TWO AMERICAN EMPIRES

By Navya and Tyler xD

Aztec

Inca

THE AZTEC

The Aztec were a group of hunter-gatherers living on a small island in northwestern Mexico. This was not

their homeland, but they were living here because their god summoned

them to leave their homeland.

The Aztec =)

By the time the Aztec had arrived in the Valley of Mexico, some powerful tribes had already claimed the fertile areas in the land. Therefore, they had settled in a swampy, uninhabited island in Lake Texcoco.

Building an Empire/ Adapting to the Land

The Aztec didn’t have such a great looking future. This was because their land was mostly swampy, so they couldn’t grow crops or cloth. However, they adapted to the land, and caught birds and fish instead. The Aztec also learned of a way of farming that was suited for swampy lands-Chinampas. Chinampas are narrow strips of land about 300 feet long, and 15-30 feet wide.

Rising to Power As the number of Aztec warriors increased, so did the military skills, and its reputation. In 1428, the Aztec made a 3 way alliance with 2 other powerful tribes. This Triple Alliance increased Aztec military strength, and soon the began to build a huge empire . One of the greatest rulers was Ahuitzotl. He led the Aztec through great difficulties, and conquests. When he died in 1502, his nephew, Moctezuma, became the new ruler.

As the Aztec empire became larger, and expanded quite a lot, the society became more complex. They began to develop a different class structure over a period of more than 200 years.

Living in the Empire

Social Classes

The Aztec lived in large settlements called calpullis. Different class people, such as nobles and commoners, lived in each calpullis. Commoners made up the majority of the Aztec population. At about 10 years old, commoner boys were sent to school run by the calpulli. Aztec commoners also had to pay tribute to the government. Trade and Markets

Aztec merchants lived in separate calpullis. They traveled and brought back exotic goods for the nobles. They often employed many carriers who walked in long caravans carrying heavy items for trips of 250 miles or more.

Archaeologists have restored many Aztec ruins, like buildings and such. They’ve also recovered items used on an everyday basis like jewelry, pottery, and carvings, and even the remains of their sacrifices. The most important artifact that was discovered was probably the Aztec codices, or codes. Each codex is a kind of book, with pages of bark. At one point, there were hundreds of books, however Spanish settlers burned many codices, and others just rotted in the humid climate.

Cultural AchievementsFighting For the GodsThe everyday lives of

the Aztec for all classes revolved around religion. Because the Aztec lived mostly by farming, most of their gods are based on forces of nature. The 2 most important gods were Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and war, and Tlaloc, the god of rain. The Aztec feared Huitzilopochtli the most because they believed he could destroy the world whenever he wanted to.

The Aztec would have many religious ceremonies each and every year. At these ceremonies, Aztec priests offered sacrifices to the gods to please them. Human sacrifices were the most common. The Aztec people sacrificed as many as 10,000 people when the Temple of Son was dedicated to sun and rain gods.

Religion was not only the reason for Aztec wars. They also wanted to control the Valley of Mexico. To meet the demand of paying tribute to support the growing government, the Aztec conquered more and more tribes. At the calpulli schools, the boys learned to fight ruthlessly and became strong warriors.

War and Religion

Human Sacrifices

The Inca

The Inca built a large stone fortress of Sacsahuaman during the 1400s. It was built north of their capital city Cuzco in western South America.

Rising to PowerThe Inca competed

with other tribes for control over the fertile land of the Cuzco Valley. Unlike other major tribes like the Aztec, or Maya, the Inca had no writing systems. It was finally in 1438 that the Inca began to gain dominance over the Cuzco Valley. By 1525, the Inca Empire covered most of what is now Ecuador.

The Inca were able to conquer and control so many different so many people from far away from their capital. This was because they had superior organizations and administrative skills. However, this is only part of the answer.

Conquering and Controlling

Conquering a

RegionThe Inca ruler sent scouts to the

region he wanted to take over.

The scout would judge whether

the land was worth taking over

by its fertility, the strength of the

armies and defenses. Before

attacking, the Inca ruler would go

to the other tribes’ leader and try

to persuade them to join the

empire peacefully, which they

would usually refuse, and they

would fight. When tribes were

peaceful, the Inca allowed the

local rulers to stay in power.

Organizing the PeopleInca ruler completely controlled the lives of their people. They believed that the ruler was lord of everything. Most people were commoners, and nobles were the smallest group. They had to pay tribute to the government just like other tribes, like the Aztec. Under Inca rule, commoners had little individual freedoms. The government even decided who they married!

Even though commoners had little freedom, they rarely ever went hungry in their lives. Once the Inca conquered a region, they took control of the land. The commoners harvested one part for the government, one part for religious leaders, and one part for themselves. Because soil, temperature, and other conditions change as altitude increased, only certain crops could be grown in certain areas.

When an Inca ruler died, the Inca mummified his body. The Inca made animal or special food sacrifices to their gods. Only in times of crisis did they sacrifice humans. In Cuzco, priests began each day with prayers, offering to gods, and predictions of the future. The Inca were optimistic about the world, and their position in it. The arrival of the Spanish, however, ruined that thinking.

ARRIVAL OF THE SPANISH

Hernando Cortes

Hernando Cortes, the Spanish conquistador, arrived on the land of Mexico in April 1519. With him were over 550 men, 16 horses, 14 cannons, and a couple of dogs.

THE EMPIRES WEAKEN

The Spanish appeared in the early 1500s. At that time, civil war plagued between the Aztec and Inca. In the Aztec Empire, a number of subject tribes began the rebel against the Aztec rulers.

Old and New Worlds Clash

When the Spanish arrived, Moctezuma first thought that Cortes was the god Quetzacoatl that came to reclaim the wealth of his kingdom. However, Cortes take Moctezuma hostage. One of Cortes’ deputies massacred thousands of people. In May 1521, the Spanish began to take over the Aztec empire. Finally on August 13, 1521 the Aztec gave up due to disease, starvation, or war wounds. The Inca Empire came to an end similarly 11 years when conquistador Francisco Pizzaro took over. It ended in 1572.

A few of the reasons the Inca and Aztec lost were because of the weapons. While the Spanish were with newer time and had guns, cannons and metal armor, the Aztec and Inca had spears, bronze and copper shields, and cloth armor, they were NO match. Second, the Aztec and Spanish had different culture. Moctezuma believed Cortes to be a god, and let him walk into the city freely. However, the Spanish fought to kill. After conquering the Aztec, they replaced their beliefs with Christian faith. The Spanish also won against the Aztec and Inca due to diseases brought from Europe, which were new to them, so they weren’t immune to it. However the Inca were more resistant, and so today about 20 million Inca descendants still live.

Two Empires Destroyed

PEACE OUT!

FOR WATCHING!!