Chapter 6 Study Guide

Chapter 6 Study Guide World History AP

Chapter 6 Summary

As a result of migration across the Bering Strait, prehistoric peoples populated the North and South American continents at least 15,000 years ago. These peoples spread from north to south and slowly developed varying cultures in isolation from the rest of the world. Agriculture developed around 5000 B.C.E. mainly in Central Mexico, lowland regions along the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Andes mountains. Although lacking knowledge of some technologies such as iron, they developed quite sophisticated civilizations with written languages. Three major empires were established under the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. Unfortunately, one technology they lacked was the knowledge of firearms; thus making them extremely vulnerable to Spanish conquistadors who would quickly demolish these civilizations.

Chapter 6 Outline

First Americans

Early Civilizations in Central America Teotihuacán: America's First Metropolis Mysterious Maya Mayan Hieroglyphs Mystery of Mayan Decline Aztecs Politics and Society Land of the Feathered Serpent: Aztec Religion and Culture Destruction of Aztec Civilization

First Civilizations in South America Moche Inca The Four Quarters: Inca Politics and Society Inca Culture Conquest of the Inca

Stateless Societies in the New World

Conclusion

Terms & Persons to Know

1. First Americans: theories of origin 14. decline of Mayan culture 2. Bering Strait 15. Toltecs 3. Mesoamerica 16. Quetzalcoatl 4. Olmec culture 17. Chichen Itza 5. Teotihuacán 18. Mexica 6. Yucatán peninsula 19. Aztecs 7. Maya 20. Tenochtitlán 8. cacao tree 21. Lake Texcoco 9. Tikal and Copan 22. Huitzilopochtli 10. human sacrifice 23. Aztec government 11. ball court 24. class system 12. class system 25. sex roles 13. Mayan hieroglyphic writing 26. Aztec pantheon

World History AP: Chapter 6 2

27. cosmology 47. agriculture 28. religious ritual 48. Quechua 29. Father Diego Duran 49. quipu 30. influence of Olmec art and architecture 50. Francisco Pizarro 31. glyphs 51. stateless societies in North America 32. Hernán Cortés 52. Archaic period 33. Moctezuma Xocoyotzin 53. Mississippian (Mississippi River 34. Tlaxcallan Valley) cultures 35. South American geography 54. chieftans 36. early Andes civilization 55. Cahokia 37. Chavin site 56. League of Iroquois 38. Moche 57. Anasazi peoples 39. El Niño 58. Chaco Canyon 40. Incas 59. Pueblo Bonito 41. Pachakuti 60. Mesa Verde 42. Cuzco 61. Zuni and Hopi peoples 43. "world of the four quarters" 62. Apache and Navajo 44. "Inca mode of production" 63. Arawak 45. road system 64. Orinoco River 46. women's roles

Datework

Chronology: Early America

 Where do scholars believe the first human beings in America originated? What climatological situation made this possible? Why did they venture into the New World?  When agriculture begins in the Americas, what crops are produced? How are these different from those produced at the dawn of agriculture in Mesopotamia? India? China?  What are some of the prevalent theories about the decline of Mayan civilization? How did the Aztecs come to power? The Incas?  Why did Cortés and Pizarro come to the New World? Why did they have both soldiers and priests in their retinue? Why are the priests' writings such a valuable source for scholars today?

Chapter Timeline: From the Teotihuacán kingdom to Pizarro's conquest of the Inca

 Why did the organized state societies depicted here reach their flowering later than the first organized states of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China?

 In what ways did the cultural patterns of the Olmecs serve as a model for all later Mesoamerican civilizations?

Mapwork

Map. 6.1. The Heartland of Mesoamerica

 Who were the Mexica?  Why has the Yucatán peninsula been described as a "great green thumb"? What crops did the Olmecs cultivate here? Under the Maya, what was a chinampa?  Explain the significance of the following sites for Mayan history: Tikal and Copan. Who was "18 rabbit"? How many people are estimated to have lived at Tikal at its height?  Did the European arrival in the 16th century C.E. affect the Maya?

Map 6.2. The Valley of Mexico Under Aztec Rule

 When Bernal Díaz climbed to the top of the pyramid of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc in Tenochtitlán, what did he see? What features of his description are indicated here?  What was Díaz doing in the Aztec capital city? What did the two gods whose temple he climbed in order to survey the land represent?  How did the Aztec govern those peoples they conquered? Why is this information available to us today (how did it survive)? How did their tactics lead to their own downfall when Cortés arrived?  Given the position of Tenochtitlán, why was Cortés very fortunate that Moctezuma willingly allowed him to approach his palace? Why did Moctezuma do this?

Map Arrival of Hernán Cortés in Mexico

 Where did Cortés first arrive in the New World? Why?  Approximately how far is from where Cortés came ashore and the capital of the Aztec empire?

Map 6.3. Peoples and Cultures of Central and Latin America

 Was the Amazon River valley an important early center of civilization in South America? How does the development of civilization in this area compare to the earliest river valley civilizations described in Chapters One, Two, and Three? What about the developments along the Mississippi River valley?  For which Mesoamerican culture did the city of Teotihuacán serve as capital? Locate the Yucatán peninsula on this map insert.

Map 6.4. The Inca Empire about 1500 C.E.

 What geographical and climatological features of the west coast of South America made Incan agriculture challenging? How did the farmers meet these challenges?  By what means did the Incas build their elaborate system of highways and roads? What other civic projects were undertaken according to the same method?  What had the peoples of Moche and Chimor achieved before the arrival of the Incas?  What factors are responsible for the decline of the Incas?

Maps 6.5. Peoples and Cultures of North America

 What were the differences between the governmental bureaucracies and class structures of those societies termed "chiefdoms" and those which were "organized states"? How does this relate to the idea of "big men"? Of "stateless" societies?  Were the patterns of hunter-gatherer societies in the New World similar to those described at the opening of Chapter One? Why?  What crops were important to the farming peoples of North America? When did these foods begin to be produced in large-scale agricultural systems?

Primary Sources

Mayan Primary Sources:

The Creation of the World: A Mayan View: Popol Vuh , The Sacred Book of the Maya

 When we read this excerpt from the Popol Vuh today, are we reading a translation of the original Mayan script? What has intervened? What consequences might this have for our understanding of the original?  What did Bishop Diego de Landa say happened to most original Mayan books?  Compare this creation narrative to that from the Book of Genesis, and to the excerpt on the origins of the universe from the Rigveda in Chapter Two. What similarities do you perceive? What important differences?  Feathers were significant in Mesoamerican societies' costumes and adornment; the "feathered serpent" features in the mythologies of this region. Why are feathers important here?  Is this a monotheistic or polytheistic document? Who creates humans? Why?

A Sample of Mayan Writing

 According to the sampling of hieroglyphs shown here, what were primary concerns in Mayan culture? For what stratum of society would the signs for "birth of" and "accession of" be particularly important? What about "captor of" and "he captured"?

 How might the signs for captives and bloodletting be related?  What would the absence of adjectives and adverbs mean for this language? What could not be expressed as a result? Does this mean that the Mayan spoken language was similarly limited? Why would the hieroglyphic system be if the spoken language was not?

Primary Sources Concerning the Aztecs:

Markets and Merchandise in Aztec Mexico: Bernal Díaz, The Conquest of New Spain

 Why was Díaz concerned carefully to record the wealth the Spaniards were finding in "New Spain"? Who was his intended audience?  How were the Aztecs able to command such a variety of goods for availability in their markets? What practical goods are present? Which are luxury items for the consumption of the upper class?  What surprising recycling project does Díaz record? What reaction does he expect from Spaniards who learn of this?

Aztec Midwife Ritual Chants: Bernadino De Sahagun, The Florentine Codex

 How do these chants reveal the expected roles of men and women in Aztec society?

 How do the roles of men and women in Aztec society compare to those of ancient Egypt? Greece? Rome?

A Description of Tenochtitlán: Bernal Díaz, The Conquest of New Spain

 For what purposes were pyramids used in Aztec culture? How does this differ from their function in Egyptian society?  Locate the causeways and water supply systems Díaz described on Map 6.3.

 As Díaz records, some of Cortés' troops had travelled to the great cities of the Old World, including Constantinople and Rome. What would have looked familiar to them in

Tenochtitlán? What particular details may have invited Díaz to compare this city with those two particular cities of the former Roman empire?

Moctezuma's Greeting to Hernán Cortés: Hernán Cortés, Letter from Mexico

 Why did Moctezuma identify Cortés with Quetzalcoatl?

 Why does gold feature so prominently in these two men's first conversation?

 What has Moctezuma been told in advance about information given to Cortés? Does this information seem to have disturbed him?

Primary Sources Concerning the Inca:

Virgins with Red Cheeks: Huaman Poma, Letter to a King

 Who was Huaman Poma's intended audience? What does he hope to accomplish with this letter?  What opportunities were available to the accla that were not possible for ordinary women among the Inca?

An Incan Aide-Mémoire : Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of the Incas

 Together, how did quipu, the quipucamayus, the amautas, and the harauicus record Incan history?  What are the strengths and fragilities of these various systems?

Internet Exploration

To read current articles on scholarly research on the Aztecs, visit http://www.cc.ukans.edu/~hoopes/aztlan/

To view numerous photos of Aztec artifacts, visit http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/aztecs.htm

To view the mounds at Cahokia, visit http://www.siue.edu/CAHOKIAMOUNDS/

To visit Mayan ruins via photographs,visit http://mayaruins.com/

World History AP: Chapter 6