Major Pre-Columbian
Civilizations
Lands of the
Aztecs
Ruins of the City Center,
Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of
the Americas
Aztec Chinampa or
Floating Garden:
15ft. to 30ft. wide
Tenochtitlan - Chinampas
Aztec Writing
Aztec Math
Aztec Sun Stone -Calendar
Aztec Sun Motifs
The Aztecs
Were
Fierce
Warriors
Aztecs Sacrifice
Neighboring Tribes to the
Sun God
Heart Sacrifice
on an Aztec Temple
Pyramid
Sacrificial Statue,
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Gold
Lands of the Incas
Cuzco: Ancient Capital of the
Inca
(11,000 ft. above sea level)
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Incan Suspension
Bridges
Incan Terrace Farming
Maize in Incan Pottery
& Gold Work
Over 100 Different Types of
Potatoes Cultivated
by the Incans
Produce from a Typical
Incan Market
Incan Ceramic Jars
Peanut
Cacao God
Potato
Squash
Cacao Pod
Incan Mummies
Inca Gold & Silver
Pictures of the day
Demotivators
from despair.com
T he First Spanish Conquests:
T he Aztecs
vs.
Fernando Cortez
Montezuma II
The Aztecs
• 5,000,000-10,000,000 people
• 500 cities
• Capital city of Tenochtitolan
(200,000-300,000 people)
• Citizens paid taxes, had police
force, education system
• Advanced system of irrigation
• Human sacrifices
Conquest of the Aztecs
• Cortes arrives in Mexico in February, 1519
• He immediately allied with the Tlaxcalan tribemain rivals of the Aztecs
• By November of 1519, Cortes had reached
Tenochtitlan where he was welcomed by
Moctezuma and even allowed to stay with him at
the palace
• At this point Moctezuma is taken prisoner by the
Spaniards and held for a huge ransom in gold
• Cortes then has to go fight another Spanish sent
to arrest him for treason- when he returns he finds
the Aztecs in full revolt
• Cortes orders Moctezuma to speak to Aztecs who
proceed to throw stones at him
T he Death of Montezuma II- 1520
Accounts vary as to how
Conquest of the Aztecs
• Moctezuma dies from his injuries (supposedly)
• Spanish are forced to flee at this point but they
grab all the gold they can carry
• Over 600 Spaniards and thousands of Indian allies
are killed in the escape- weighed down by gold
• Early 1521, Cortes returns and surrounds
Tenochtitlan and lays siege for 8 months.
• Smallpox rages through the city as well (at least
1/3 of the population died in 6 months)
• August, 1521- the Aztecs surrender
Aztec Surrender to Cortez1521
T he First Spanish Conquests:
T he Incas
vs.
Francisco Pizarro
Atahualpa
T he First Spanish Conquests:
T he Incas
•Pizarro landed with 180 men in January 1531 with the goal
of conquering the Inca Empire
•First met Atahualpa and demanded that he convert to
Christianity or be considered an enemy of the Church and of
Spain- Atahualpa refused
•Atahualpa was then captured and held ransom, put on trial
and found guilty of revolting against Spain- sentenced to be
burned
•He converted to Catholicism and was “only” strangled
instead
•In subsequent battles, Spanish cannons and cavalry proved
far superior to Incan strategies and defeat came quickly
Inca
Empire by
1525
Conquered
in 1533
Treasures
from the Americas!
Odd Picture #1
explorers
Cycle of Conquest &
Colonization
Explorers
Official
European
Colony!
EFFECTS
•Europeans reach and settle Americas
•Expanded knowledge of world geography
•Growth of trade, mercantilism and
capitalism
•Indian conflicts over land and impact of
disease on Indian populations
•Introduction of the institution of slavery
•Columbian Exchange
T he “Columbian Exchange”

Squash

Avocado

Peppers

Sweet Potatoes

Turkey

Pumpkin

Tobacco

Quinine

Cocoa

Pineapple

Cassava

POTATO

Peanut

TOMATO

Vanilla

MAIZE

Syphilis

Trinkets

Liquor

GUNS

Olive

COFFEE BEAN

Banana

Rice

Onion

Turnip

Honeybee

Barley

Grape

Peach

SUGAR CANE

Oats

Citrus Fruits

Pear

Wheat

HORSE

Cattle

Sheep

Pigs

Smallpox

Flu

Typhus

Measles

Malaria

Diptheria

Whooping Cough
T he Slave Trade
1. Existed in Africa before the coming
of the Europeans.
2. Portuguese replaced European slaves
with Africans.
Sugar cane & sugar plantations.
First boatload of African slaves
brought by the Spanish in 1518.
275,000 enslaved Africans exported
to other countries.
3. Between 16c & 19c, about 10 million
Africans shipped to the Americas.
Atlantic Slave Trade
“Coffin” Position Below Deck
Slave Ship
“Middle Passage”
A frican Captives
T hrown Overboard
Sharks followed the slave ships!
European
European
Colonization
Colonization
• Once the New World is discovered, the
Big 4 four European countries begin
competing for control of North America
and the world….
– Spain
– England
– France
– Portugal
• This power struggle ultimately leads to
several wars.
European Empires in the Americas
Ferdinand Magellan & the
First Circumnavigation of the
World
Spanish empire by
the 1600’s
consisted of the



part of North
America
Central America
Caribbean Islands

Much of South
America.
Odd picture #2
• Dogs born with only 2 legs
• Or, as we know them….Dogaroos!
T he Colonial Class System
Peninsulares
Creoles
(Born in Spain
but live in New
World)
(Spanish
descentborn in new
world)
Mestizos
Mulattos
(one white
parent and
one Indian
parent)
(one white
parent and
one black
parent)
Native Indians
Black Slaves
1. Spanish practice of securing an adequate and cheap
labor supply = FEUDALISM
•Natives “granted” to deserving subjects of the King
(usually conquistadores or soldiers)
2. Conquistadors controlled Indian populations
•Required Indians to pay tribute from their lands
•Indians often rendered personal services as well.
3. In return the conquistador was obligated to
•protect his wards
•instruct them in the Christian faith
•defend their right to use and live off the land
4. Encomienda system eventually decimated Indian
population.
5. The King prevented the encomienda with the New Laws
(1542) supported by de Las Casas, the system gradually
died out.
Father Bartolomé de Las Casas
•Believed Native
Americans had been
treated harshly by
the Spanish.
•Indians could be
educated and
converted to
Christianized.
•Believed Indian
culture was
advanced as
European but in
different ways.
► New Laws --> 1542- ended the
encomienda system
New Colonial Rivals
Impact of European Expansion
1. Native populations ravaged by
disease.
2. Influx of gold, and especially
silver, into Europe created an
inflationary economic climate.
[“Price Revolution”]
3. New products introduced across
the continents [“Columbian
Exchange”].
4. Deepened colonial rivalries.
5. New Patterns of World Trade