MAYAS
Maya civilization is considered the most advanced in Latin America. It started around 300BC (and ended around 900AD) in what is today Mexico and Guatemala. The Mayas developed an excellent written language. It equaled the complex written language. It equaled the complex written languages of the Europeans and Chinese. The Mayas were scientists, master mathematicians, and excellent astronomers. These skills allowed them to keep track of time in the past and into the future. The Maya calendar began in 3114 BC. It was based on 13 cycles of 400 years each. The Mayas thought that this calendar would end in 2012. After this date, a brand-new calendar cycle would begin. They were also known to believe in many gods and practiced blood-letting and human sacrifice to please these gods.
Maya civilization was a complex agricultural (farming) society. The Mayas farmed an area for up to five years. Then they planted nothing for five to ten years, allowing the soil to recover. Their favorite drink was chocolate. Chocolate was so special it was reserved for political and religious leaders.
The Mayas were skilled engineers. They cleared jungles and built large cities throughout the area. These cities contained impressive buildings and boulevards. They built great pyramids, temples, palaces, and stone sculptures. The Mayas were also known for their beautiful artwork, especially their colorful murals. Ancient artists in other cultures were not identified. However, Maya artists added their names to their art work.
A king ruled the Mayas. A central council headed by the king ruled on very important matters. There was a court system with local judges. Taxes were paid to tax collectors. To keep expanding their territory, the Mayas had a well-organized army. The army conquered other people who were then brought into the Maya civilization mainly as slaves or workers.
The fall of the Maya is one of history’s great mysteries. One of the mightiest civilizations in the ancient Americas simply fell into ruin in a very short time.
AZTECS
Around 1200AD until 1519AD, the Aztecs began moving into the Valley of Mexico (mainly central Mexico). Their culture was a simple one. They were not a powerful people at first. In fact, other groups looked down upon them. At this time, the Aztecs had no written records. But they told a story of how, around 1300AD, a god spoke to their leader. The god told their leader, Tenoch, to take his people to an island in Lake Texcoco. On the island he should look for an eagle eating a snake. The eagle would be sitting on a cactus growing from a rock. It was on that spot that Tenoch was told to build a great city. They named the city Tenochtitlan, or the city of Tenoch. The island was not a good building site. Large buildings gradually sank into the wet land. The Aztecs kept building new buildings on top of those that sank below ground. Eventually, the wet land was filled in. Tenochtitlan became a magnificent city. To connect the island to the mainland, the Aztecs built raised stone roads. To grow food, they built chinampas or floating guards off the edge of the island. They used the land to fill-in smaller islands that were anchored down to the main island using ropes tied to trees. Everyday, farmers would work these little floating gardens to get the food for the people.
In 1376, they selected their first emperor. Their leader’s ancestors were the Toltecs. The Aztecs sought to recreate the influential Toltec civilization. Like the Toltecs, the Aztecs began to conquer other groups by military force. They forced these conquered people to pay part of their food and other valuables to them. By the early 1500s, the Aztecs built a large empire and had become a harsh military power. Their beliefs included worshipping many gods and human sacrifice to please these gods.
The end of the Aztecs? Cortes and his men arrived in Tenochtitlan, where Montezuma and his people greeted them as honored guests according to Aztec custom (partially due to Cortes’ physical resemblance to the light-skinned Quetzalcoatl, whose return was prophesied in Aztec legend). Though the Aztecs had superior numbers, their weapons were inferior, and Cortes was able to immediately take Montezuma (ever heard of Montezuma’s revenge? If not ask!) and his entourage of lords hostage, gaining control of Tenochtitla. The Spaniards then murdered thousands of Aztec nobles during a ritual dance ceremony, and Montezuma died under uncertain circumstances while in custody. Cuauhtemoc, his young nephew, took over as emperor, and the Aztecs drove the Spaniards from the city. With the help of the Aztecs’ native rivals, Cortes mounted an offensive against Tenochtitlan, finally defeating Cuauhtemoc’s resistance on August 13, 1521. In all, some 240,000 people were believed to have died in the city’s conquest, which effectively ended the Aztec civilization. After his victory, Cortes razed Tenochtitla and built Mexico City on its ruins; it quickly became the premier European center in the New World.
INCAS
The empire of the Inca was located in the valleys of the Andes Mountains in South America from 100AD to 1532AD. Their capital city of Cuzco was built high in the mountains of what is now Peru. Around 1100AD, the Incas began conquering tribes from the surrounding lands. By 1453, the Inca Empire covered a large area containing more than six million people. The Inca Empire included parts of five modern nations: Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. It was the largest empire in North and South America.
The Inca Empire faced more difficult problems than the empires of Mexico and Guatemala. One of the problems was how to govern such a large area with so many different kinds of people. First, the Incas divided the empire into four geographic areas. They call their empire the “Land of the Four Quarters.” Inca was the name they gave their emperor. Second, once a tribe was conquered by military force, they asked the tribal leaders to become partners in the empire. The Incas set up rules that tribal leaders had to follow. In this way, local leaders could make many decisions for their own tribes but still remain loyal to the Inca Empire. Like the Aztecs and Mayas, the Incas also believed in many gods. They were also known for their metal work and medicine.
The empire covered about 2500 miles from the northern to the southern end. Cuzco was the capital city. From Cuzco, the Inca emperor needed to communicate with the rest of the empire. The Incas were skilled engineers. They built more than 14000 miles of roads. The network of roads connected the coastal areas and the valleys. In the mountains, roads rose to heights of 5000 feet. Using the network of roads, the Incas created a fast communication system by using relay runners along the roads. There were rest areas that contained food and water along the way. They also used land on the side of the mountain as farms called “terraces” to grow their food. They built irrigation canals down the mountain side that would use rainwater and melted snow to irrigate their terrace gardens.
So how did their civilization end? The Spaniards destroyed the Incan population. They made slaves of the Inca people.
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