Early American Empires

Types of Government• Democracy = a system of government in which the

power is shared by all the people• Authoritarianism = a system of government in which

power is highly centralized and maintained by political repression

• Monarchy = a system of government in which all or most of the power is in the hands of one individual, the monarch, whose authority is hereditary.

Now that’s a nice looking

map!

• Yucatan Peninsula• Valley of Mexico• Andes Mountains

Maya Empire (250 - 900 CE)• Each city had its own ruling chief (usually men, but

sometimes women governed)• Nobles served as both military rulers, officials who

collected taxes, and law enforcers• Since most Mayas were farmers, men cultivated the crops

and women turned them into food• Most of the wealth of Maya cities, like Tikal, came from

trade (honey, cocoa, and feathers) along roads of packed earth across Middle America.

Aztec Empire (1400s – 1521)• A single ruler, or Emperor, was chosen by council of nobles

& priests and led the Aztecs from the capital• Tenochtitlan was a city (with temples, palaces, zoos and

floating gardens) and the center of a well-ordered empire• Nobles served as officials, judges, and governors• Warriors might rise to nobles by killing/capturing enemies• Majority of people were farmers; some built chinampas• The lowest class were slaves, mostly prisoners of war

Inca Empire (1400s – 1535)• The emperor, known as Sapa Inca, exercised absolute

power over the empire because he claimed divine right• Incan god-kings owned all land, herds, mines, and people• Gold, the “sweat of the sun,” was the emperor’s symbol • From their mountain capital at Cuzco, the Incas had an

efficient chain of command that reached into every village• Nobles ran the local provinces and villages• Officials enforced laws and collected taxes with quipus• The government divided up harvests among the farmers