Download Chapter 11: The Americas, 400–1500

The diverse geography of the Americas resulted in the emergence
of many varied and highly advanced civilizations. Some of these
early civilizations were wiped out by diseases introduced to the
Americas by European expeditions.

Many historians believe that the first settlers
of the Americas arrived from Asia across a
land bridge that formed in the Bering Strait
during the last Ice Age.
 These first inhabitants were hunters and
gatherers who later learned to farm. The
varied geography resulted in the emergence
of many distinct cultures.
 In North America, these early inhabitants
included the Inuit people near the:
 Anasazi people of the Southwest
 Hopewell peoples of the Ohio River valley
 Iroquois of the Northeast
 The Iroquois built
villages of longhouses
and had a highly
organized alliance
called the Iroquois
League
 The Anasazi are
noted for their multistory pueblo
dwellings built of
stone and adobe.

Mesoamerica refers to areas of Mexico and Central
America that were civilized before the arrival of the
Spaniards.
 The most advanced were those of the Maya and the
Aztec.
 Mayan civilization flourished between 300 and 900
A.D.
 The Maya built splendid temples and
pyramids and had a sophisticated calendar.
 By the twelfth century, the Aztec had begun
to migrate to the Valley of Mexico.
 The Aztec built temples and pyramids as
well as roads made of stone.
 They controlled many semi-independent
territories.
 The arrival of the Spaniards in the sixteenth
century brought diseases against which the
Aztec had no immunity.
 Devastated by these diseases, the Aztecs
were defeated by the Spaniards, who then
destroyed much of Aztec civilization.

Civilizations existed in South America for
several thousand years before the Inca built
the region's most spectacular civilization.
 The Inca started as a small community high
in the mountains of Peru.
 In the 1440s, they launched a campaign of
conquest that eventually brought the entire
region under their control.
 The Incan emperor controlled an army of
200,000 soldiers and a highly centralized
government.
 Incan society was highly regimented, with
clearly defined roles for women.
 Terraced farms were a source of livelihood
for most people.
 The Inca built impressive cities and roads
spanning nearly 25,000 miles. After the first
Spanish expeditions, smallpox decimated
the Inca.
 The remaining population was no match for
the firearms of the Spanish, who quickly
defeated them and established a new
Spanish colony.