Chapter 16:
Peoples and Empires in
Atahualpa
the Americas, 9001500
(pp. 391 - 411)
Diverse Societies of North America:
• Northwest Coast Indians
• Pueblo People: Hohokam (AZ), Anasazi (UT, AZ, CO,
NM),
• Mound Builders: Mississippian, mounds can be
found in Cahokia, IL
• Woodlands: Iroquois, Algonquian, Muskogean;
Iroquois League was made up of Mohawk, Oneida,
Onondaga, Cyuga, and the Seneca from upper NY
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
The Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations dominated
regions of Central and South America from
about 1200 B.C. through the 1500’s.
These civilizations were advanced in technology,
trade, language, and social organization.
All three empires eventually fell to the Spanish
conquistadors.
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Mayan Civilization
stretched from
southern Mexico
into Northern
Central America
including the
Yucatan
Peninsula.
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
The period from A. D. 250 – 900 is known as the
Classical Period of Mayan Civilization
 City-states
 Ruled
by a god-king
 Centers of trade and
religious ceremonies
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Mayan Cities
•Giant Pyramids
•Temples
•Palaces
•Stone Carvings
•Residential Areas
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Agriculture and Trade
 City-states linked through
trade & alliances
 Large variety of crops
 Slash-and-burn
 Planted raised beds
 Practiced hillside terracing
 Sufficient food and surplus
for trade
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Architecture
 Elaborate Pyramids
 Tikal
Pyramids were the tallest structures in the
Americas until 1903.
 Temples were constructed in every city
 Ball courts for Mayan games that had religious and
political significance. They believed playing the
game would maintain the cycle of the sun and
moon and bring needed rain.
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS

Mayan Religion
 Influenced
 Believed
every aspect of life
gods inhabited 13 layers of the sky and 9 layers
of the underworld
 Gods represented various aspects of life
 Gods could be evil or good or both
 Worship consisted of prayer, offerings including blood
offerings, and human sacrifice believing that human
sacrifice was pleasing to the gods and kept the world in
balance.
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Mayan Contributions
 Calendar – 260 day
religious calendar and a
365 day solar calendar –
365.2420 day
 Based
on observation of
the planets, sun, and
moon. Both calendars
could be cross referenced
for specific days
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Mayan Contributions
 Advanced system of
writing
 800
hieroglyphic symbols
 Some symbols stand for
words, others represent
syllables.
 Kept records of important
historical events
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Decline of Mayan Civilization
 800s many Mayan cities were
abandoned
 Invaders from Toltec moved into
Mayan lands
Infighting among the Mayan city-states
 Many fled to the jungles
 Trade was disrupted
 Over farming, food shortages, famine,
and disease
 By the time the Spaniards arrived the
civilization had been greatly weakened.

EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Aztec Empire
Considered the greatest
empire in Mesoamerica
Powerful cities established
as early as the 6th century.
Two powerful groups
inhabited the region prior to
the arrival of the Aztec.
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS

Toltec Civilization
 Ruled
the region for about 300 years
 Built pyramids and temples
 Extremely warlike
 Warlike people whose empire was based on
conquest
 Worshipped war gods who demanded human
sacrifice
 Trade spread all through Mesoamerica
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Aztec Empire
 By 1200 Aztec occupied the Valley of Mexico
 Established the city of Tenochtitlan
 Formed a Triple Alliance with other strong cities
 Conquered and established and empire with a
population of between 5 and 15 million
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS

Religion of the Aztec
 Played
a major role in Aztec society
 Many gods adopted from other Mesoamericans
 Public
ceremonies designed to please and win the favor of
the gods
 Believed that the god of the sun made it rise only if he was
nourished with human blood
 Thousands of victims were sacrificed on the alter of the
Great Temple where the priest carved out the beating heart
 Most of those sacrificed were captives of war
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Aztec Empire
 Loose control over the empire
 Demanded tribute, those failing to pay were
punished severely
 Empire ruled by military leaders, priests, and
government officials, making the noble class
 Other social divisions included commoners and
slaves. Merchants held a place of high position
among the commoners
 Trade brought great wealth and power to the Aztec
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Problems for the Aztec
 Montezuma II, Aztec emperor allowed the
empire to weaken
 Demanded
more tribute and taxes
 Resentment grew within the empire
 The Spanish explorers/conquistadors arrived to
challenge and eventually take the land of the Aztec
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Inca Empire



First settled in the Cuzco Valley
Believed the Inca ruler was a
descended from the sun god
They worshipped dead rulers who
were preserved as mummies. The
dead kept their wealth so each
ruler had to acquire his own wealth.
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Inca Government






Good organization and administration
Government bureaucracy to manage the empire
Had a common language
Built an extensive network of roads – promoted good
communication
No writing system but kept records through a system
of knotted strings
Developed an elaborate calendar system
EMPIRES OF THE AMERICAS
Inca Religion


Worshipped fewer gods that Aztec & Maya
Focused on the spirits of nature,
especially the sun, since the ruler
was believed to have come from the
sun god.
Inca Fall
After civil war and leadership disputes,
the empire fell to Pizarro, a Spanish
conquistador.