What was America

like before 1492?

1400

Difficulties

Could not read or write Knowledge of

immediate

surroundings

Age of Discovery

Famous Merchant

Marco Polo

China

Jewels Silk

Spices

Prisoner of warGenoa – 1298 Rusticiello

THE TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO

Christopher Columbus

The Aztec And

Inca Empires

THE AZTECS

Mexico - 1300

WARRIORS

LAKE TEXCOCO

Tenochtitlan

200 Years

EMPIRE

THE SUN GOD

Huitzilopochtli

WARS

Fought all of the time

The defeated tribes had to give Food Treasure Prisoners to be sacrificed

Basket + Dirt = Floating Farm

Corn

Chilli peppers

Beans

Potters

Weavers Carpenters

1519 Hernando Cortés

HorsesGuns

QUETZALCOATL – THE SERPENT GOD

DISEASE

THE INCAS

In 1438 they defeated the Chime group

THE INCAN EMPIRE

Well organized

Everyone had work

Cities from stone

TYPES OF STRUCTURES

Temples

Observatories

Palaces

Ordinary homes

Machu Picchu

EMPEROR VISITED PEOPLE

LOYAL

CONQUISTADORS

1532

Francisco Pizarro Captured and killed the Inca emperor The empire collapsed within a few

years

The Mayan

Civilization

Rainforests

KINGS PRIESTS WARRIOR

S

GODS

Gods Kings were gods too

850

Moved north to Yucatán The Toltec settled in the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá

1500

The Mayan kingdoms had shrunk to just a few small towns.