Latin America – Early Civilizations of Middle AmericaMaya – Aztec – Inca
The Mayan Civilization
lasted from A.D. 250 – 900.
Copan is a Mayan city now located in present day Honduras. Tikal is also a
former Mayan city, which is now located in present day Guatemala.
The Mayan form of writing was known as hieroglyphics.
This is a form of graphic writing, using signs and symbols instead of
letters, as we do.
Although the Mayan farmer grew a variety of crops, corn, known as
maize was its most important crop.
The AztecEmpire
The Aztec Civilization began in the Valley of Mexico.
They settled on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1325. It took time to
develop, but lasted through the early
1500s.
The Aztec people were able to change a swampy lake into a
great city, which was called Tenochtitlan
which was its capital city.
By 1521, the Aztecs were defeated by
Cortes
Although the Spanish had fewer men than the Aztec, they had horses and
superior weapons. They brought disease to America, which the Native
Americans had never experienced. Within the first 50 years of Spanish colonization, the Native American
population went from approximately 25,000,000 to 3,000,000.
At the Treaty of Tordesillas, a Line of Demarcation was settled upon at 50 �Longitude, as a way of preventing war.
At the Treaty of Tordesillas, a Line of Demarcation was settled upon at 50 Longitude. Because of this treaty, ̊Brazil became a colony of Portugal.
New Spain and Peru were Spain’s 2 most important
provinces in American empire.
The Incas - People of the Sun!
Descendants of the Incans can be found today along the west coast of South America
in:
Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and
Columbia.
Peru
Ecuador
Columbia
Bolivia
C
H
I
L
E
South America
A Census is an official count of all people living in an area. Quipu was a knotted string used by the Incas as a method of keeping records
_____
3,643
The Incan government was
able to take census and collect taxes
because of the large scale
road system that they built.
Another great achievement of the Incas was a series of canals and pipes known as aqueducts. They would bring water
to dry land.
The world got a little closer and shared its wealth as a result of the age of exploration. It was known as the Columbian Exchange. Up to that time, Europe
was without tomato, corn (maize) and cacao bean (the source of chocolate). The new world got grapes, bananas and horses to name just a few.
Canada Europe
America
Caribbean Africa Islands South America
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