The Americas 400–1500 Key Events As you read this chapter, look for the key events in the history of the Americas. • The early inhabitants of the Americas probably traveled from Asia across a Bering Strait land bridge produced by the Ice Age. • The Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations developed and administered complex societies. • Diseases that Europeans brought to the Americas contributed to the downfall of several cultures. The Impact Today The events that occurred during this time period still impact our lives today. • The Anasazi culture and the Anasazi’s descendants influenced adobe dwellings and handcrafted pottery made today in the southwestern United States. • The Iroquois League was a model for the British colonies. • As in the Incan Empire, compulsory military service has been used in the United States and is used in other countries of the world.
World History Video The Chapter 11 video, “Mesoamerican Civiliza- tions,” chronicles the development of cultures and societies in the Americas.
1200 B.C. 10,000 B.C. Organized People migrate societies begin c. 900 B.C. from Asia to North in Central and Moche culture and South America South America thrives
10,000 B.C. 5,000 B.C. 2,500 B.C. 1500 B.C. 500 B.C.
1000 B.C. 400 B.C. Farming Olmec villages appear civilization in Eastern declines Woodlands Olmec ceremonial ax of jade
344 Art or Photo here
Archaeologists study the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Dos Pilas in northern Guatemala.
Mississippian burial mound c. A.D. 500 c. A.D. 800 HISTORY Anasazi Mayan c. A.D. 1000 A.D. 1519 society civilization Cahokia Cortés lands established declines flourishes at Veracruz Chapter Overview Visit the Glencoe World History Web site at wh.glencoe.com and click A.D. 600 A.D. 800 A.D. 1000 A.D. 1200 A.D. 1400 A.D. 1600 on Chapter 11–Chapter Overview to preview chapter information. A.D. 1200 A.D. 1531 A.D. 1535 Aztec migrate Pizarro Pizarro to the Valley arrives in establishes of Mexico central Andes capital in Lima
Anasazi pottery with bird motif
345 Mask of an Aztec god Two Cultures Collide ernal Díaz, who accompanied Hernán Cortés on a Span- Why It Matters ish expedition to Mexico in 1519, could not believe his The first organized societies had Beyes when he saw the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán in central begun to take root in Mexico and Mexico: Central America by 1200 B.C.One key area of development was on the “When we beheld so many cities and towns on the water, and plateau of central Mexico. Another other large settlements built on firm ground, and that broad cause- was in the lowland regions along way running so straight and perfectly level to the city of Tenochti- the Gulf of Mexico and extending tlán, we were astonished because of the great stone towers and into modern-day Guatemala. Civi- temples and buildings that rose up out of the water. lizations also thrived in the central ” Andes. Other societies were emerg- To some of the soldiers accompanying Cortés, “All these ing in the river valleys and great things seemed to be a dream.” plains of North America. The Aztec were equally astonished, but for quite different reasons. One wrote, “They [the Spanish] came in battle array, History and You Using the as conquerors, and the dust rose in whirlwinds on the roads, Internet and traditional print sources, research the cities, innova- their spears glinted in the sun, and their flags fluttered like tions, and cultural contributions of bats. Some of them were dressed in glistening iron from head the Aztec, Mayan, and Incan civiliza- to foot; they terrified everyone who saw them.” tions. Create a database that shows Within a short time, the Spanish had destroyed the Aztec both the similarities and the differ- Empire. Díaz remarked, “I thought that no land like it would ences among the three. ever be discovered in the whole world. But today all that I then saw is overthrown and destroyed; nothing is left standing.”
346 The Peoples of North America
Guide to Reading Main Ideas People to Identify Reading Strategy • The first inhabitants of the Americas Inuit, Hopewell, Iroquois, Plains Indians, Summarizing Information As you read were hunters and gatherers, while later Anasazi this section, complete a separate chart for inhabitants also practiced farming. each of the five major peoples discussed • Because of the great variety of climate Places to Locate in this section. Identify the characteristics and geographic features, many different Amazon, Bering Strait, Gulf of Mexico, listed below for each group. cultures emerged in the Americas. Cahokia, Mesa Verde Preview Questions People Key Terms Region longhouse, clan, tepee, adobe, pueblo 1. Who were the first inhabitants of the Americas? Types of food 2. What archaeological evidence remains Shelter Preview of Events of the Anasazi culture? ✦400 ✦500 ✦600 ✦700 ✦800 ✦900 ✦1000
c. A.D. 500 A.D. 700 c. A.D. 850 Anasazi begin Mississippian culture Cahokia is established farming societies prospers as seat of government
Voices from the Past
One Sioux sacred woman said: All of this creation is sacred, and so do not forget. Every dawn as it comes is a holy“ event, and every day is holy, for the light comes from your Father Wakan-Tanka, and also you must always remember that the two-leggeds and all the other peoples who stand upon this earth are sacred and should be treated as such.” A Native Amer- ican song says, “The whole Southwest was a House Made of Dawn. It was made of pollen and of rain. The land was old and everlasting. There were many colors on the hills and on the plain, and there was a dark wilderness on the mountains beyond. The land was tilled and strong and it was beautiful all around.” Sioux warrior shirt with —The Native Americans: An Illustrated History, beads and fringe Betty and Ian Ballantine, eds.,1993 As these words illustrate, the first peoples who inhabited North America had great respect for the earth and its creatures. The Lands of the Americas The Americas make up an enormous land area, stretching about nine thousand miles (more than fourteen thousand km) from the Arctic Ocean in the north to Cape Horn at the tip of South America. Over this vast area are many different landscapes: ice-covered lands, dense forests, fertile river valleys ideal for hunting and farming, coastlines for fishing, lush tropical forests, and hot deserts.
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 347 Along the western side of the Americas are two With a variety of harpoons and spears made from major mountain ranges: the Rocky Mountains in antler or narwhal tusk, the Inuit became skilled at North America and the Andes in South America. hunting seal, caribou, and fish, which provided them Lower ranges, the Appalachian Mountains in North with both food and clothing. In winter, the Inuit built America and the Brazilian Highlands in South Amer- homes of stones and turf. The traditional igloo, made ica, run along the eastern coasts. Between the moun- out of cut blocks of hard-packed snow, was only a tains of the western and eastern coasts are broad temporary shelter used during traveling. valleys with rich farmland. Through the valleys run great rivers, such as the Mississippi in North Amer- Eastern Woodlands: The Mound Builders ica and the Amazon in South America. Around 1000 B.C., farming villages appeared in the Eastern Woodlands, the land in eastern North Reading Check Identifying What different kinds of America from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. landscapes are found throughout North and South America? People here grew crops but also continued to gather wild plants for food. Best known are the Hopewell The First Americans peoples in the Ohio River valley, who extended their culture along the Mississippi River. The Hopewell As you will read in the following peoples, also known as the Mound Builders, are section, people gradually spread throughout the North especially known for the elaborate earth mounds that American continent. By 10,000 B.C., people had reached they built. Mounds were used as tombs or for cere- almost as far as the southern tip of South America. monies. Some were built in the shape of animals. Between 100,000 and 8,000 years ago, the last Ice A shift to full-time farming around A.D. 700 led to Age produced low sea levels that in turn created a a prosperous culture that was located in the Missis- land bridge in the Bering Strait between the Asian sippi River valley from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and North American down to the Gulf of Mexico. Among the most com- continents. Many schol- Chukchi monly grown crops of this Mississippian culture
Sea t ars believe that small i were corn, squash, and beans, grown together to pro- a
r t communities of people RUSSIA S vide plants with nutrients, support, and shade. g Alaska in from Asia crossed this er B Cities began to appear, some of them containing land bridge. Most likely, Bering ten thousand people or more. At the site of Cahokia, they were hunters who Sea near the modern city of East St. Louis, Illinois, were pursuing the herds archaeologists found a burial mound over 98 feet of bison and caribou that moved in search of grazing (30 m) high with a base larger than that of the Great land into North America as the glaciers receded. These Pyramid in Egypt. Between A.D. 850 and A.D. 1150, a people became the first Americans. Scholars do not flourishing Cahokia was the seat of government for agree on exactly when human beings first began living much of the Mississippian culture. In the thirteenth in the Americas. They do know, however, that these century, for reasons unknown, Cahokia collapsed. first Americans were hunters and food gatherers.
Reading Check Summarizing According to scholars, Eastern Woodlands: The Iroquois To the north- why did hunters cross the land bridge into North America? east of the Mississippian culture were peoples known as the Iroquois. The Iroquois lived in villages that con- sisted of longhouses surrounded by a wooden fence The Peoples of North America for protection. Each longhouse, built of wooden poles North America is a large continent with varying covered with sheets of bark, was 150 to 200 feet (46 to climates and geographical features. These different 61 m) in length and housed about a dozen families. geographical areas became home to various peoples. Iroquois men hunted deer, bear, caribou, and small animals like rabbits and beaver. They were also war- Arctic and Northwest: The Inuit About 3000 B.C., riors who protected the community. Women owned a group of people called the Inuit moved into North the dwellings, gathered wild plants, planted the America from Asia. They had to learn unique ways to seeds, and harvested the crops, the most important of survive in such a cold and harsh environment. Most which were the “three sisters”—corn, beans, and Inuit settled along the coasts of the tundra region, the squash. In addition, women cooked, made baskets, treeless land south of the Arctic. and took care of the children.
348 CHAPTER 11 The Americas Wars were common, especially among groups of firmness shall be tempered with a tenderness for Iroquois who lived in much of present-day Pennsyl- their people. Neither anger nor fury shall find lodg- vania, New York, and parts of southern Canada. Leg- ing in their minds, and all their words and actions end holds that sometime during the 1500s, the shall be marked by calm deliberation.” Iroquois peoples seemed about to be torn apart by The Grand Council, an experiment in democracy, warfare. Deganawida, an elder of one of the Iroquois brought the Iroquois a new way to deal with their groups, appeared and preached the need for peace. problems. Some scholars believe that in 1754, Ben- One who listened was Hiawatha, a member of the jamin Franklin used the Iroquois League as a model Onondaga group. for a Plan of Union for the British colonies. From the combined efforts of Deganawida and Hiawatha came the Great Peace, which created an Peoples of the Great Plains West of the Missis- alliance of five groups called the Iroquois League. sippi River basin, the Plains Indians cultivated beans, One of the 13 laws of the Great Peace made clear its corn, and squash along the river valleys of the eastern purpose: “In all of your acts, self-interest shall be cast Great Plains. Every summer, the men left their vil- away. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole lages to hunt buffalo, a very important animal to the people, and have always in view . . . the unborn of Plains culture. Hunters worked together to frighten a the future Nation.” herd of buffalo, causing them to stampede over a cliff. A council of representatives (a group of 50 Iro- The buffalo served many uses for Plains peoples. quois leaders) known as the Grand Council met The people ate the meat, used the skins for clothing, regularly to settle differences among league mem- and made tools from the bones. By stretching buffalo bers. Representatives were chosen in a special fash- skins over wooden poles, they made circular tents ion. Each Iroquois group was made up of clans, called tepees. Tepees provided excellent shelter; they groups of related families. The women of each clan were warm in winter and cool in summer. singled out a well-respected woman as the clan mother. The clan mothers, in turn, chose the male Peoples of the Southwest: The Anasazi The members of the Grand Council. Southwest covers the territory of present-day New Much was expected of these men: “With end- Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Conditions less patience, they shall carry out their duty. Their are dry, but there is sufficient rain in some areas for
Cultures of North America, 4000 B.C.–A.D. 1500
Arctic INUIT OCEaN ° °N 180 0 INUIT 6 20°W PaCIFIC INUIT OCEaN The different geographical INUIT areas of North America N became home to a variety of Hudson INUIT E Bay W peoples. R S 40°W 160°W o c 1. Applying Geography ° k °N 140 W 0 Culture areas: y 4 Skills What conclusions
M Great Arctic (Tundra) M Lakes ATLaNTIC can you draw about the t i s . s s Cayuga California/Great si HURON t similarities and differences . ss OCEaN Basin/Plateau i M Mohawk p p IROQUOIS Oneida Eastern Woodlands/ R. i in the lifestyles of the first o R HOPEWELL n Onondaga ad a Southeast or . i Col Mesa Verde Cahokia h Seneca Americans? Identify the R. c Great Plains ANASAZI o a hi l Chaco Canyon O a major geographical fac- Pueblo p MISSISSIPPIAN p 0 1,000 miles Northwest Coast Bonito R A io tors that would have most G Moundville ra 0 1,000 kilometers Southwest nd HOPEWELL e Lambert Azimuthal °N influenced the lives of 0 ° Equal-Area projection 2 Subarctic 120 W Gulf of these different peoples. Mexico ° ° 100°W 80 W60W
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 349 History through Architecture Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park farming. The Anasazi peoples established an exten- The group of buildings shown here once housed as sive farming society there. many as 400 people. Why do you think the Anasazi Between A.D. 500 and 1200, the Anasazi used built their homes in such inaccessible sites? canals and earthen dams to turn parts of the desert into fertile gardens. They were skilled at making bas- kets and beautifully crafted pottery. They used stone The Anasazi culture itself did not die. To the north, and adobe (sun-dried brick) to build pueblos, multi- in southern Colorado, a large community had storied structures that could house many people. formed at Mesa Verde (today a United States At Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico, national park). Groups of Anasazi there built a they built an elaborate center for their civilization. At remarkable series of buildings in the recesses of the heart of Chaco Canyon was Pueblo Bonito, a the cliff walls. However, a prolonged drought in the large complex that contained some eight hundred late thirteenth century led to the abandonment of rooms housing more than a thousand people. This Mesa Verde. flourishing center, however, could not survive a 50-year series of droughts, which led the Anasazi to Reading Check Examining What caused the Missis- abandon it. sippian culture to prosper? What was the result?
Checking for Understanding Critical Thinking Analyzing Visuals 1. Define longhouse, clan, tepee, adobe, 6. Evaluate The Iroquois League is con- 8. Examine the photograph of the pueblo. sidered “an experiment in democracy.” Anasazi ruins shown on this page. From What do you think this means? this photograph, what conclusions can 2. Identify Inuit, Hopewell, Iroquois, you draw about the daily life of the Plains Indians, Anasazi. Use a 7. Summarizing Information people who lived at this site? 3. Locate Amazon, Bering Strait, Gulf of graphic organizer like the one below to Mexico, Cahokia, Mesa Verde. highlight features of Anasazi culture. 4. Describe how settling in the tundra 9. Expository Writing Identify the affected Inuit lifestyles. leadership roles that women took in 5. List the major sources of food for the Anasazi Culture the Iroquois society and compare Plains Indians. Also list the many differ- those roles with women’s roles in ent ways in which the Plains peoples American society today. Write a one- made use of the buffalo. page comparison after doing your research.
350 CHAPTER 11 The Americas Analyzing Primary and Secondary Sources Why Learn This Skill? Practicing the Skill Suppose for a moment that a devastating tor- Read the following excerpts and answer the nado has struck a nearby town. On television that questions: night, you watch an interview with an eyewitness. The eyewitness begins to cry as she describes the “Finally the two groups met. . . . When all was destruction of her own home and neighborhood. ready Montezuma placed his feet, shod in gold-soled, The next day, you read a newspaper account that gem-studded sandals, on the carpeted pavement describes the tornado’s path. Is one of these and... advanced to an encounter that would shape accounts of the same event more accurate than both his own destiny and that of his nation. . . . the other? Montezuma had servants bring forward two neck- laces of red shells hung with life-size shrimps made Learning the Skill of gold. These he placed around Cortés’s neck.” To determine the accuracy of an account, you —from Cortés by William Weber Johnson, 1975 must analyze its source. There are two main types of sources—primary and secondary. When we had arrived at a place not far from the Primary sources are produced by eyewitnesses to town,“ the monarch raised himself in his sedan. . . . events. Diaries, letters, autobiographies, interviews, Montezuma himself was sumptuously attired, had artifacts, and paintings are primary sources. Because on a species of half boot, richly set with jewels, primary sources convey personal experiences, they and whose soles were made of solid gold. . . . often include the emotions and opinions of partici- Montezuma came up to Cortés, and hung about pants in an event. his neck a chaste necklace of gold, most curiously Secondary sources use information gathered from worked with figures all representing crabs.” others. Newspapers, textbooks, and biographies are —from an account by Conquistador secondary sources. Secondary sources, written later, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, 1519 help us to understand events in a larger context or time frame. 1 What is the general topic of the two sources? To determine the reliability of a source, consider 2 Identify the primary source. the type of source you are using. For a primary 3 source, determine who the author is and when the Is one account more reliable than the other? material was written. An account written during or If so, why? How do you know? immediately after an event is often more reliable than one written years later. For a secondary source, Applying the Skill look for good documentation. Researchers should cite their sources in footnotes and bibliographies. Find two accounts of a recent event or a historical For both types of sources, you also need to evalu- event. Analyze the reliability of each. Be sure to docu- ate the author. Is this author biased? What back- ment how you reached your conclusions about the reli- ground and authority does he or she have? Finally, ability of the sources. compare two accounts of the same event. If they disagree, you should question the reliability of the Glencoe’s Skillbuilder Interactive Workbook, material and conduct further research to determine Level 2, provides instruction and practice in key which can be corroborated with other reliable social studies skills. sources.
351 Early Civilizations in Mesoamerica
Guide to Reading Main Ideas People to Identify Reading Strategy • Early Mesoamerican civilizations flour- Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, Hernán Summarizing Information Create a ished with fully-developed political, Cortés, Montezuma chart describing the characteristics of the religious, and social structures. Olmec, Mayan, Toltec, and Aztec cultures. • The Aztec state succumbed to diseases Places to Locate People brought by the Spanish. Teotihuacán, Yucatán Peninsula, Tikal, Chichén Itzá, Tenochtitlán, Lake Texcoco Location Key Terms Religion Mesoamerica, hieroglyph, tribute Preview Questions 1. What are the principal cultural devel- Architecture opments of Mayan civilization? Year/Reason Declined 2. What caused the Aztec to settle in Preview of Events Lake Texcoco? ✦300 ✦500 ✦700 ✦900 ✦1100 ✦1300 ✦1500
A.D. 300 A.D. 800 A.D. 1325 A.D. 1520 Mayan civilization Teotihuacán Aztec build Tenochtitlán Aztec begin begins collapses on Lake Texcoco decline Voices from the Past
Bernal Díaz, a Spaniard who arrived in Mexico in 1519, wrote: Let us begin with the dealers in gold, silver, and precious stones, feathers, cloaks, “and embroidered goods, and male and female slaves who are also sold [in the mar- kets]. . . . Next there were those who sold coarser cloth, and cotton goods and fabrics made of twisted thread, and there were chocolate merchants with their chocolate. In this way you could see every kind of merchandise to be found anywhere in Mexico, laid out in the same way as goods are laid out in my own district of Medina del Aztec turquoise mosaic serpent Campo, a center for fairs.” —The Conquest of New Spain, John M. Cohen, trans., 1975 Díaz described the city markets of the Aztec with amazement. He and other Spaniards were astonished to find that these markets were larger and better stocked than any markets in Spain.
The Olmec and Teotihuacán Signs of civilization in Mesoamerica—a name we use for areas of Mexico and Central America that were civilized before the Spaniards arrived—appeared around 1200 B.C. with the Olmec. Located in the hot and swampy lowlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico south of Veracruz, the Olmec peoples farmed along the muddy riverbanks in the area.
352 CHAPTER 11 The Americas The Olmec had large cities that were centers for The Maya and Toltec their religious rituals. One of these was La Venta, Far to the east of Teotihuacán, on the Yucatán which had a pyramid that towered above the city. Peninsula, another major civilization had arisen. The Olmec carved colossal stone heads, probably to This was the civilization of the Maya, which flour- represent their gods. Around 400 B.C., the Olmec civ- ished between A.D. 300 and 900. It was one of the ilization declined and eventually collapsed. most sophisticated civilizations in the Americas. The first major city in Mesoamerica was Teoti- The Maya built splendid temples and pyramids and huacán (TAY•oh•TEE•wuh•KAHN), or “Place of the developed a complicated calendar. Mayan civiliza- Gods.” This city was the capital of an early king- tion came to include much of Central America and dom that arose around 250 B.C. and collapsed about southern Mexico. A.D. 800. Most residents were farmers, but the city The Mayan civilization in the central Yucatán was also a busy trade center. Tools, weapons, pottery, Peninsula eventually began to decline. Explanations and jewelry were traded as far as North America. for the decline include invasion, internal revolt, or a Located near Mexico City in a fertile valley, Teoti- natural disaster such as a volcanic eruption. A more huacán had as many as 200,000 inhabitants at its recent theory is that overuse of the land led to height. Along its main thoroughfare, known as the reduced crop yields. Whatever the case, Mayan Avenue of the Dead, were temples and palaces. All cities were abandoned and covered by dense of them, however, were dominated by the massive jungle growth. They were not rediscovered until the Pyramid of the Sun, which rose in four tiers to a nineteenth and twentieth centuries. height of over 200 feet (60 m).
Reading Check Explaining What does the term Political and Social Structures Mayan cities were Mesoamerica mean, and who were some of the first inhabi- built around a central pyramid topped by a shrine to tants of Mesoamerica? the gods. Nearby were other temples, palaces, and a sacred ball court. Some scholars believe that urban Cultures of Mesoamerica, centers such as Tikal (in 900 B.C.–A.D. 1500 present-day Guatemala) may have had a hundred 100°W 95°W 90°W85°W N thousand inhabitants.
W E Gulf of Chich´en Itz´a Mayan civilization was Lake Mexico composed of city-states, S Texcoco Tula 20°N Teotihuac´an each governed by a heredi- Tenochtitl´an Tlaxcala Veracruz Yucat´an tary ruling class. These Valley Peninsula Mayan city-states were of Mexico Caribbean often at war with each La Venta Sea Palenque Tikal other. Ordinary soldiers who were captured in bat- tle became slaves. Cap-
15°N tured nobles and war PaCIFIC 0 300 miles leaders were used for Olmec heartland, OCEaN human sacrifice. 900 B.C. 0 300 kilometers Toltec heartland, Albers Conic Equal-Area projection Rulers of the Mayan A.D. 900 city-states claimed to Mayan civilization, A.D. 900 be descended from the Aztec civilization, gods. The Mayan rulers A.D. 1500 Mesoamerican civilizations developed in Mexico and Central were helped by nobles America. and a class of scribes 1. Interpreting Maps Which cultures developed in the who may also have been same heartland? priests. Mayan society 2. Applying Geography Skills Identify any pattern(s) you also included townspeople see in the locations of the different cities, and explain who were skilled artisans, why the pattern(s) may have developed. officials, and merchants.
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 353 The Deadly Games donned helmets, gloves, and of Central America knee and hip protectors made of hide to protect ayan cities contained ball courts. themselves against the MUsually, a court consisted of a hard rubber balls. rectangular space surrounded Because the stone rings by walls with highly were placed 27 feet decorated stone (more than 8 m) rings. The walls above the ground, it were covered with took considerable images of war and skill to score a goal. sacrificial victims. The contestants Some scholars tried to drive a solid rubber ball believe that making through these rings. Ball players, a goal was so rare usually two or three on a team, used their hips to propel the ball (they were not allowed to This Mayan athlete is shown use hands or feet). Players wearing protective padding.
Most of the Mayan people were peasant farmers. throne, war captives were tortured and then They lived on tiny plots or on terraced hills in the beheaded. In A.D. 790, one Mayan ruler took his highlands. There was a fairly clear-cut division of troops into battle to gain prisoners for a celebration labor. Men did the fighting and hunting, women the honoring his son as his heir apparent. homemaking and raising of children. Women also made cornmeal, the basic food of many Mayans. Writings and Calendar The Maya created a Crucial to Mayan civilization was its belief that all sophisticated writing system based on hieroglyphs, of life was in the hands of divine powers. The name or pictures. Unfortunately, the Spanish conquerors in of their supreme god was Itzamna (eet-SAWM-nuh) the sixteenth century made no effort to decipher the (Lizard House). Gods were ranked in order of language or respect the Maya’s writings. Instead, the importance. Some, like Spaniards assumed the writings were evil or of no the jaguar god of night, value. Bishop Diego de Landa said, “We found a HISTORY were evil rather than large number of books in these characters and, as good. Like other ancient they contained nothing in which there were not to be Web Activity Visit civilizations in Central seen superstition and lies of the devil, we burned the Glencoe World America, the Maya prac- them all, which they regretted to an amazing degree, History Web site at ticed human sacrifice as and which caused them much affliction.” In their col- wh.glencoe.com and a way to appease the onization of the New World, the Spanish would click on Chapter 11– gods. Human sacrifices repeat this behavior over and over. They would Student Web Activity were also used for spe- apply their own religious views to the native civi- to learn more about early civilizations in the cial ceremonial occa- lizations with which they came in contact. The Americas. sions. When a male heir Spaniards’ subsequent destruction of religious was presented to the objects, and sometimes entire cities, helped bring an
354 CHAPTER 11 The Americas that players were rewarded with clothing and jewelry from the watching crowds. The exact rules of the game are unknown, but we do know that it was more than a sport. The ball game had a religious meaning. The ball court was a symbol of the world, and the ball represented the sun A present-day soccer and the moon. Apparently, it was match featuring believed that playing the game often Brazil and Canada would produce better harvests. The results of the game were deadly. The defeated players were sacrificed in ceremonies held after the end of CONNECTING TO THE PAST the game. Similar courts have been found at sites throughout Central 1. Summarizing Why was great skill required of the America, as well as present-day athletes who played the Mayan ball game? Arizona and New Mexico. 2. Describing Explain the symbolism of the Mayan ball game. 3. Writing about History What other sporting events have you read about that could result in the death of the losing participant?
end to these civilizations. The Maya wrote on bark, Many Mayan hieroglyphs record important events folding it like an accordian, then covering the outside in Mayan history, especially those in the lives of with thin plaster. Four of these books have survived. Mayan rulers. One of the most important collections Maya writing was also carved onto clay, jade, bone, of Mayan hieroglyphs is at Palenque (puh•LEHNG• shells, and stone monuments. KAY), deep in the jungles in the neck of the Mexican Mayan hieroglyphs remained a mystery to schol- peninsula. There, archaeologists discovered a royal ars for centuries. Then, modern investigators discov- tomb covered with hieroglyphs that record the ered that many passages contained symbols that accomplishments of a ruler named Pacal, whose recorded dates in the Mayan calendar known as the body was buried in the tomb. Long Count. This calendar was based on a belief in cycles of creation and destruction. According to the The Toltec The center of the Toltec Empire was at Maya, our present world was created in 3114 B.C. and Tula, built on a high ridge northwest of present-day is scheduled to complete its downward cycle on Mexico City. The Toltec were a fierce and warlike December 23, A.D. 2012. people who extended their conquests into the Mayan The Maya used two different systems for meas- lands of Guatemala and the northern Yucatán. The uring time. One was based on a solar calendar of Toltec were also builders who constructed pyramids 365 days, divided into 18 months of 20 days each, and palaces. They controlled the upper Yucatán with an extra 5 days at the end. The other system Peninsula from another capital at Chichén Itzá for was based on a sacred calendar of 260 days divided several centuries, beginning around A.D. 900. In into 13 weeks of 20 days each. Only trained priests about 1200 their civilization, too, declined. could read and use this calendar. They used it to foretell the future and know the omens associated Reading Check Describing How did the Maya with each day. measure time?
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 355 The Aztec “Now we have found the land promised to us. We have found peace for our weary people. Now we The origins of the Aztec are uncertain. Sometime want for nothing.” during the twelfth century A.D., however, they began For the next hundred years, a long migration that brought them to the Valley of the Aztec built their city. They Mexico. They eventually established their capital at constructed temples, other pub- Tenochtitlán (tay•NAWCH•teet•LAHN), on an lic buildings, and houses. They Lake island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, now the loca- Lake Xaltocan built roadways of stone across Zumpango tion of Mexico City. There, they would rule until con- Great Lake Lake Texcoco to the north, Temple Texcoco quered by the Spaniards in the 1500s. south, and west, linking the Tenochtitlán Causeways Lake many islands to the mainland. Chalco Rise of the Aztec According to their legends, when While they were building the Aztec arrived in the Valley of Mexico, other peoples Lake their capital city, the Aztec, who Xochimilco drove them into a snake-infested region. The Aztec sur- were outstanding warriors, con- vived, however, strengthened by their belief in a solidated their rule over much of what is modern sign that would come from their god of war and of Mexico. The new kingdom was not a centralized the sun, Huitzilopochtli (wee•tsee•loh• POHKT•lee). state but a collection of semi-independent territories The god had told them that when they saw an eagle governed by local lords. The Aztec ruler supported perched on a cactus growing out of a rock, their jour- these rulers in their authority in return for tribute, ney would end. goods or money paid by conquered peoples to their In 1325, under attack by another people, they were conquerors. driven into the swamps and islands of Lake Texcoco. On one of the islands, they saw an eagle standing on Political and Social Structures By 1500, as many a prickly pear cactus on a rock. There they built as four million Aztec lived in the Valley of Mexico Tenochtitlán (or “place of the prickly pear cactus”): and the surrounding valleys of central Mexico.
Using the Past to Create a New Future tortillas; and Spanish knights armed with guns crushing In the 1920s, after a successful revolution, the new the Aztec people. Mexican government sought to create a new image of Rivera wanted Mexicans the Mexican nation and a new sense of national identity to be aware of their past. He for the Mexican people. The revolutionary government also sought, however, to enlisted the support of artists to make Mexicans aware encourage modern Mexicans of their glorious past. to create a civilization as Diego Rivera, one of Mexico’s leading artists, pure, simple, and noble as accepted the government’s challenge. Between 1920 he imagined that of the Aztec and 1950, he completed a series of massive paintings to have been. on the walls of Mexico’s schools and government build- The Aztec World ings. In his murals, Rivera used his knowledge of Mex- by Diego Rivera ico’s past to achieve an imaginative re-creation of the world of the ancient Aztec. Rivera showed an idealized version of the wonders of the Aztec, as well as their betrayal by the Spaniards: peo- Murals and tapestries have long been used to record ple in the busy markets of the capital city of Tenoch- historical events. Using outside sources, select one titlán; Aztec doctors performing operations; Aztec well-known historical mural, painting, or tapestry, people playing instruments and engaged in native arts such as the tapestry of Bayeux. Compare the historic and crafts; Aztec women grinding corn and preparing event recorded in the painting or tapestry to a written record of the same event. How are the visual and the written sources similar and different, and why? 356 CHAPTER 11 The Americas CHAPTER 5 RomeCHAPTER and the 11Rise of The Christianity Americas 356 History This mosaic depicts the meeting of Montezuma and Cortés. How has the artist shown that, while offering a gift, Cortés is also a threat to the Aztec?
Power in the Aztec state was vested in the hands (ket•suhl•KWAH•tul). According to Aztec tradi- of the monarch, who claimed that he was descended tion, this being had left his homeland in the Valley from the gods. The Aztec ruler was assisted by a of Mexico in the tenth century, promising to return council of lords and government officials. in triumph. The story of Quetzalcoatl became part The rest of the population consisted of common- of a legend about a Toltec prince whose return from ers, indentured workers, and slaves. Indentured exile would be preceded by the sign of an arrow workers were landless laborers who contracted to through a sapling. When the Aztec saw the Spanish work on the nobles’ estates. Slaves, people captured with a similar sign—the cross—on their breast- in war, worked in the households of the wealthy. plates, the Aztec thought that representatives of Most people were commoners, and many common- Quetzalcoatl had returned. ers were farmers. Others engaged in trade, especially Aztec religion was based on a belief in an unend- in the densely populated Valley of Mexico, where ing struggle between the forces of good and evil half of the people lived in cities. throughout the universe. This struggle had led to the From the beginnings of their lives, boys and girls creation and destruction of four worlds, or suns. Peo- in Aztec society were given very different roles. As ple were living in the time of the fifth sun. However, soon as a male baby was born, the midwife who this world, too, was destined to end with the destruc- attended the birth said, “You must understand that tion of the earth by earthquakes. your home is not here where you have been born, for In an effort to postpone the day of reckoning, the you are a warrior.” To a female infant, the midwife Aztec practiced human sacrifice. They believed that said, “As the heart stays in the body, so you must stay by appeasing the god Huitzilopochtli they could in the house.” delay the final destruction of their world. Women in Aztec society were not equal to men but A chief feature of Aztec culture was its monumen- they were allowed to own and inherit property and tal architecture. At the center of the capital city of to enter into contracts, something not often allowed Tenochtitlán was a massive pyramid dedicated to in other world cultures at the time. Women were Huitzilopochtli. A platform at the top held shrines to expected to work in the home, weave textiles, and the gods and an altar for performing human sacrifices. raise children. However, they were also permitted to become priestesses. The Destruction of Aztec Civilization For a cen- tury, the Aztec kingdom ruled much of central Mexico Religion and Culture The Aztec believed in many from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific coasts. Most local gods. Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and of officials accepted the authority of the Aztec king in war, was particularly important. Another import- Tenochtitlán. In the region of Tlaxcala to the east, how- ant god was the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl ever, the local lords wanted greater independence.
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 357 Areas that had never been conquered wanted to remain free of the Aztec. Montezuma In 1519, a Spanish force under the command of c. 1466–1520—Aztec ruler Hernán Cortés landed at Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico. Cortés marched to Tenochtitlán at the head Montezuma became the Aztec of a small body of troops (550 soldiers and 16 horses). ruler in 1502. He was a strong leader As he went, he made alliances with city-states that who enlarged the Aztec Empire. One had tired of the oppressive rule of the Aztec. Particu- Spaniard observed, “The great Mon- larly important was the alliance with Tlaxcala. tezuma was about forty years old, of When Cortés arrived at Tenochtitlán, he received a good height and well proportioned, slen- friendly welcome from the Aztec monarch Mon- der but of the natural color and shade of an tezuma (also spelled Moctezuma). At first, Mon- Indian.” At first, Montezuma believed that Hernán Cortés tezuma believed that his visitor was a representative was a representative of Quetzalcoatl, the god who had of Quetzalcoatl, the god who had departed from his departed from his homeland centuries before. Mon- tezuma offered gold to the foreigners and gave them a homeland centuries before and had promised that he palace to use while they were in the city. Too late he real- would return. Montezuma offered gifts of gold to the ized that Cortés and his men wanted land and treasure. foreigners and gave them a palace to use while they The Spanish claimed that his own people, angry with his were in the city. policies, killed Montezuma. Eventually, tensions arose between the Spaniards and the Aztec. The Spanish took Montezuma hostage and began to pillage the city. In 1520, one year after Cortés arrived, the local population revolted and temples, and palaces and used the stones to build drove the invaders from the city. Many of the Span- government buildings and churches for the Spanish. ish were killed. The rivers and canals were filled in. As we will see, The Aztec soon experienced new disasters, how- throughout the Americas, Europeans, using gunpow- ever. With no natural immunity to the diseases of the der first developed in Asia, were able to destroy pow- Europeans, many of them fell sick and died. Mean- erful civilizations weakened by European diseases. while, Cortés received fresh soldiers from his new The Aztec city of Tenochtitlán was no more. allies, the state of Tlaxcala alone provided fifty thou- sand warriors. After four months, the city surren- Reading Check Summarizing What aspect of Aztec dered. The forces of Cortés leveled pyramids, culture is reflected in their architecture?
Checking for Understanding Critical Thinking Analyzing Visuals 1. Define Mesoamerica, hieroglyph, 6. Evaluate What was the importance 8. Compare the sculpture of a Mayan tribute. of trade for the early American athlete shown on page 354 with the civilizations? photograph of modern athletes shown Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, 2. Identify on page 355. What inferences can you Hernán Cortés, Montezuma. Create a 7. Summarizing Information draw about the status of athletes table like the one below listing the Teotihuacán, Yucatán Penin- in Mayan culture? What status do 3. Locate major civilizations and principal cities sula, Tikal, Chichén Itzá, Tenochtitlán, athletes in America have today? that developed in Mesoamerica. Lake Texcoco. 4. Explain how Mayan hieroglyphs have Mesoamerica helped us to understand Mayan culture. Civilizations Cities 9. Informative Writing Imagine that you are the first Aztec warrior to see 5. Summarize the different categories of the perched eagle in Lake Texcoco. Aztec society. Write a paragraph about what the eagle means and why it is important to you and your culture.
358 CHAPTER 11 The Americas Early Civilizations in South America
Guide to Reading Main Ideas People to Identify Reading Strategy • The Inca developed a well-organized, Moche, Inca, Pachacuti, Francisco Pizarro Organizing Information As you read militaristic empire. this section, complete a pyramid diagram • Incan communities undertook sophisti- Places to Locate showing the hierarchy of the Inca’s politi- cated building projects and established Ecuador, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, cal organization. a high level of cultural development. Urubamba River Key Terms Preview Questions maize, quipu 1. What does Moche pottery tell us about the Moche people? 2. What method did the Inca use to enlarge their empire? Preview of Events ✦700 ✦850 ✦1000 ✦1150 ✦1300 ✦1450 ✦1600
c. 700 1440 1535 Moche civilization Incan ruler Pachacuti Pizarro conquers collapses builds empire the Inca Voices from the Past
In their capital city of Cuzco, the Inca built a temple dedicated to the sun. A Spanish observer described it as follows:
[The temple] is built of smooth masonry, very level and smooth. The roof was of “wood and very lofty so that there would be plenty of air. It was covered with thatch: they had no tiles. All four walls of the temple were covered from top to bottom with plates and slabs of gold. Over what we have called the high altar they had the image of the Sun on a gold plate twice the thickness of the rest of the wall-plates. The image showed him with a round face and beams and flames of fire all in one piece, just as he is usually depicted by painters. It was so large that it stretched over the whole of that The Sun Temple at Cuzco side of the temple from wall to wall.” —Royal Commentaries of the Incas: And General History of Peru, Harold V. Livermore, trans., 1966 Known as accomplished builders of impressive structures, the Inca flourished in South America during the 1400s.
Early Civilizations Caral has been identified as the oldest major city in the Americas. Caral is believed to be one thousand years older than the ancient cities previously known in the Western Hemisphere. Located in the Supe River valley of Peru, the city
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 359 contains buildings for officials, apartment buildings, Moche was the capital of a powerful state. The and grand residences, all built of stone. The inhabi- authority of the Moche rulers extended far along the tants of Caral also developed a system of irrigation coast. The people of Moche had no written language, by diverting a river more than a mile (1.609 km) but their pottery gives us some idea of their interests. upstream into their fields. Caral was abandoned Among other things, the pottery shows that the between 2000 and 1500 B.C. Moche, like peoples in Central America, led lives Sometime about 200 B.C., another advanced civi- centered around warfare. Paintings and pottery fre- lization appeared near the Pacific coast not far south quently portray warriors, prisoners, and sacrificial of the border of Ecuador. At Moche (MOH•cheh), victims. a major urban center arose amid irrigated fields in Reading Check the valley of the Moche River, which flows from Explaining What was the importance the foothills of the Andes into the Pacific Ocean. of the Moche River to the people who lived near it? Farmers in the area grew enough maize (corn), peanuts, potatoes, and cotton to supply much of the The Inca region. After the collapse of the Moche civilization around A.D. 700, a period of decline set in until the rise of a Cultures of South America, new power about three hundred years later. This A.D. 700–1530 power, the kingdom of Chimor, dominated the area for nearly four centuries. It was finally destroyed by people who created an even more spectacular empire—the Inca. ATLaNTIC OCEaN In the late 1300s, the Inca were only a small 0° community in the area of Cuzco (KOOS•koh), a zon R. EQUATOR Ama city located high, 11,000 feet (3,352.8 m), in the
Río mountains of southern Peru. In the 1440s, how- Moche Urubamba R. SOUTH ever, under the leadership of the powerful ruler Moche 10°S AMERICA Pachacuti, the Inca launched a campaign of con- Lima Machu Picchu A Cuzco Lake quest that eventually brought the entire region N Titicaca D Moche under their control. E ruler
S TR OPIC OF CAP Political Structures Pachacuti and his immediate PaCIFIC RICORN OCEaN successors, Topa Inca and Huayna Inca (the word N Inca means “ruler”), extended the boundaries of the 30°S W E Incan Empire as far as Ecuador, central Chile, and the S edge of the Amazon basin. The empire included per- haps twelve million people. 4 0°S The Incan state was built on war, so all young men 0 1,000 miles Moche civilization, A.D. 700 were required to serve in the Incan army. With some Kingdom of Chimor, A.D. 1400 0 1,000 kilometers two hundred thousand members, the army was the Incan civilization, A.D. 1530 Bipolar Oblique projection largest and best armed in the region. Because the 50° 90°W 80°W 70°W 60°W 50°W 40°W 30°W S Inca, like other people in the early Americas, did not make use of the wheel, supplies were carried on the backs of llamas. Once an area was placed under Incan control, the The Moche, Chimor, and Incan peoples developed advanced local inhabitants were instructed in the Quechua civilizations in South America. (KEH•chuh•wuh) language. Control of new territo- ries was carefully regulated. A noble of high rank 1. Interpreting Maps Estimate in miles the length of the Incan Empire. was sent out to govern the new region. Local leaders could keep their posts as long as they were loyal to 2. Applying Geography Skills Create your own map of the Incan Empire. Using your text as a guide, add the the Inca ruler. Incan system of roads to your map. To create a well-organized empire, Pachacuti divided it into four quarters, with each ruled by a
360 CHAPTER 11 The Americas Social Structures Incan society was highly regi- Pachacuti mented. So, too, were marriage and the lives of ?–1471—Incan ruler women. Men and women were required to select a marriage partner from within their own social Pachacuti was the founder of the groups. After marriage, women were expected to Incan Empire. Through his conquests, care for the children and to weave cloth. For women, he expanded the small Incan state he there was only one alternative to a life of working in inherited into an empire. He also cre- the home. Some young girls were chosen to serve as ated a highly centralized government priestesses in temples. and insisted that its officials be honest. He In rural areas, the people lived chiefly by farming. decreed that “any judge who permitted himself In the mountains, they used terraced farms, watered to be bribed should be regarded as a thief and, as such, by irrigation systems that carried precise amounts of punished with death.” water into the fields. These were planted with corn, Pachacuti made visits to the various parts of his empire. On these trips, he traveled in litters—covered potatoes, and other crops. The houses of the farmers, couches used for carrying passengers—surrounded by built of stone or adobe with thatched roofs, were guards and carrying jewels and riches with him. Pacha- located near the fields. cuti was also a builder. The capital of Cuzco was trans- formed from a city of mud and thatch into an imposing Building and Culture The Inca were great builders. city of stone during his reign. The buildings and monuments of the capital city of Cuzco were the wonder of early European visitors. These structures were built of close-fitting stones with no mortar—the better to withstand the frequent governor. In turn, the quarters were divided into earthquakes in the area. provinces, each also ruled by a governor. Each Nothing shows the architectural genius of the Inca province was supposed to contain about ten thou- more than the ruins of the abandoned city of Machu sand residents. At the top of the entire system was Picchu (MAH•CHOO PEE•CHOO). Machu Picchu, the emperor, who was believed to be descended from elevation 8,000 feet (2,400 m), was built on a lofty hill- Inti, the sun god. top surrounded by mountain peaks far above the Forced labor was another important feature of the Urubamba River. It was a small city, containing only state. All Incan subjects were responsible for labor about two hundred buildings. service, usually for several weeks each year. Labor- In one part of Machu Picchu, a long stairway leads ers, often with their entire communities, were moved to an elegant stone known to the Inca as the “hitch- according to need from one part of the country to ing post of the sun.” Carved from the mountain, this another to take part in building projects. “hitching post” may have been used as a solar The Inca also built roads. A sys- tem of some 24,800 miles (around 40,000 km) of roads extended from the border of modern-day Colom- bia to a point south of modern-day Santiago, Chile. Two major road- ways extended in a north-south direction, one through the Andes and the other along the coast, with connecting routes between them. Rest houses, located a day’s walk apart, and storage depots were placed along the roads. Vari- ous types of bridges, including some of the finest examples of sus- pension bridges in premodern times, were built over ravines and waterways. The 50-foot-tall stone walls of Cuzco were built without mortar by the Inca.
361 History This Peruvian print from 1609 shows an Incan man using the quipu. What information about the past can historians gain from this image?
Conquest of the Inca The Incan Empire was still flourishing when the first Spanish expeditions arrived in the central Andes. In 1531, Francisco Pizarro and a small band of about 180 men landed on the Pacific coast of South America. Pizarro brought steel weapons, gunpowder, and horses. The Inca had seen none of these. The Incan Empire experienced an epidemic of smallpox. Like the Aztec, the Inca had no immunities to European diseases. All too soon, smallpox was devastating entire villages. Even the Incan emperor was a victim. observatory. During the sun festivals held in June When the emperor died, each of his two sons and December, the people of Machu Picchu gathered claimed the throne for himself. This led to a civil war. here to chant and say prayers to Inti, the sun god. Atahuallpa (AH•tuh•WAHL•puh), one of the sons, The Inca had no writing system but instead kept defeated his brother’s forces. Pizarro took advantage records using a system of knotted strings called the of the situation by capturing Atahuallpa. Armed only quipu. However, the lack of a fully developed writing with stones, arrows, and light spears, Atahuallpa‘s system did not prevent the Inca from attaining a high soldiers provided little challenge to the charging level of cultural achievement. horses, guns, and cannons of the Spanish. The Inca had a well-developed tradition of court After executing Atahuallpa, Pizarro and his sol- theater, consisting of both tragic and comic works. diers, aided by Incan allies, marched on Cuzco and Plays often involved the recounting of valiant deeds captured the Incan capital. By 1535, Pizarro had and other historical events. Actors were not profes- established a new capital at Lima for a new colony of sionals but rather members of the nobility or senior the Spanish Empire. officials who memorized their parts. Poetry was also recited, often accompanied by music played on reed Reading Check Describing How did the Inca farm in instruments. the mountains?
Checking for Understanding Critical Thinking Analyzing Visuals 1. Define maize, quipu. 6. Evaluate How did Pachacuti expand 8. Examine the photograph of the Incan the Incan state into an empire? temple at Cuzco, Peru, shown on page Moche, Inca, Pachacuti, 2. Identify 359. What architectural elements does Francisco Pizarro. Create a 7. Summarizing Information the Incan temple have that are also graphic organizer like the one below Ecuador, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, seen in buildings from other cultures 3. Locate to summarize the ways that the Incan Urubamba River. you have read about? system of roads unified the empire. 4. Describe the Incan system of forced labor. 5. List evidence historians use to support Incan Road System 9. Expository Writing Write an essay the claim that the Moche led lives in which you explain the advantages centered around warfare. and the disadvantages of the political system of the Inca.
362 CHAPTER 11 The Americas The Quipu
THE INCA DID NOT POSSESS A WRITTEN language. To record events and other aspects of their lives that they wished to remember, they used a system of knotted strings, called the quipu. This is a sixteenth-century description of the The quipu was process. made from woven strands of different- “These men recorded on their knots all the colored yarn. tribute brought annually to the Inca, specifying everything by kind, species, and quality. They recorded the number of men who went to the wars, how many died in them, and how many were born and died every year, month by month. In short they may be said to have recorded on their knots every- thing that could be counted, even mentioning bat- tles and fights, all the [ambassadors who] had come to visit the Inca, and all the speeches and arguments the king had uttered. But the purpose of the [diplo- matic visits] or the contents of the speeches, or any other descriptive matter could not be recorded on the knots, consisting as it did of continuous spoken or written prose, which cannot be expressed by means of knots, since these can only give numbers and not words. To supply this want they used signs that indicated historical events or facts or the exis- tence of any [diplomatic visit], speech, or discussion reply. In short, everything that could not be recorded in time of peace or war. Such speeches were com- on the knots was included in these poems, which mitted to memory and taught by tradition to their were sung at their triumphs. Thus they remembered successors and descendants from father to son. . . . their history.” Another method too was used for keeping alive in —Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries the memory of the people their deeds and the of the Incas: And General History of Peru [ambassadors] they sent to the Inca and the replies [the king] gave them. The philosophers and sages Analyzing Primary Sources took the trouble to turn them into stories, no longer than fables, suitable for telling to children, young 1. What did the quipu record? What people, and the rustics of the countryside: they were was it unable to record? thus passed from hand to hand and age to age, and 2. In what other ways and from what other preserved in the memories of all. . . . Similarly their sources was the history of the Inca poets composed short, compressed poems, embrac- preserved? ing a history, or [a diplomatic visit], or the king’s
363 Using Key Terms 12. Culture What were the names of the “three sisters” crops farmed by the Iroquois? 1. The Iroquois built , made of wooden poles and cov- The phrase “self-interest shall be cast away” ered with bark, to house many families. 13. Government comes from which Iroquois statement? 2. The Inca used knotted strings, called the , to keep How did the Plains Indians capture buffalo without records. 14. History using weapons? 3. Within each Iroquois group were , groups of related What did the Spanish bring to the Americas that families. 15. History contributed to the destruction of the early civilizations? 4. Circular tents, or , were made of buffalo skins According to the Mayan calendar, stretched over wooden poles. 16. Science and Technology when will the world complete its downward cycle? 5. Sun-dried bricks are called . 17. Religion What did the Aztec believe when they saw the 6. were multistoried structures built by the Anasazi. crosses on the Spanish breastplates? 7. The Aztec ruler allowed others to rule semi-independent ter- 18. Geography At what altitude did the Inca build Cuzco? ritories if they paid , goods or money paid by those Why did the Inca use the conquered. 19. Culture quipu? 8. The areas of Mexico and Central America that had civilizations before Europeans arrived are called . 9. The Mayan system of writing was based on pictures called Critical Thinking . 20. Making Comparisons How are the pyramids of the Amer- icas similar to the pyramids of Egypt? Why is this style of Reviewing Key Facts building found around the world? 10. Geography Name two major mountain ranges in the west- 21. Evaluating How are the houses of the North American peo- ern portion of the Americas. ples a reflection of the geography of their regions? 11. Culture How many people did some of the urban centers of 22. Drawing Conclusions Why did Incan rulers insist that all the Hopewell people contain? conquered peoples be taught the Quechua language?
The table below summarizes the factors that helped shape early cultures in the Americas. Location People Economics Architecture
Eastern Woodlands Mound Builders, Hunting and gathering, Longhouses, some Iroquois some agriculture urban centers
Central Plains Plains Hunting and gathering Tepees
Southwest Anasazi Extensive farming Cliff dwellings
Mesoamerica Olmec, Maya, Farming, trade Large cities, religious Aztec and political structures
South America Moche, Inca Farming, trade Large cities, religious and political structures
364 CHAPTER 11 The Americas 0344-0367 C11SE-860702 11/12/03 4:39 PM Page 365
HISTORY Incan Cuzco, Peru
Fortress 0 0.25 miles Self-Check Quiz 0 0.25 kilometers Lambert Azimuthal Visit the Glencoe World History Web site at Equal-Area projection wh.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 11–Self-Check H N ua Quiz to prepare for the Chapter Test. t an ay W E R . S Writing About History 23. Expository Writing Choose a Mesoamerican society Plaza from this chapter and write a brief essay describing how Plaza geography affected the following: how food was obtained, the materials used for homes and other structures, the size Cuzco of communities, the need for trade, the impact of natural Road Surviving stone wall Temple of boundaries such as mountains and bodies of water, and the the Sun Tullumayo R. Assembly hall sources of drinking water. Palace Temple Analyzing Sources Ridge Read the following quote by Bernal Díaz who accompanied Cortéz on his expedition to Mexico in 1519. Analyzing Maps and Charts When we beheld so many cities and towns on the European visitors were amazed by the buildings and monuments water,“ and other large settlements built on firm ground, of the Incan capital at Cuzco. Use the above map to answer the and that broad causeway running so straight and per- following questions. fectly level to the city of Tenochtitlán, we were aston- 29. Approximately how long was the city of Cuzco? ished because of the great stone towers and temples 30. What natural boundaries surround Cuzco? Where did the and buildings that rose up out of the water. Inca build boundaries? Why were man-made boundaries ” needed? 24. Which early civilization built the city of Tenochtitlán? 31. The Inca developed a vast road system. What do you notice about the roads leading out of Cuzco? 25. Why were the Spanish so “astonished” by what they saw? 32. How might geographical factors have influenced the place- 26. What was the final result of this encounter between the ment of buildings in Cuzco? Spanish and the civilization described in the quote?
Applying Technology Skills 27. Using the Internet Access the Internet to locate a Web site Standardized that has information about the ancient Incan Empire. Use a Test Practice search engine to help focus your search by using phrases Directions: Choose the best answer to the such as Incan Empire, Mesoamerican civilization, or Native following question. Americans. Create a bulletin board using the information The League of Iroquois was important because it found on the Web site and incorporate illustrations of Incan culture and artifacts. Include captions with your photos and A protected the Aztec from Hernán Cortés. illustrations. B was created by Deganawida and Hiawatha. C was an early American form of the democratic Making Decisions assembly. D established the Mayan calendar. 28. Early civilizations had to survive with little technology, knowledge of the world, or grocery stores. Imagine that you and a group of friends are stranded on a deserted island. Test-Taking Tip: Some answer choices are better than Make a list of things you hope you will find on the island in others. Be sure you have read all the choices carefully order to survive, and how you will stay alive until you are before you pick your answer. rescued.
CHAPTER 11 The Americas 365 Taking Leave of a Friend Five Poems Blue mountains to the north of the walls, White river winding about them; by Li Bo Here we must make separation And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass. Mind like a floating wide cloud, Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance. Our horses neigh to each other as we are departing.
Li Bo was born in A.D. 701 in western China. People began praising his beautiful poems even before he reached adulthood. Throughout his life he traveled extensively in Clearing at Dawn China, amazing people with his ability to compose insightful, touching poems. He The fields are chill, the sparse wrote about the world around him, the peo- rain has stopped; ple he met, and the emotions he felt. By the The colours of Spring teem time of his death in A.D. 762, he was on every side. regarded as one of China’s greatest poets, a With leaping fish the blue pond distinction he still holds today. is full; In the following poems, Li Bo interprets With singing thrushes the green parting from a friend, life as a journey, and boughs droop. his experience with his homeland. The flowers of the field have Read to Discover dabbled their powdered cheeks; As you read, note the ways in which Li Bo The mountain grasses are bent draws the reader into his descriptions. What level at the waist. emotions do his poems evoke in you? By the bamboo stream the last fragment of cloud Reader’s Dictionary Blown by the wind slowly brooklet: a small brook or creek scatters away. sparse: few and scattered thrush: a type of small to medium sized bird that is an excellent singer This painting is titled Spring Dawn Over Elixir Terrace.
366 Hard Is the Journey Gold vessels of fine wines, thousands a gallon, Jade dishes of rare meats, costing more thousands, I lay my chopsticks down, no more can banquet, And draw my sword and stare wildly about me: Ice bars my way to cross the Yellow River, Snows from dark skies to climb the T’ai-hang Mountains! At peace I drop a hook
into a brooklet, Landscape of the Four Seasons by Shen shih-Ch’ung At once I’m in a boat but sailing sunward . . . (Hard is the Journey, In the Mountains on a Summer Day Hard is the Journey, Gently I stir a white feather fan, So many turnings, With open shirt sitting in a green wood. And now where am I?) I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone; So when a breeze breaks waves, A wind from the pine-tree trickles on my bare bringing fair weather, head. I set a cloud for sails, cross the blue oceans!
Listening to a Flute in Yellow Crane Pavilion 1. What detail in Taking Leave of a Friend reveals a custom specific to Li Bo’s times? I came here a wanderer 2. What happens between the beginning of the first thinking of home stanza and the end of the second stanza of Hard Is remembering my far away Ch’ang-an. the Journey? And then, from deep in Yellow Crane Pavilion, 3. What is the significance of the last line of Listening I heard a beautiful bamboo flute to a Flute in Yellow Crane Pavilion? play “Falling Plum Blossoms.” 4. CRITICAL THINKING Li Bo describes beauty and It was late spring in a city by the river. peace and luxury in Hard Is the Journey. Why do you think he calls the journey “hard”? Applications Activity Write a poem describing your hometown. Make sure to include a description of something unique to that area.
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