PLEASE COPY THE INFORMATION BELOW INTO YOUR FOLDABLE. 

 

INCA

-Not first culture to develop in Americas

-Settled in Andes c. 1200

-At peak, Inca Empire measured 2500 miles

-Capital was Cuzco, meaning “center”

-Extended control through conquest

-By 1400s, it is an empire

-12 million people

-Ruler called Sapa Inca, owned all land

-Spoke Quechua

-No written language, draft animals, 

  wheels, or plows

-Quipu used to keep records

-Inca Road stretched 24,000 miles

-Terrace farmers who grew potatoes, corn, 

  Cotton

-Weakened in 1400s as members of the

  ruling family fought amongst themselves,

 and workers started to rebel against the

 strict government

-Fell in 1533 to Spanish conquistador

 Francisco Pizarro

 

MAYA

 

-First great empire of Central America

-Greatest period was from A.D. 250-900

-May have been influenced by the Olmec

-Occupied Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala,

  Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras

-Farmers who used slash and burn

-Grew beans, squash, peppers, papayas,

  avocados, and corn

-Corn (maize) was their most important

  crop

-Polytheistic—worshipped sun, rain, and

  corn gods

-Leaders lived in large palaces in the city

-Ordinary people lived on the edges of city

-Rituals involved human sacrifice

-Around 900, Mayans abandoned their cities

-Cities grew so big that land couldn’t support them

-Hurricanes and earthquakes destroyed houses and temples

-People grew tired of the cruelty of their kings

-Aztecs began attacking Mayan cities

 

 

AZTEC

 

-First settled in Valley of Mexico in 1100s

-Built capital in Tenochititlan about 1325

-Tenochititlan was located on a swampy

  island in the idle of Lake Texcoco

-Legend says Aztec god of war told them to

  build where they saw an eagle perched on

  a cactus with a snake in its beak

-By 1470s, they had conquered

  surrounding lands.

-Empire stretched from Gulf of Mexico in

  the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west

-Aquaducts supplied water

-Built island gardens in shallow lakes

  around the capital from rich soil dredged

  up from the lake bottom

-Canals used to transport produce by boats to a huge marketplace near the capital

-Sun god was the most important. Believed

  sun needed human blood to gain the

 strength to rise and cross the sky. 

-Created a calendar based on Mayan calendar and knowledge of astronomy

-Kept records using hieroglyphics similar to those used by Mayas

-Strict class structure

-More farmers than any other group of people

-War was a part of the Aztec Empire

-In 1519, Spanish conquistadors invaded Aztec Empire. Some conquered peoples joined with them to overthrow Moctezuma

In 1521, Aztec surrendered to Spanish.