Summarize Aztec rule and society.
Cultivators and Slaves
Gods
Tezcalipoca "The Smoking Mirror"
- Mexica (Aztecs) built the empire in the 15th century
- Arrived in central Mexico in mid 13th century
- Settled in a marshy region in Lake Texcoco
- Founded capital - Tenochtitlan (Present day Mexico City)
- fish, frogs, and water were some of the advantages
- Enabled them to develop chinampa agriculture
- in the dry season, they tapped water from canals to their plots and grew maize, beans, squashes, tomatoes, peppers, and chiles
- In later rulings, they expanded to Oaxaca, and areas between Tenochtitlan and the Gulf
- Became allies with neighboring cities - Texcoco and Tlacopan (Tacuba)
- Combined total of 21 million people
- No bureaucracy or administration
- Local governance was left in the hands of the conquered peoples
- Rulers just demanded the tributes
- Forces were assembled as needed
- Reputation for military prowess
- Fear of reprisal kept subject people in line
- Allies allowed for empire to recieve tributes from population
- textile, rabbit fur blankets, embroidered clothes, jewlery, obsidian knives among the many
- Example annual tribute included 9,600 cloaks, 1,600 women's garments, 200 loads of cacao (cocoa), 16,000 rubber balls
- Some products were given to merchants to trade internationally
- Luxury items such as jewlery, tortoise shells, jaguar skins, parrot feathers, sea shells, game animals.
- At peak, markets dealt with gold, silver, slaves, henequen, cotton cloth, shoes, animal skins, turkeys, dogs, wild game, maize, beans, peppers, cacao, and fruits.
- all men were potential warriors
- rewards and honors went to the military elite
- individuals could distinguish themselves on the battlefield, improving their social standing
- Men of noble birth recieved the best training and received the best opportunities to improve social status
- Accomplished warriors received land grants and tributes from commoners
- The best warrior formed a council that selected the ruler, discussed punlic issues and filled govt. positions
- Ate luxury foods such as turkey, duck, deer, boar and rabbit
- Wore bright capes and eagle feathers, as opposed to commoners, who wore coarse, burlap-like garments, and aristocrats who wore cotton.
- Almost no public role
- Highly honored as mothers of warriors
- under the authority of their fathers and later husbands
- Did not hinherit property or hold government positions
- Prodded toward motherhood and homemaking
- Arts and crafts made by women, therfore common at the marketplace
- If not dedicated to the temple, all Mexica women married
- Principal function was to have children, especially lmales, to be warriors
- Having children was equivalent to the capture of an enemy in battle
- If they died at childbirth, the same honors were given as those given to warriors who died in battlefield
- Ranked among the elite
- Special education - calendrical and ritual lore
- presided over religious ceremonies believed to be necessary to the world
- Influenced the government strongly
- Read omens
- Explained forces that drove the world
- Sometimes became supreme rulers of the Aztec empire
- Motecuzoma II (1502-1520, reigned when Spanish invaded) was a priest
Cultivators and Slaves
- worked on lands owned by aristocratsand warriors
- contributed to the making of public works such as palaces, temples, roads, and irrigation systems
- Cultivators delivered tributes to state
- A portion of which was distributed, the rest was kept in warehouses
- Slaves worked as domestic servants
- Most were Mexica, not foreigners
- Sometimes, younger family members were sold to slavery
- Could be forced into slavery due to criminal behavior
- Chinampa- dirt and nutrients dug up from lake and wamp beds to farm on
- Craftsmen lived comfortably
- worked with items such as gold, silver, cotton, bird feathers
- Items that were consumed by the elite
- Merchants who specialized in trade had higher status
- Supplied gems, animal skins, and feathers
- Consumed by elites
- Provided political and military information about the lands they visited
- Often fell under the suspicion of being greedy
- Aristocrats frequently extorted wealth and goods from merchants who did not have a strong enough patron
Gods
Tezcalipoca "The Smoking Mirror"
- giver and taker of life
- patron diety of warriors
- Quetzalcoatl "The Feathered Spirit"
- Supported arts, crafts, and agriculture
- Demanded sacrificial victims
- Especially favored Mexica
- Ritual Bloodletting
- Believed world began with godly sacrifices, and honored that belief by sacrificing in their society
- Priests performed acts of self-sacrifice
- pierced earlobes with cactus spines
- They believed taht the gods let their blood flow, creating moisture in the earth, so they had ritual bloodlettings to continue their abundance in agriculture
- Essential to the world's survival
- Devotion to Huitzilopochtli
- honored him with a temple
- Celebrated him with rounds of sacrifice
- After 1487, reportedly sacrificed 80,000
- Some were Mexica criminals, others were tributes, others were captured by warriors
- Blood sustained the sun and secured moisture
- Describe pre-Columbian North America.
- North American peoples depended on hunting, fishing, and collecting edible plants to survive
- Pueblo and Navajo peoples(who lived in the southwestern United States region today), tapped river waters to irrigate crops, which instituted 80% of their diet.
- Hot and dry environment often brought famine to these regions as well
- Around 700 CE the pueblo and Navajo peoples began to construct adobe and and permanent stone buildings
- Man made mounds were often constructed for ritual purposes by the Iroquois peoples… Some mounds still exist today mainly in eastern half of North America
- Cahokia is the largest surviving mound from that time period still existing today, found in St. Louis, Illinois.
- Summarize Incan rule and society.
- highland region around Lake Titicaca
- depended on cultivation of potatoes
- very dependent
- staple food
- herding of llamas/alpacas
- wool, hides, ding(for fire)
- terraced farming
- irrigation networks harvested water flowing from Andes
- maize and sweet potatoes
- clear distinction in social classes
- area sectioned off into blocks belonging to different clans
- fell to rule of Inca
- Empire extended from Quito to Santiago(2,500 miles) due to military campains in 1400’s
- Encouraged obedience by taking hostages from ruling forces and forcing them to work at capital
- when uncooperative, Inca sent loyal subjects to colonize and set up garrisons to maintain order in conquered lands
- payed with land and wealth
- small cords tied to large cord
- small cords tied into many knots
- knots helped remember information
- recorded population, state property, taxes, labor services, also historic information about rulers
- Cuzco- administrative, religious, and ceremonial capital of Inca Empire
- population over 100,000
- allowed Cuzco to communicate with all parts of empire
- two roads, one connecting north and south through mountains, other along coast
- paved with stone, shaded by trees, 8 horseman wide
- new and information spread with group of runners
- favored efforts of centralization
- spread Quechua language
- even with roads, trade was weak
- not free-market economy, so craftsmen and merchants were not common
- individuals did produce textiles, pottery, and tools
- only sold and used locally
- chief ruler was a deity having descended from sun
- owner of everything
- dictatorship type rule
- mummified and considered links between earth and gods
- lived privileged lives
- wore fine clothes and dined on great food (wore ear spools… “big ears”)
- influence because of education and facilitation of religious rituals
- priests could absolve sin and returned people to state of good grace with gods
- life beyond death (punishment for sin, rewards for ‘good’)
- agriculture
- supported aristocrats and priests
- surplus stored for times of famine
- construction, maintenance,
- repair of roads, buildings, and irrigation
- Women created textiles, pottery, and jewelry
- Summarize society of New Guinea, Australia and Polynesia.
- New Guinea
- Herd swine and cultivate root crops
- Australia
- Maintained nomadic, foraging societies until European people migrated there
- Interacted with neighboring societies.
- Exchanged surplus food, and small items when they met
- Enabled trade to spread throughout Australia
- Trade was passed from an aboriginal community to the other (didn’t use trade routes)
- Pearly oyster shells (most popular trade item)
- Cultural traditions did not diffuse much
- Polynesia
- Oceans and seas discouraged travel between island groups
- Very isolated
- Involved in cultivating plants and domesticating animals
- Social classes
- High chiefs, lesser chiefs, and commoners
- High chiefs
- guided affairs of complex societies
- allocated lands to families
- mobilized labor for construction projects
- organized men into military forces
- worked together with priests
- Had temple structure known as Marae
- Religious ceremonies took place on platforms in open-air courtyards.