Civilizations of the Americas: Aztecs, Mayans, Incas

Aztecs

• Capital city: Tenochtitlan, known for its grand architecture and advanced society
• Transitioned from hunter-gatherers to settled agriculture, symbolized by an eagle on a cactus holding a snake
• Utilized chinampas, or floating gardens, for farming
• Population peaked at around 200,000, making it the largest empire in America
• Practiced polytheism, worshipping many gods including a significant sun god; human sacrifices were common

Mayans

• Prominent city-states included Tikal and Chichen Itza, celebrated for their stone pyramids
• Polytheistic religion influences governance through a theocracy, where political leaders derive authority from divine sources
• Key achievements: the development of a 365-day calendar and the invention of the concept of zero
• Engaged in extensive trade networks and practiced enslaved labor
• Civilization thrived between approximately 300 and 900 A.D.

Incas

• Largest of the early American civilizations, emerging around 1200 A.D.
• Spanned 3,000 miles along the western coast of South America
• Prized military service: men aged 25-50 drafted into the army for up to five years
• Population estimated at 6 million, supported by an expansive road system of 10,000 miles
• Innovations included rope bridges and quipus, a system of knots used for record-keeping

Iroquois

• A confederation of tribes in North America that significantly influenced colonial governance structures

S.C.O.O.M

• Acronym for the member tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy: Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Mohawks

Caravel

• A type of ship featuring triangular sails, designed to enable sailing into the wind more effectively

3 G's

• Motivational factors for exploration: God (religious expansion), Glory (national power and prestige), and Gold (economic gain)

The Columbian Exchange

• A monumental trade of goods between the New World and the Old World
• New World contributions: gold, silver, maize, potatoes, pineapples, tobacco, chocolate, and syphilis
• Old World contributions: wheat, sugar, rice, coffee, horses, cows, pigs, and diseases such as influenza, smallpox, scarlet fever, and measles
• Resulted in population growth and wealth increase in the Old World and significant ecological changes in the New World

Pueblo Revolt

• Also known as Pope's Rebellion; a response to Spanish repression of indigenous cultural practices
• Resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Europeans, including 21 priests, and led to the capture of Santa Fe by Native Americans
• Spanish returned 12 years later to quell the uprising

England Colonizing

• Motivations included the search for a northwest passage and economic changes driven by the enclosure movement
• Primogeniture laws dictated that the eldest son inherits family land, shaping land ownership and settlement patterns
• Mercantilism: the economic theory that increased gold/silver holdings equate to national power; aims for a favorable balance of trade
• Protestant Reformation spurred by Martin Luther's "95 Theses" emphasizing salvation through faith

England

• Virginia named in honor of Queen Elizabeth I, the "virgin queen"
• Virginia Dare recognized as the first American-born child of English parents

Roanoke

• Known as the "Lost Colony"; when English settlers returned from Europe, the settlement was mysteriously deserted
• The only clue left behind was the word "Croatoan" carved into a tree