Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Topic: From Empires and Colonies to Free Nations From Empires… When Columbus came to the New World in 1492, he thought he had landed off the coast of India, in Asia. Therefore he gave the name “Indian” to all the people living in Latin America. The three major Native American groups of the past were the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas. The Maya • They built their civilization in present-day Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. • They reached their peak between the 4th and the 10th centuries and began to slowly fade away. • They lived in separate citystates. – Wars were fought to obtain tribute (payment) and to acquire prisoners for religious sacrifice. • Mayan culture was spread through military alliances and trade What happened to the Mayan? - War and lost? - Soil became poor, loss of food? - Disease? - Volcanic Eruption? Achievements • Developed a writing system (Spanish destroyed many records) • Sculpted in cement, clay, and wood • Built temples on top of great terraced pyramids • Made pottery, developed textile weaving, mat-making, basketweaving, and jade carving • Kept time and made a calendar (studied the sun and stars) 365 day calendar was most accurate • Fine mathematicians – understood the idea of the zero, developed a counting system using bars and dots Aztecs • Lived in highlands of central Mexico. They started out as nomads. • In the 13th century, they settled near a chain of lakes and built (1325) their capital of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) on an island of Lake Texcoco. – The city had very large public buildings. • Over the years, they conquered many neighbors and became rulers of Mexico. • Believed in human sacrifice – killed victims and the blood and heart were offered to the gods. Tenochtitlan Achievements • Wove cotton, made beautiful jewelry, and wrote poetry • Great farmers – Corn, beans, squash, peppers, tobacco • Chocolate • Great engineers and architects - bridges, dikes, canals Incas • Lived in the highlands of the Andes Mts. (stretched 3000 miles from north to south) • They came to Cuzco, Peru about 1200. They gained power by getting other tribes to join them, not by war. • They took care of the young, old, and sick. Achievements • Excellent road builders • Excellent bridge builders • Excellent record keepers with no written language (used a series of strings) • Built cities of stone • Herded llama and alpaca (beasts of burden) • Excellent farmers (terraced farms, canals for irrigation) • Excellent communication (had runners/messengers)