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unit 1: test prep material ❗

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1.4 : State Building in the Americas

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Learning Objective
1.4 I
Explain how and why states in the Americas developed and changed over time.


Thematic Focus: Governance
Key Concept(s)
3.2 IDi
In the Americas, as in Afro-Eurasia, state systems demonstrated continuity, innovation, and diversity, and expanded in scope and reach.

Related Key Terms
Tribute system
Mit’a system
Illustrative Examples
Maya city-states
Mexica (Aztecs)
Inca
Chaco
Mesa Verde
Cahokia
NOTES:
The Mississippian Culture:
The Mississippian culture is the first large-scale civilization. They built large earthen mounds.
for religious, ceremonial, and sometimes elite residential purposes
Cahokia - the largest and most influential of the mounds.
How was society organized in the Cahokia?
Great Sun (ruler of each large town)
priests & nobles
farmers, hunters, merchants, and artisans
enslaved people
They were usually prisoners of war
women farmed while men hunted
no one knows why people abandoned the civilization: there are two theories:
1) weather got too extreme and caused crops to fail
2) European disease killed them off
Chaco and Mesa Verde:
built their civilizations in an arid and treeless portion of land
developed ways to efficient collect, transport, and store water
built homes into the sides of cliffs with bricks and other building materials
Chaco: built large housing structures with hundreds of rooms using stones and clay
Mesa Verde: multi-story homes into the sides of cliffs using sandstone bricks
later drier climate: made them go extinct
Maya City-States:
southern part of Mexico
each city-state had a king, usually male, but if there was no male heir then a woman ruled
wars between city states because they wanted to gain tribute from other cities and also humans to use as human sacrifices
Mayan kings → descended from a god, and when he died, he re-merged with the god
elite scribes and priests administered state affairs
common people paid taxes in crops and labored for the government
no standing armies
no central government
Mayan technology:
the number 0 was their idea
complex writing system
learned how to make rubber
made precise observatories atop pyramids even without a telescope.
designed most accurate calendar in all of Europe at the time
Mayan religion:
priests can be male or female
they had to conduct ceremonies
they had to look at the calendar and decide when for ceremonies, when for war
sun, rain, corn deities
made offerings. includes humans.
The Aztecs/Mexicas:
tribute system - conquered people pay tribute to the Aztecs. It could be both practical goods and luxury goods.
Aztecs exercise political dominance without being locally involved
Spaniards are like whoa damn all these magnificent cities rising out of the water? and more structures on land that are also great? wow
How did the Aztec Empire come to be, and what was the source of their prosperity?
originally hunter-gatherers that migrated to Mexico
capital city of Tenochtitlán, an island in the middle of a swampy lake (modern day Mexico City)
the Great Pyramid, other pyramids, temples, palaces were built
chinampas - floating gardens that increased space for food production
for irrigation, ditches and drains were used
How was the Aztec Empire organized?
divided into provinces, further divided into city-states
warriors in each province for defense
Aztec official in each province to collect tribute
How was society structured in the Aztec Empire?
society was a theocracy, a rule by religious leaders
the Great Speaker (the emperor and divine rep of the gods)
land-owning nobles (also military leaders)
scribes and healers
craftspeople and traders
pochteca - a special merchant class that traded in luxury goods
peasants and soldiers
enslaved people
either used for manual labor or killed as religious sacrifice
women were important because they wove the cloth that rulers wanted as tribute.
few knew how to read or write except for some who worked as scribes from royal family
How did religion affect Aztec society?
worship, rituals, feast days
the Aztecs were way too obsessed with human sacrifices, so much that uh-oh! they inspired contempt and the tribes they conquered later rose up to rebel and overthrow the Aztecs when the Spaniards arrived
sacrificing humans because the gods sacrificed themselves to create the world so why not sacrifice humans to atone for their endless sin? great idea.
showed Aztec’s political power (and also how cruel and mean they were)
How did the Aztecs decline?
Spaniards conquered them
tribal people got mad (“STOP KILLING PEOPLE FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE!!”), and wanted to rebel. They seized the opportunity to do so when the Spaniards arrived, and made it easier for the empire to be conquered by the Spanish
bad technology (lack of wheels, lack of animals) → bad agriculture → not enough food → dead people :’(
expanded way too far
The Inca:
split empire to four provinces with their own bureaucracies to make it easier to govern
mit’a system: male citizens had to perform mandatory civil service
priests: they were like fortune-tellers. they could diagnose illness, determine sacrifice, predict war outcomes. they could predict the god’s motive.
human sacrifice: only occurred during a serious issue (OMG A DROUGHT. THE GODS ARE MAD AT US, LETS SACRIFICE A HUMAN)
animism: the idea that nature had personality (rivers, bridges, mountains)
What were some innovations of the Inca?
quipu: knots on strings that could record information. This was useful for carrying messages.
Carpa Nan: an extensive road system that was useful for the mountainous region.
easy travel for govt and military
they built terrace systems
captured and redirected rain to prevent erosion
stored water for later use during drier seasons
easy cultivation of their crops
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