Topic: From Empires and Colonies to Free Nations

1
TopicFrom Empires and Colonies to Free Nations
Part 1
2
From Empires

• When Columbus came to the New World in 1492, he
  thought he had landed off the coast of India, in
  Asia. Therefore he gave the name Indian to all
  the people living in Latin America. They were not
  Indians, so who were these people?
• There are many different ideas about the origin
  of the Native Americans. Most believe hunting
  tribes crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to
  North America and moved southward until all of
  the two continents had been crossed and settled.
• The three major Native American groups of the
  past were the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas.

3
The Maya

• They built their civilization in present-day
  Guatemala and on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
  They reached their peak between the 4th and the
  10th centuries and began to slowly fade away.
• They lived in separate city-states. Wars were
  fought to obtain tribute (payment) and to acquire
  prisoners for religious sacrifice.
• What happened?...
• - War and lost?
• - Soil became poor, loss of food?
• - Disease?
• - Volcanic Eruption?

4
Achievements

• Developed a writing system (Spanish destroyed
  many records)
• Sculpted in cement, clay, and wood
• Built temples on top of great terraced pyramids
• Made pottery, developed textile weaving,
  mat-making, basket-weaving, and jade carving
• Kept time and made a calendar (studied the sun
  and stars) 365 day calendar was most accurate
• Fine mathematicians understood the idea of the
  zero, developed a counting system using bars and
  dots

5
Aztecs

• Lived in highlands of central Mexico. They
  started out as nomads.
• In the 13th century, they settled near a chain of
  lakes and built (1325) their capital of
  Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) on an island of
  Lake Texcoco. The city had very large public
  buildings.
• Over the years, they conquered many neighbors and
  became rulers of Mexico.
• Believed in human sacrifice killed victims and
  the blood and heart were offered to the gods.

6
Achievements

• Wove cotton, made beautiful jewelry, and wrote
  poetry
• Great farmers (the empire owned all the land)
• - corn, beans, squash, peppers, tobacco
• Chocolate
• Great engineers and architects
• - bridges, dikes, canals

7
Incas

• Lived in the highlands of the Andes Mts.
  (stretched 3000 miles from north to south)
• The people were called Quechua and the ruler was
  called Inca. There were people living in Peru and
  Bolivia before the Incas.
• They came to Cuzco, Peru about 1200. They gained
  power by getting other tribes to join them, not
  by war. They took care of the young, old, and
  sick.

8
Achievements

• Excellent road builders
• Excellent bridge builders
• Excellent record keepers with no written language
  (used a series of strings)
• Built cities of stone
• Herded llama and alpaca (beasts of burden)
• Excellent farmers (terraced farms, canals for
  irrigation)
• (the new crop was the potato)
• Excellent communication (had runners/messengers)

9
Native American Foods

• Peanut butter
• Cereal grains
• Tomatoes
• Chocolate
• Avocado
• Papaya
• Mushrooms
• Nuts
• Wild grapes

• Tapioca
• Maple syrup
• Maize
• Vanilla
• Cranberries
• Pumpkins
• Beans
• Black berries
• Squash

10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)