Aztec and Inca

The Aztec

• Wandered for 200 years• Settled in Valley of Mexico – Their god told them to find a place with an eagle on a

cactus—and they did:• Capital: Tenochtitlan (“place of the prickly pear

cactus), island in Lake Texcoco(modern Mexico City)• Empire: 1300-1521 AD• Called themselves “Mexica”• Defeated by Hernan Cortes in 1521

Eagle on a Prickly Pear Cactus…What modern-day country’s flag is this?

Chinampas• Floating Gardens that the Aztecs built at

Tenochitlan to grow crops.

Calpulli

• Aztec settlements where farming families worked together to grow enough food

Aztec Housing—made from reeds and mud

Aztec Life

• Similar to Maya– Study nature and astronomy– Human sacrifice– Architecture devoted to gods and astronomy– Accurate calendar to predict seasons (agriculture)

and when to go to war

Aztec Warfare

• All Aztec boys were born to be warriors• In battle, they killed townspeople, but focused

more on capturing warriors for human sacrifice.• Plundered (to steal, usually during warfare)

homes of their enemies• Had no fear of death—it was an honor to die in

battle, sacrifice, or in childbirth.• Commoners can rise in social class if they

perform one brave act in warfare!

Fall of the Aztecs

• Hernan Cortes, 1521. Captures Montezuma II.• How did he beat the Aztecs?– Disease (smallpox)– Alliances (other tribes angry at Aztec domination)– Different styles of warfare– Spanish = superior weapons (guns, cannons, metal

weapons like swords)

Conquistador

• Soldier-explorers sent to the Americas by Spain (Columbus, Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro just to name a few)

Hernan Cortes

• The Conquistador who conquered the Aztecs in 1521.

Montezuma II

• The Aztec emperor who was captured and killed by Hernan Cortes in 1521

The Inca

• Modern day Peru—Andes Mountains• 1400-1532 AD• Empire divided into 4 regions, whose corners

met at capital city• Capital city: Cuzco• Defeated by Francisco Pizarro in 1532/33

Llamas

• No beasts of burden (large animals) so used llamas instead!

Terraces• Flat areas on a hillside where people farm or

have built houses. That land has been terraced, meaning "made into shelves."

Incan Life

• Rarely (not very often) sacrificed humans—only in emergencies or special occasions.

• Honored their gods by building huge stone buildings!

Sacsayhuaman

• Fortress built in the 1400s in Cuzco, Peru• NO MORTAR (a mixture like cement to hold

building walls together)!!! • Spanish used many stones to build cities, but

what they left still stands today

Machu Picchu

• Built around 1452 AD• May have been the estate of Pachacuti– Estate: (a large area of land usually with a large

house and/or its own tiny village, owned by one person or one family)

• Because of its location, the Spanish never found it, so they could not destroy it!

Quipu• Incan number recording system—knots on different

colored ropes• The colors may represent other information besides

numbers, but we haven’t deciphered that yet.

Pachacuti

• Greatest Incan ruler who expanded and united the Inca Empire– Trained leaders’ sons at Cuzco to keep powerful

families loyal to Empire– System of roads (25,000 miles)– Made everyone speak Quechua

• Largest empire in Americas

Fall of the Inca• Francisco Pizarro, 1532/33.• Inca were having a crisis of succession (two

brothers were fighting over the throne)– This made the Inca vulnerable (weak, easier to

defeat)• Atahualpa (Incan Emperor) captured by Pizarro,

locked in a room– Atahualpa promised to fill the room with gold if

Pizarro would let his kingdom free– Atahualpa kept his promise, but Pizarro killed him

anyway– King of Spain makes Pizarro governor of “Peru”

Francisco Pizarro

• Conquistador who defeated the Inca in 1532/33

Atahualpa

• Incan Emperor who was captured and killed by Pizarro

Aztec/Inca Comparison ChartAztec Inca

Location/Capital

Class Structure

Religion

Warfare

Fall

Legacy

With your partner…

• Partner on the left reads pages 399-402

• Team up with your partner to fill in the chart AFTER you finish reading.

• Partner on the right reads pages 412-415

• Team up with your partner to fill in the chart AFTER you finish reading.