The Americas in 1491

• Prior to European arrival in the Americas, there were approximately 50-100 million native Americans

• Many were complex civilizations with written language, religions, cities.

• All adapted and shaped their environment.

– South and Central America• Contained unified empires: Aztec (Mexico)

and Inca (Peru)• Population of millions

– North America• Primarily small populations, widely dispersed• No large scale “civilizations” at time of Euro

arrival

Aztec • A vast empire Located in

present-day Mexico• Large capital city,

Tenochtitlan– 200,000 people…larger than any

European city– Built in a large lake.– Large temples, courts, canals

and causeways.

• Complicated religion which required human sacrifice– Huitzilopochtli – Led to frequent wars in order to

gain captives.– 20,000 sacrificed to inaugurate a

new temple.

Human Sacrifice…Aztec style

Artistic rendering of Tenochtitlan

Ziggurat style temples in Tenochtitlan

A Spanish map of Tenochtitlan showing the elaborate system of causeways leading into the

city.

Inca

• Large empire that stretched along the coast of South America– Bigger than any

European nation, the Ming Dynasty, or the Ottoman Empire.

– 32 degrees of latitude

• Built huge public works:– Giant state-run farms– 25,000 miles of paved roads

• Some are steep stairs that go straight up mountainsides (perfect for llama, not horses)

– Suspension bridges (scared the bejezzus out of the Spaniards) over huge gorges

• Communication maintained by a system of runners who used knotted ropes to transmit messages.

An Incan suspension bridge

• To adapt to the steep moutains, the Inca constructed terraces for farming.

Mound Builders

• Adena & Hopewell Cultures– Ohio River Valley– Constructed huge burial mounds, filled

with goods.– Extensive trading along riverways.

Mound Builders

• Mississipian Culture– Largest of mound-builders– Built Cahokia, a city / religious

complex near St. Louis

Monk’s Mound dominates the city known as Cahokia. The structure is 100 ft high, 16 acres at base

Woodland Indians• Along the NE coast

of the US• Language groups:

– Algonquian• Massachusett• Wampanoag• Pequot• Narraganset

– Iroquoian• Six Nations (Iroquois

Confederacy): Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarawas

• Lived in long-houses

Woodland Indians

• Diet – “Three Sisters”

Farming• Maize (corn), beans,

and squash were grown together, conserving space and replenishing nutrients in the soil

• Iroquoian farms were perceived as a jumbled mess to Europeans, but the three sisters technique made wise use of space and replenished needed nutrients in the soil.

Woodland Indians

• Diet – Diet was supplemented by food

that was collected (berries, nuts, fruits, oysters, clams, etc) & hunted (fish, deer, bear)

• Women tended to farms and to collection of food, while men hunted…women provided 90% of the families food-sources.

Woodland Indians

• Cleared land for farming and travel by setting fires to the forest– Controlled burns– Cleared out underbrush

for ease of travel– Killed insects– Allowed sunlight to get to

the forest floor, allowing berries to grow and attracting deer and bear

Woodland Indians

• Used rivers as highways

• Perfected the canoe as a mode of transport.

• War canoes could carry up to 20 people.

Penobscot Indian birch-bark canoe

Woodland Indians

• Wampum– Belts made of

shells, used as a currency for trade.