Chapter 1 – The Americas
Summary of Chapter 1
• Culture and early
life of Americans
similar to
Mesopotamia,
Indus River,
Egypt, Huang He
• Reliance upon
water
• Geography &
climate enable
Americans to
build a civilization
Sioux Warrior Shirt
Summary of Chapter 1
• The early inhabitants of the
Americas probably traveled
from Asia across a Bering
Strait land bridge produced by
the Ice Age.
• The Inuit, Iroquois, Hopewell,
Plains Indians, and Anasazi
were major North American
groups.
• The Mayan, Aztec, and
Incan civilizations
developed and administered
complex societies.
The Grand Council
• The Iroquois League
was as model for
British colonies.
• Ben Franklin used the
Iroquois League as an
example for American
democracy.
• The men were hunters and
warriors.
• The women owned the
longhouses, and
harvested the crops– corn,
beans, and squash, called
the “three sisters.”
The Great Peace = Alliance of the 5
groups of Iroquois
Principles of Great Peace:
1. do not act on self-interest
2. act for the welfare of the
whole
3. act with the good of future
generations in mind
Iroquois lived in Longhouses:
North American Natives
• In North America, these
early inhabitants
included the Inuit
people near the Arctic
Circle
• The Hopewell peoples
of the Ohio River valley,
known as “The
Moundbuilders”
• The Great Plains
Indians lived in teepees
Video: Mystery of the Anasazi – The Ancient Ones – SW America –
Disappeared suddenly
MesoAmericans
• Name for areas of Mexico
and Central America that
were civilized before the
Spaniards arrived.
• Major civilizations were
the Aztecs, Mayans, and
Incas
• Most advanced
civilizations of ancient
Americas
The Aztecs
• The Aztecs develop
into an empire that
could have rivaled
Rome.
• Floating city, pyramids,
& aqueducts
• Teotihuacán [TAY oh wuh KAHN]
(“Place of the Gods”)
was Mesoamerica’s
first major city.
Located near where Mexico City is today
200,000 inhabitants
200 ft tall Pyramids
Aztec Turquoise Mosaic Serpent
Maximum extent of the Aztec Empire
The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican
settlement planned according to concepts of directionality. Their concepts of
space and time are associated with the four cardinal compass points and
linked together by the calendar
A view of the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan which
flourished from 200 AD to 600 AD, and which is the site of
the second largest pyramid in the Americas
The Aztecs – The Rome of the Americas
The Mayans
• They developed an
agriculturally intensive,
city-centered empire
consisting of numerous
independent citystates.
• The Mayans
collapsed suddenly
• There is no universally
accepted theory to
explain this collapse.
What Happened to the Mayans?
Engineering an Empire - Maya
Incas
• Located on western
coast of S. America
• Became an empire
under the leadership
of Pachacuti –
created highly
centralized govt.
• A system of roads
that extended 24,800
miles
Incan Empire
• No writing system, kept
records on quipu – a series
of strings and knots
• Like all the MesoAmerican
civilizations, the Incas were
no match for the Spanish
Conquistadors and their
steel weapons,
gunpowder, and horses.
• Disease also plays a large
role in the downfall of Native
American civilizations after
contact with Europeans