Essay about Chapter 21

Submitted By oschmelzel
Words: 874
Pages: 4

Chapter 21:
Worlds Apart: The Americas and Oceania

States and Empires in Mesoamerica and North America
Societies had limited or no contact with Africa, Asia, Europe
Brief presence of Scandinavians in Newfoundland, Canada
Some Asian contact with Australia
Mesoamerica in period of war and conquest, 8th century CE
The Toltecs
Regional states in central Mexican valley
Religious and cultural influence of collapsed Teotihuacan
Intense warfare
Toltecs migrate from north-west Mexico, settle at Tula (near modern Mexico city)
High point of civilization: 950-1150 CE
Urban population of 60,000, another 60,000 in surrounding area
Subjugation of surrounding peoples
Civilization destroyed by internal strife, nomadic incursions 1175 CE
The Mexica
One of several groups of migrants, mid 13th c. CE
Tradition of kidnapping women, seizing cultivated lands
Settled c. 1375 CE in Tenochtitlan (later becomes Mexico City)
Dredged soil from lake bottom to create fertile plots of land
Chinampas, up to 7 crops per year
The Aztec Empire
Mexica develop tributary empire by 15th century
Itzcóatl (1428-1440), Motecuzouma I (Montezuma, 1440-1469)
Joined with Texcoco and Tlacopan to create Aztec Empire
Mexica Society
Hierarchical social structure
High stature for soldiers
Mainly drawn from aristocratic class
Land grants, food privileges
Sumptuary privileges, personal adornment
Mexica Women
Patriarchal structure
Emphasis on child-bearing
Especially future soldiers
Mothers of warriors especially lauded
Priests
Masters of complex agricultural/ritual calendars
Ritual functions
Read omens, advised rulers
Occasionally became rulers as well
Cultivators and Slaves
Communal groups: calpulli
Originally kin-based
Management of communal lands
Work obligation on aristocratic lands
Slave class
Debtors
Children sold into slavery
Mexica Religion
Influenced by indigenous traditions from the Olmec period
Ritual ball game
Solar calendar (365 days) and ritual calendar (260 days)
Not as elaborate as Maya calendar
Mexica Gods
Tezcatlipoca (“smoking mirror”)
Powerful god of life and death
Patron god of warriors
Quetzalcóatl
Arts, crafts, agriculture
Huitzilopochtli
14th century popularity, patron of Mexica
Emphasis on blood sacrifices
Ritual Bloodletting
More emphasis on human sacrifice than predecessor cultures
Sacrificial victims had tips of fingers torn off before death, ritual wounds
Victims: Mexica criminals, captured enemy soldiers
Personal rituals: piercing of penis, earlobes
Peoples and Societies of the North
Pueblo and Navajo Societies
American southwest
Maize farming 80% of diet
By 700 CE, construction of permanent stone or adobe dwellings, 125 sites discovered
Iroquois Peoples
Settled communities in woodlands east of Mississippi
Mound-building peoples
Ceremonial platforms, homes, burial grounds
Cahokia large mound near east St. Louis, 900-1250 CE
Trade
No written documents survive regarding northern cultures
Archaeological evidence indicates widespread trade
River routes exploited
States and Empires in South America
No writing before arrival of Spaniards, 16th century CE
Unlike Mesoamerican cultures, writing from 5th c. CE
Archaeological evidence reveals Andean society from 1st millennium BCE
Development of cities 1000-1500 CE
Before the Coming of the Incas
After displacement of Chavín, Moche societies
Development of autonomous regional states in Andean South America
Kingdom of Chucuito
Lake Titicaca (border of Peru and Bolivia)
Potato cultivation, herding of llamas, alpacas
Kingdom of Chimu (Chimor)
Peruvian coast
Capital Chanchan
The Inca Empire
From valley of Cuzco
Refers to people who spoke Quecha language
Settlement around Lake Titicaca mid 13th century
Ruler Pachacuti (r. 1438-1471) expands territory
Modern Peru, parts of Equador, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina
Population 11.5 million
Quipu and Inca Administration
Incas ruled by holding hostages, colonization
No writing, used system of cords and knots called quipu
Mnemonic aid
Cuzco
Capital of Inca empire
Residents high