Download Aztecs vs. Inca

AZTEC VS. INCA
AP World History
Victoria Rains
RISE OF THE AZTECS
• Aztecs migrate
to Lake Texcoco in
central Mexico around
1325
• Founded city of
Tenochtitlan in 1325
• Empire started in 1434
• Aztec kings represented
civil power and served
as a representative
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
• The Aztecs made the people they conquered
pay tribute, or give them cotton, gold, or food.
AZTEC RELIGION
• Aztec maintained
traditional deities of
Mesoamerica
• 128 major deities
• Huitzilopochtli (right)
was the Aztec tribal
patron and patron
god of the cult of
sacrifice and warfare
• Quetzalcoatl (meaning
feathered serpent) was the
one who would create humans.
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
TENOCHTITLAN
• Captial of the Aztec
Empire
• Built in the middle of a
lake on an island
• Aztecs called it the
“foundation of Heaven”
• By 1519 had a
population of 150,000
• Connected by causeways
and canals
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
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
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
AZTEC SCIENTIFIC
ACHIEVEMENTS
• The Aztecs studied astronomy and created a
calendar much like the Mayan calendar.
• The Aztecs also knew many different uses
for plants. They knew of 100 different plants
that could be used for medicine.
Lippia dulcis- used
to treat coughs &
colds
Mexican poppy- used for
depression & anxiety
Aztec calendar
Mayan Calendar
RISE OF INCA
• Founded by Quechua
speaking clans (ayllus)
living near Cuzco around 1350
• Inca (ruler) Pachacuti
expanded the empire from
1438-1471
• Built Machu Picchu
• Expansion continued after
Pachacuti’s death
MACHU PICCHU
CONQUEST & RELIGION
Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu
• Expansion motivated
by split inheritance
• Polytheistic
• Sun God was the
primary god
• Influenced by animism
• Mountains, rivers, etc.
were considered holy
shrines
INCAN GOVERNMENT
• The Incas established an official language,
Quechua
• 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
• Made conquered leaders move out of their
villages and move in with leaders who were loyal to
the Inca government
INCA ECONOMY
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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
TERRACE FARMING
They carved steps of flat
land up the side of the
mountain to create flat
land for farming. The
terraces also helped to
keep rainwater from
running off. They reduced
erosion. The government
built raised aqueducts to
carry water to farmlands
for irrigation.
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
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
BRIDGES AND ROADS
QUIPU
INCA METALWORKING
AZTEC ART
• Ancient Aztec art was
primarily a form of religious
expression and a means for
paying tribute to their gods
• Showed their deep religion
through a variety of sculptures
made of stones
• Pottery was not only useful to
the Aztecs; it was also an
important religious craft
within the Aztec arts
INCA ART
• Sculpted pottery which
featured geometric
designs painted in black,
red, brown, yellow, and
white.
• Metalworkers make
ornaments, tools, and
weapons out silver,
copper, gold, and bronze.
• Inca weavers wove
beautiful textiles from
alpaca, llama, and vicuña
wool and from cotton.
AZTEC VIDEO
http://www.history.com/videos/the-aztecs#the-aztecs