2.1 The Inca

Inca

• Settled along the pacific coast of South America: parts of Colombia , Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador

• Empire at its peak from 1438- 1530s

Workings of the Empire

• Government– Emperor ( Sapa Inca) was a descendant of the

sun god Inti– 80 provinces within the empire– At its height about 12 million people in the

empire

Society

• Families were organized into groups based on kinship, blood relationship, and common land ownership

• Incas married within their kinship groups• Worked together and shared land and resources• Leader of each family worked for the empire for a

few months as builders, farmers, craftsman or foot soldiers

Inca Achievements

• Terraced farms

• Irrigation canals

• Suspension bridges

• System of roads

• Machu Pichu ( giant walls, terraces, sloping ramps and steep staircases)

Fall of the Inca Empire

• Internal conflicts between provinces

• A weak economy

• Attacked by the Spanish

2.2 Nasca Culture

• Lived in a desert plateau in southern Peru, around 2,000 years ago

• Left beautiful ceramics and the Nasca lines( geoglphs)

• One of the first complex societies

• Probably forced out or migrated because of their rivals the Wari

2.3 People of the Lowlands

• Settled lowlands along the Orinoco River and surrounding grasslands, the Amazon Basin and the Paraguay River Basin

• Rivers provided abundant wildlife, vegetation, and fish

• Grand Chaco, which is a flood plain in Paraguay River basin provides rich soil

Development of Agriculture

• First people were hunters and gathers( nomads)

• Hunted wildlife, fished and gathered fruits and plants

• 3000BC people began to farm and produce a stable food source. They then built villages and lived a settled lifestyle

Guarani

• Lived in the lowlands next to the Paraguay and Parana Rivers

• Used slash and burn to clear land and plant crops( corn, root vegetables, sweet potatoes and cassava)

• Hunted animals and fished the rivers

Tupinamba

• Settled the area near the mouth of the Amazon River

• Cultivated crops using slash and burn

• Hunted river mammals and turtles

• Fished

Yanomami

• Settled Amazon River basin and are still hunter gatherers today

• Use slash and burn agriculture, but migrated to the north central lowlands for more frtile land

2.4 The Spanish in South America

• 1494- Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas

• Drew a line on the map that divided the newly discovered area between the two countries. Spain – west, Portugal- east

• Spain conquered most of South America, after Columbus landed on the northern coast in 1498

Spanish Conquests

• Spain was looking for gold, silver and land to expand its empire

• 1533- Francisco Pizarro overthrew the Incas and emperor Atahualpa

• Founded the city of Lima, Peru which became the center of the Spanish government and empire

• Other conquistadors explored and conquered Colombia, Chile, and transformed most of the continent

Impact on Natives

• Deadly diseases like small pox, measles, and influenza killed millions

• Many were enslaved and forced to work on plantations, ranches and in the mines

• Many were also forced by the missionaries to convert to Christianity

Brazil and the Slave Trade

• Portuguese were much slower to colonize Brazil- 2 decades

• Wanted brazil wood and sugarcane• Tried enslaving natives, but overwork and

disease killed many• Turned to Africa for a labor source• Continuous trade of slaves by Portuguese

from 1560- 1800s

Portuguese Wealth

• Brazil’s resources and slave labor made many wealthy

• Coffee, and sugarcane plantations

• Gold and diamond mines

• Slave trade- bought and sold 5 million slaves

2.6 Simon Bolivar

• South America had been ruled by Spain for more than 300 years

• 1810 Bolivar returns from Europe and starts an independence movement in Venezuela

• 1815- Bolivar flees and lives in exile in Jamaica• 1819- returned and led the people through

speeches and as a general in the army• Called “the Liberator” or the George Washington

of South America