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The Americas: The Aztec & the Inca

The Americas: The Aztec & the Inca. Mr. Wilson AP World History Wren High School. The Aztecs. Rise of the Aztecs. Aztecs (Mexica) migrate to Lake Texcoco in central Mexico c. 1325 Founded city of Tenochtitlan in 1325 Empire started in 1434

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The Americas: The Aztec & the Inca

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  1. The Americas: The Aztec & the Inca Mr. Wilson AP World History Wren High School

  2. The Aztecs

  3. Rise of the Aztecs • Aztecs (Mexica) migrate to Lake Texcoco in central Mexico c. 1325 • Founded city of Tenochtitlan in 1325 • Empire started in 1434 • Aztec kings represented civil power and served as a representative of the gods on Earth

  4. Aztec Government • City-states ruled by a speaker chosen from the nobility • The Great Speaker, ruler of Tenochtitlan, was in effect an emperor • Increasingly considered a living god • Conquered peoples maintained some autonomy if they paid tribute

  5. Aztec Religion • Aztec maintained traditional deities of Mesoamerica • 128 major deities • Huitzilopochtli (right) was the Aztec tribal patron and patron deity of the cult of warfare and sacrifice

  6. Human Sacrifice • Human sacrifice was a typical part of Mesoamerican religion • Aztec expand practice into a cult where military supplied war captives for sacrifice • Why? • Political purposes • Population control • Cannibal kingdom

  7. Human Sacrifice

  8. Tenochtitlan • On an island in Lake Texcoco • Aztecs called it the “foundation of Heaven” • By 1519 had a population of 150,000 • Connected by causeways and canals

  9. Tenochtitlan “The Venice of the Americas

  10. Aztec Economy • Agriculture • Food often provided as tribute • Built chinampas • Pochteca was a special merchant class which specialized in long-distance luxury trade • Cacao beans and gold dust were used as currency; bartering was most common

  11. Chinampas Chinampas were man-made floating islands 17’ long x 100’ to 300’ feet wide. Aztecs built over 20,000 acres of chinampas.

  12. Chinampas

  13. Aztec Society • Originally divided into seven clans called calpulli • Calpulli redistributed land, organized labor gangs & military units, maintained temples & schools • Eventually a class of nobility emerged • Nobility controlled the priesthood & military

  14. Aztec Society • Women’s primary role was the household • Women spent six hours a day grinding corn; restricted women’s rights • Marriages were arranged • Polygamy existed amongst the nobility • Women could inherit property

  15. The Inca

  16. Rise of Inca • Founded by Quechua-speaking clans, ayllus, living near Cuzco c. 1350 • Inca (ruler) Pachacuti expanded the empire from 1438-1471 • Built Machu Picchu • Expansion continued after Pachacuti’s death

  17. Machu Picchu

  18. Machu Picchu

  19. Conquest & Religion • Expansion motivated by split inheritance • Polytheistic • Sun God was the primary god • Influenced by animism • Mountains, rivers, etc. were considered holy shrines Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu

  20. Inca Government • Divided empire into four provinces • Developed a bureaucracy run by nobles • Nobility drawn from the ten ayllus • Local rulers maintained their positions • Colonized conquered areas • Relocated some conquered peoples

  21. Inca Economy • Unlike Aztecs, not a lot of trade • Tried to be self-sufficient • Primarily agricultural • Terrace farming & complex irrigation • Over 200 types of potatoes • Inca Socialism • Used forced labor for massive projects • Mita

  22. Terrace Farming

  23. Inca Society • Inca emphasis on military reinforced gender inequality • Women worked in the fields, wove cloth, and cared for the household • Women worshipped fertility deities • Recognize parallel descent • Women passed rights and property to their daughters

  24. Inca Technology • Built a complex system of roads and bridges • 2500 miles of roads • Used a system of runners to carry messages throughout the empire • Beautiful pottery, cloth, and metalworking • Quipu • Masonry

  25. Bridges and Roads

  26. Quipu

  27. Inca Metalworking

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