Lesson 1.1.B - Early Americans

​Early American Civilizations

Lesson 1​.1.B

Topic 1: Early Americans & European Exploration

​Objective 2

Describe early civilizations and cultures of the Americas​

​

Olmecs Develop a Civilization

• Farming communities grew enough food to support large populations

  • Cities emerged as populations grew

• Cities are considered the first civilizations in the Americas

  • Civilization: a society that shares a language, territory, and economy

    • Civilizations have organized government, social classes, and complex religions

• Olmecs were the first civilization in the Americas

  • Developed about 3,500 years ago on the east coast of Mexico

  • Olmecs known for carving large heads out of stone and constructing stone temples

  • Olmecs developed a calendar to mark the change of seasons and mark the passage of time.

Multiple Choice

The first cities developed because...

• the invention of the calendar made it possible to predict the seasons.

• builders learned how to make permanent dwellings out of stone.

• farmers were able to grow more food than they needed to survive.

Mayan Civilization

• Mayans lived about 3,000 years ago in Central America

  • Maya farmers produced enough food to feed large city-states

    • city-state: a political unit that controls a city and its surrounding land

  • A network of roads linked city-states and encouraged trade and competition

    • City-state waged war on each other for land, riches, and access to trade routes

• Mayan Social Classes

  • Nobles: Kings, priests, warriors, government officials

    • Priests played an important role in religious ceremonies that brought good harvests

  • Laborers & Farmers: Grew corn, squash, and other crops to feed cities

  • Slaves: Prisoners of war or criminals

• Math & Astronomy

  • Priests had to know when to honor their many gods that controlled the natural world

    • Priests studies the sun, moon, and stars and created an accurate 365 day calendar

• Mayan Civilization Disappeared around 900

  • Historians believe warfare or drought likely lead to the demise of the Mayas

The Maya built temples and palaces atop huge stone pyramids.

Mayan Temples

Multiple Choice

Which group of people had the highest power in Maya society?

• Nobles

• Farmers

• Laborers

• Slaves

Multiple Choice

True or False: Mayan priests were able to produce an accurate 365 day calendar based on their knowledge of the stars.

• True

• False

Aztec Civilization

• Aztecs settled in central Mexico during the 1300s

  • Built the capital of Tenochtitlan in the middle of Lake Texcoco

    • Roads made of packed earth connected the capital to the mainland

• Aztec farming

  • Learned to farm in shallow swamps, dig canals, and built floating gardens called chinampas

    • Chinampas: reed mat attached to the lake bottom with long stakes were covered with mud to create farmland​

Multiple Choice

Which represents an Aztec adaptation to their environment?

• Settling near a lake.

• A surplus of farmed crops.

• Farming in shallow swamps and creating chinampas

Aztec Civilization

• Religion

  • Aztecs developed complex calendars by studying the stars

    • Calendars were used to improve planting and harvesting

  • Priests performed rituals to please many gods

    • Aztecs paid special attention to the god who controlled the sun

  • Aztecs believed the sun required human sacrifices in order to rise each day

    • Thousands of human captives were killed each year to please the sun god

• Aztec Civilization Ends

  • By 1500, Aztecs controlled land from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and was home to millions of people

  • People conquered by the Aztecs frequented looked for revenge

    • Aztecs faced many revolts due to high taxes and the sacrifice of many prisoners

  • Multiple enemy groups would join together to destroy the Aztec Empire

Multiple Choice

True or False: The Aztecs killed thousands of people every year to keep the Sun God happy.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Why did the Aztecs deal with so much unrest in their society?

• People they conquered were forced to pay high taxes.

• The Aztecs did not have a strong military to control their people.

• European countries provided weapons to neighboring civilizations.

Inca Civilization

• Incas built a large empire that stretched most of the west coast of South America

  • Inca capital was the holy city of Cuzco in the Andes Mountains

    • Cuzco was home to massive palaces and temples made of stone and gold decoration

  • The Inca Emperor was considered a god who had descended from the sun god

    • The Emperor ruled more than 10 million people throughout the empire

    • The Incas gained territories by waging war on the surrounding people

  • Inca Empire was well organized

    • Emperor sent governors to oversea far away territory

    • Governors required every person to assist in projects for the empire

      • Roads, mining, farming, pottery

• Inca Achievements

  • Incas built a 10,000 mile network of roads

  • Huge stone temples and forts were built in the mountains

  • Built terraces in steep mountainsides to create farmland with stone walls to prevent erosion

    • Terrace: a wide shelf of land cut into a hillside

​Inca Ruins

Multiple Choice

How did the Incas make it possible to farm in such a mountainous region?

• They built terraces to create farmland in hillsides.

• They used primitive explosives to flatten mountain tops.

• They only raised crops that grew in rocky soil

Multiple Choice

True or False: The Inca emperor was believed to be a descendant of a god.

• True

• False