
• Priests
• Fought to conquer other peoples
and capture victims for sacrifice.
• Warriors
• Traded goods like food, clothing,
and tools.
• Merchants
•
• Artisans
Skilled workers who made a wide
variety of goods that people needed.
• Most Aztecs, who lived in simple huts.
•
Person who performed the
Job
• Farmers
Prisoners of war, who were forced to work or
•
were sacrificed.
Slaves
 Believed gods ruled all
parts of life
 Believed sacrifices were
necessary to keep the
gods strong and the world
safe.
 Sacrifices would be
performed on warriors
captured in battle.
 Aztec priests sacrificed as
many as 10,000 victims a
year in religious
ceremonies
 10,000 victims/365 days in
a year = about 27 people a
day!!!
 Took many of their
achievements from the
people they conquered.
 Created a calendar much
like the Maya one.
 Workers built bridges and
lined canals with stone
 Used gold and feather to
make jewelry
 Made books, or codex,
made of barks or animal
skins, used to keep
records.
Chapter 15 Section 3
 Around 900 BC, complex
civilizations began to
develop in what is now
Peru (the Chavin, the
Nazca, the Moche and the
Chimu)
 Advancements in farming
such as terraces and
irrigation.
 Capital city was Cuzco
 Ruler Pachacuti led the
Incas to expand their
territory through
agreements with other
tribes and conquest.
 By the early 1500s, the
Inca Empire was huge, it
stretched from what is
now northern Ecuador to
central Chile and included
coastal deserts, snowy
mountains, fertile valleys,
and thick forests.
 Around 12 million people
lived in the Inca Empire.
 Made the leaders of
conquered areas move
out of their villages.
 Then they brought in new
leaders who were loyal to
the Inca government.
 Also made the children of
conquered leaders travel
to the capital to learn
about Inca government
and religion.
 After a while, the
children went back to
rule their villages, where
they taught people the
Inca way of life.
 Established an official
language: Quechua
 No written language, but
kept records with cords
called quipus.
 Knots in the cords
represented numbers,
different colors stood
for information about
crops, land, and other
important topics.
 Incas had to “pay” their
government in labor instead of
taxes. Mita
 Most Incas were farmers who
grew corn, peanuts, and
potatoes and raised llamas for
meat and wool.
 Farmers worked on
government-owned farms in
addition to their own farms.
 Villages produced cloth and
grain for the army.
 Others worked in mines, served
in the army, or built roads to
pay their labor tax.
There were no
merchants or markets
in the Inca Empire
Instead, government
officials would
distribute goods
collected through
mita..
 A civil war began in the
Inca Empire around 1530
 The Inca ruler died and
his two sons, Atahualpa
and Huascar fought to
become the new ruler.
 Atahualpa won the war,
but fierce fighting had
weakened the Inca army
 On his way to be crowned,
Atahualpa heard that the
Spanish conquistadors led
by Francisco Pizarro had
arrived.
 Atahualpa agreed to meet
Pizarro
 At the meeting, the
Spanish told Pizarro to
convert to Christianity, he
refused and they attacked.
 Atahualpa was captured
and thousands of Inca
soldiers were killed.
 To win his freedom, Atahualpa
asked his people to fill a room
with gold and silver for Pizarro.
 The people rushed to bring
jewelry, statues, and other
objects, melted down; the
precious metals may have
totaled 24 tons!!
 However, the Spanish killed
Atahualpa anyway.
 In 1537, the Spanish defeated
the last of the Incas and gained
control over the entire region.
 Fall of the Inca similar to
fall of the Aztecs
 Both had internal
problems when the
Spanish arrived
 Cortes and Pizarro
captured the leaders of
the each empire
 Guns and horses gave
the Spanish a great
military advantage
 Disease weakened
native peoples.
 Why do you think farmers
created terraces in the
mountains?
 Who was the Inca ruler
when Pizarro arrived in
the empire?
 Why do you think the
Spaniards attacked when
Atahualpa would not
convert to Christianity?
When did the
Spaniards defeat
the last of the Inca?
How were the
conquests of the
Inca and Aztec
Empires similar?
Chapter 15 Section 4
Two Classes
Incas from Cuzco
= Upper Class
Conquered
peoples = Lower
Class
 The King, priests, and
government officials
made up the Inca Upper
Class.
 Sons of upper class
families went to school in
Cuzco.
 They studied Quechua,
religion, history, and law
to prepare for their lives
as government or
religious officials.
Lived in stone
houses and wore
the best clothes.
They didn’t have to
pay the labor tax,
and often had
servants
 Most Incas were farmers, artisans,
or servants.
 There were no slaves in Inca
society
 Farmed on government lands,
served in the army, worked in
mines, and built roads.
 Most children did not go to school,
but some young girls did go to
school to learn weaving, cooking,
and religion.
 Lived outside of Cuzco in small
houses.
 By law, they had to wear plain
clothes, also, they couldn’t own
more goods then they needed.
 Had an official religion
which was taught to all
conquered peoples.
 But the people could still
worship their own gods
too.
 The sun god was the most
important in the Inca
religion.
 Kings were believed to
be related to the sun
god.
Priests brought
mummies of former
kings to many
ceremonies.
People gave these
mummies food and
gifts.
- Ceremonies often
included sacrifice, but
not humans, usually
llamas, cloth, or food.
 Massive buildings and forts
made of huge, stone blocks.
 Workers cut the blocks so
precisely that they didn’t have
to use cement to hold them
together.
 Even today, nearly impossible
to fit a knife blade between
the stones.
 Also, built a system of very
good roads
 Had two major highways that
ran the length of the empire
Made gold and
silver jewelry
Best textiles in
the Americas
No written
records
All stories passed
down orally
through stories
and songs.
Take out a pencil or
pen, binder paper,
and your progress
reports
Put everything else
away and wait for
instruction from
Mr. Baptista.
Take out any
progress reports
not turned in yet.
Wait to be told
when to begin your
projects by Mr.
Baptista