The Americas

Origins - between 100,00 and 80,00 years ago the last ice age produced low sea levels o land bridge in the bering strait created - Small communities from Asia crossed the land bridge - Most likely hunters who were pursuing herds North America Inuit - Moved into the north west about 3000 BCE - Learned to survive the cold and harsh environment - Settled along the coast in the tundra - Hunted seal, caribou and fish - Built homes of stone and turf - Created igloos for use during traveling Eastern Woodlands: Hopewell - Appeared around 1000 BCE – Great Lakes to Gulf of Mexico - Grew crops and gathered food - Best known are the mound builders – Hopewell from the Ohio river valley - Shifted to full time farming in 700 - Cities of more than 10,000 began to appear – but disappear in the 13th century Eastern Woodlands: Iroquois - North East of the Hopewell - Lived in villages consisting of long houses o Woodpoles covered in bark o 150 – 200 feet long o Housed a dozen families - Men hunted deer, bear, caribou and small animals o Also warriors - Woman gathered plants and grew crops – “3 sisters” corn, beans, and squash “child care” - Wars between the groups were common - Great peace – during the 1500 - Iroquois league created o Alliance of 5 groups o 13 laws o Council of representation 150 leaders o Clan mothers chose the male- member o Ben Franklin might have used this model Great Plains - West of the Mississippi River Basin - Cultivated beans, corn and squash - Every summer the men left to hung buffalo o Ate the meat o Used the skin for clothing o Made tools form bones o Stretched the skins over poles to make tepees

Southwest - present day new Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado - Dry area with some section having enough rain for agriculture - Used adobe bricks to pueblos (multistoried structures) Olmec - Appeared around 1200 BCE - Located in hot swampy lowlands along the coast - Farmed along the muddy river banks - Had large cities that served as centers for religious rituals – la Venta - Declined around 400 BCE Teotihuacan - 100 BCE to 750 CE - Main city located 30 miles NE of modern day Mexico City - Largest city in the America between 450 and 600 (125,000-200,000 ppl) - Worshipped many gods and believed in human sacrifice- viewed as a sacred duty to the gods - Apartment like stone buildings created as popl grew - No ev, of a single ruler – ruled by an alliance among the elite families - No walls or defensive structures before 500 - Historians are unsure what caused the civilization to collapse but know the last decades were violent Toltec – origins - 960-1156 - Little is know of their origins – mayb a satellite of Teotihuacán’s - Borrowed culture form Teotihuacan - Created the 1st conquest state based on milit power Toltec leadership - capital tula north of mexico city (968) - 2 cheiftains ruled together - Fight for power led to the downfall of the toltecs - Northern invaders overran tula in 1156 Maya Overview - located where Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and Southern Mexico is today - problems due to poor soil and climate - never unified politically – rival kingdoms - civilization declined between 800-900 Maya – construction - covered almost all public buildings with bas- relief and bright colors - created carved altars and stone monoliths - construction occurred with out the wheel or metal tools (obsidian tools) - ry swamps and built elevated fields - not every household had a garden Mayan – Technology

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invented the concept of zero Hieroglyphic writing – aspects of life were recorded on bark books, deer sking, and buildings Invented 2 calendars o 260 days (13/20) ritual cycle o 365 day 18/20 months ) solar cycle o 2 calendars converged every 52 years o Started calendar 3114 BCE

Aztecs - pushed into central America when Tula collapsd - built twin capital 1325 Tenochtitland and Tlaxcala - Clan based political structure at first - Moved to a monarchal system as it grew - Leaders did not have absolute powers - By 1500 great inequalities existed - Constructed a 5.5 mile long and 23 feet wide dike to separate the fresh and salt water parts of lake texcoco - Believed in human sacrifice – the sun god required a diet of human hearts (mainly war captives or criminals) - Conquered by Hernan Cortez 1519 Overview - UNlikeley environment for development of a rich and powerful civilization - Large scale drainage, irrigation, and terracing the hillsides increased agricultural development - Members of clans or ayllu held land communally - Work was divided along gender lines Moche - started about 200 CE - cultivated maize, beans, manioc, sweet potatoes - had a complex network of canals and aqueducts as far as 75 miles - elite lived above the commoners - high quality textiles, ceramics, and metallurgy Chimu - took over the area controlled by the MOche in 800 - controlled 625 miles of Peruvian coast - lsot to the incas about 1465 Inca - started expanding around 1430 - 6 million ppl by 1525 - Called their area the land of four corners - Large professional military - Early incas were pastoral - Cuzco was the capital 30,000 ppl - Royal family claimed to descend from the sun – primary god of the Inca - Each new king was expected to expand the boundaries - 1525 Inca ruler Huayna Capac Died

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His two sons fought for power – civil war 1531 Francisco Pizarro from Spain arrived with 180 men