Mesoamerican Civilizations Overview

Olmec Civilization

• Timeline: 1200 BCE - 400 CE
• Significance: One of the oldest Mesoamerican civilizations
• Contributions:
  • Created large stone heads to honor leaders
  • Developed some pyramids
• Name Origin: "Rubber people" by the Aztec due to rubber used in ball games
• Collapse: Environmental factors

Maya Civilization

• Timeline: 2000 BCE - 900 AD
• Structure: Collection of city-states often at war
• Cities: Large; up to 120,000 inhabitants
• Ball Game:
  • Hard ball used
  • Served as both sport and religious activity
• Mayan Hieroglyphics: Only fully translated ancient American language
• Astronomy:
  • Most accurate pre-telescopic astronomy
  • Calculated the solar day more accurately than the Spanish
  • Tracked planets and equinoxes for agriculture and rituals
• Popol Vuh:
  • Mayan creation story
  • First translated by Friar Francisco Xamiez
  • Polytheistic society valuing blood as sacred

Aztec Empire (Mexica)

• Timeline: 1345-1521
• Extent: Controlled large portions of modern-day Mexico
• Culture:
  • Warriors and agriculturalists
  • Developed trade networks
  • Mandatory education for all
  • Advanced medical knowledge
• Achievements:
  • Built aqueducts and floating gardens
  • Used herbs for medical treatments
• Mythology:
  • Chief god: Huitzilopochtli (sun and war)
  • Main gods: Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxanhuqui (moon)
• Human Sacrifice:
  • Integral to religion
  • Used war prisoners

Inca Empire

• Timeline: Founded in 1438
• Extent: Largest empire in pre-Columbian America, spanning Peru and South America
• Capital: Cuzco
• Geography: High altitude, Andes mountains
• Leadership: Sapa Inca (emperor)
• Infrastructure:
  • 25,000 miles of roads
  • Advanced communication and travel systems
• Daily Life:
  • Sapa Inca as representative of sun god Inti
  • Complex government
  • Use of bronze and copper
• Science:
  • Coca plant for anesthesia
  • Terraces for agriculture
• Quipu and Quechua:
  • No written language
  • Quipu as record-keeping

Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo)

• Timeline: 150 BCE in modern-day NM, UT, CO, AZ
• Dwellings: Built into cliffs for defense
  • Included homes, grain storage, and kivas
• Disappearance: Left cities by 1250 AD
• Legacy: Ancestry to Native tribes like the Hopi

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy)

• Timeline: Formed in 1430 AD
• Structure: Confederacy for common defense
• Foundation: Created during a solar eclipse
• Government:
  • Great Law of Peace
  • Council of 50 chiefs
• Society:
  • Matriarchal
  • Polytheistic

European Exploration and Colonization

Columbus's Voyages

• 1st Voyage: 1492
• Ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria
• Discovery: Landed in the Caribbean

Conquistadors

• Motives: Gold, land, conversion to Catholicism

Hernan Cortes

• Role: Conquistador of Aztec
• Actions: Captured Moctezuma II; conquered Tenochtitlan

Francisco Pizarro

• Role: Conquistador of Inca
• Actions: Captured Atahualpa; conquered Peru

Columbian Exchange

• Introduction of goods and diseases between Americas and Europe

New Spain

• Formation: Post-conquest of Aztec and Inca
• Structure: Viceroyalty

Mission System

• Goal: Convert Native Americans to Catholicism

Encomienda System

• Structure: Land and labor grants
• Issues: Often abusive; akin to slavery

English and French Colonization

Roanoke

• Timeline: 1585, first attempt at English colonization

Jamestown

• Timeline: 1607
• Outcomes: First successful English colony

Quebec

• Establishment: 1608, as a trading post
• Main Trade: Fur