CH. 9: THE AMERICAS

S E C . 1: T

H E EA R L I E

S T AM E R I C

A N S

• Historians believe that the first people to inhabit the Americas came from Asia

• The people crossed a strait called the Bering Strait up by Alaska before the glaciers melted

• During the Ice Age, Asians began to cross this “land bridge” known as Beringia, into the Americas

SEC. 2: CULTURES OF NORTH AMERICAT H E N O RT H W E S T

• Relied on fishing• Expert weavers &

woodworkers• Totem poles• Potlatches-chief

would display clan’s materials, give them away to enhance the family’s social status

T H E S O U T H W E S T

• Hohokam people• Farmers built

irrigation networks• Grew beans, corn, &

cotton

G R E AT P L A I N S

• The buffalo became sacred in the religion of the Plains peoples because they had many purposes for the buffalo

• Lived in tepees• Some groups did farm:

beans, corn, & squash

EASTERN WOODLANDSH O P E W E L L T R I B E S

• Ohio valley region• Built earthen

mounds• Skilled artists• Trade w/ other

tribes is evident

M I SS I SS I P P I A N S• Lived along Miss.

River• Corn was main crop• Complex & extensive

culture• Also great mound

builders

SEC. 3: MESOAMERICA AND ANDEAN SOUTH AMERICA• Mesoamerica is the name given to the areas of

Mexico and Central America that were civilized before the Spaniards arrived

THE OLMEC• Large class of

farmers & a small elite class

• Carved giant stone heads

• Worshipped part-jaguar god

THE CHAVIN• Created ceramic religious

vessels and decorated seashells with images of cats

• Both Olmec & Chavin cultures mysteriously disappeared between 400bc and 200bc

THE MAYA• Skilled architects &

engineers• Religion was complex &

they worshipped many gods• Writing system w/

“glyphs”• Studied astronomy• Developed calendar

THE TOLTEC• Capital at Tula• Introduced

metalworking• Worshipped

Quetzalcoatl who became one of the chief gods of ancient Mexico & N. Central America

• Practiced human sacrifice

THE AZTEC• Built their city

Tenochtitlan - may have held more than 200,000 people

• Learned from people they conquered: metalworking, pottery making, & weaving

• Produced fine art, calendars, & mathematics

• Farmed on Chinampas-raised fields made w/ mud taken from the bottom of lakes

• Military dominated society

• Practiced human sacrifices

THE INCA• Civilization was in the

Andes Mtns. In S. America• Capital was Cuzco• Excellent system of roads &

communication helped unify empire

• Built fortresses & irrigation ditches

• Quechua was the official language of the Inca Empire (still spoken today)

• Kept records by means of quipu, a series of knots on parallel strings

• Produced ceramics, textiles, & metals

• Practiced medicine –used anesthetics & operations on the brain

DECLINE OF THE AZTECS & THE INCA• In the 1400s unrest grew among

surrounding peoples who had been forced to pay oppressive tribute to the Aztec weakened empire

• The Aztec dominated conquered peoples militarily

• The Inca brought conquered peoples into one imperial culture

• Both the Inca & the Aztec empires suffered from lack of natural immunity to diseases that the Spanish brought w/ them from Europe contributed to the downfall of both the Inca & the Aztec