I.
Early Americans (pages 140-141)
A.
The Americas stretch about nine thousand miles from the Arctic Ocean in the
north to Cape Horn at the tip of South America. Ice-covered lands, dense forests,
river valleys ideal for hunting and farming, coastlines for fishing, tropical forests,
and deserts are all part of the Americas.
B.
Between 100,000 and 8,000 years ago, the last Ice Age left a land bridge between
Asia and North America in the Bering Strait. Hunters and gatherers in pursuit of
herds of bison and caribou probably crossed the bridge as the glaciers receded.
These people became the first Americans.
C.
Inuits, Mound Builders, Anasazi, Plains Amerindians, and Iroquois all developed
their own societies in North America. These societies were shaped by the unique
environments faced by the different peoples.
Discussion Question
How do we know about the early peoples of North America? (Archaeologists and
anthropologists developed theories about them based on finding artifacts, fossils, and
other remnants of the past.)
II.
The Maya and Toltec (pages 141-142)
A.
Mesoamerica is the name for areas of Mexico and Central America that were
civilized before the Spanish arrived. The Olmec civilization began around 1200
B.C. in the hot, swampy lowlands on the coast south of Veracruz, Mexico. Olmec
peoples farmed the area's muddy riverbanks and built large cities that were
centers of religious rituals. The Olmec civilization collapsed around 400 B.C.
B.
The Mayan civilization on the Yucatán Peninsula flourished between A.D. 300
and 900. The Maya were a sophisticated people who built temples and pyramids,
and developed a complicated calendar.
C.
Mayan cities were built around a central pyramid topped with a temple to the
gods. Cities also included temples, palaces, and sacred ball courts. Urban centers
such as Tikal may have had a hundred thousand inhabitants.
D. Mayan civilization was composed of city-states governed by a hereditary ruling
class. The states warred with each other. Captured soldiers were enslaved.
Captured nobles and war leaders were used for human sacrifice.
E. Mayan rulers claimed to be descended from the gods. The Mayan rulers were
helped by nobles and a class of scribes who may have also been priests. Mayan
society also had townspeople who were artisans, officials, and merchants. Most
Mayans were peasant farmers.
F. The Mayans created a writing system based on hieroglyphs, or pictures. Scholars
eventually discovered that many of the writings recorded dates in the Mayan
calendar known as the Long Count. The Long Count was based on a belief in
cycles of creation and destruction. Mayans believed our present world was created
in 3114 B.C. and would end on December 23, A.D. 2012.
G. The Mayan civilization eventually declined. Invasion, internal revolt, natural
disaster, or an overuse of land that led to reduced crop yields may have caused the
decline. Abandoned Mayan cities were not discovered until the 1800s and 1900s.
H. The Toltec Empire had its center at Tula near present-day Mexico. The Toltec
were a fierce and warlike people who conquered the Mayan lands of Guatemala
and northern Yucatán. They built pyramids and palaces and controlled the upper
Yucatán Peninsula from their capital at Chichén Itzá. Their civilization declined
around A.D. 1200.
Discussion Question
What other culture that you have read about also developed a hieroglyphic system of writing?
(The Egyptians used a hieroglyphic writing system.)
III.
The Aztec (pages 142-143)
A.
Sometime during the twelfth century A.D., the Aztec began a long migration to
the Valley of Mexico. They established their capital at Tenochtitlán in an island
in the middle of Lake Texcoco, where Mexico City is now.
B.
They built a magnificent city of temples, public buildings, and roadways linking
the islands to the mainland. They also consolidated their rule over much of what
is modern Mexico.
C.
By 1500 up to four million Aztec lived in and around the Valley of Mexico.
Power was in the hands of the king, who claimed descent from the gods. At the
center of the capital city of Tenochtitlán was a pyramid dedicated to
Huitzilopochtli, god of the sun. A platform at the top of the pyramid was used for
human sacrifices.
D. In 1519 a Spanish force under the command of Hernán Cortés landed at
Veracruz and marched to Tenochtitlán. Cortés had only 550 soldiers and 16
horses. The Aztec monarch Montezuma (Moctezuma) gave the Spanish gifts of
gold.
E. Tensions eventually arose between the Spanish and the Aztec. By 1520, the
Spanish forces had destroyed the city of Tenochtitlán.
Discussion Question
What does it say about the Spanish that they destroyed so much of the native culture in the
American lands that they conquered? (Answers will vary. Accept relevant, thoughtful answers.
One possible answer is that their Catholicism made the Spanish believe they were helping the
Native Americans. Another is that dogmatism made them arrogant.)
IV.
The Inca (pages 143-144)
A.
The Incan civilization flourished in South America in the fifteenth century. In the
1440s the Inca, under the leadership of the ruler Pachacuti, began to expand their
lands.
B.
Eventually the Incan Empire extended as far as Ecuador, central Chile, and the
edge of the Amazon basin. The empire included up to twelve million people. The
emperor was at the top of the system. The people believed the emperor was a
descendant of Inti, the son god.
C.
The Incan state was built on war. All young men had to serve in the army, which
numbered two hundred thousand. The Incan army was the largest and best armed
in the region.
D.
The Inca built 24,800 miles of roads. Two major north-south highways extended
through the Andes and along the coast. These roads had connecting roads between
them.
E.
The first Spanish expeditions arrived in the central Andes in 1530 under the
command of Francisco Pizarro. Though he had only a small band of about 180
men, Pizarro had some things that the Inca did not: steel weapons, gunpowder,
and horses.
F.
The Incan Empire experienced a smallpox epidemic. Like the Aztec, the Inca
were not immune to European diseases. Smallpox destroyed villages and killed
the emperor. Armed with stones, arrows, and light spears, the Inca could not
defeat the Spanish who had horses, guns, and cannons.
G. Pizarro captured the capital Cuzco with the help of Incan allies. By 1535 Pizarro
had established a new capital at Lima for a new colony of the Spanish Empire.
Discussion Question
Why would some Incas ally with Pizarro against the Incan Empire? (Answers will vary. Accept
relevant, thoughtful answers. Some possibilities are resentment against the rulers, promises of
power, and promises of riches.)