University:
High School
Course:
High School History
Academic year:

2020
Views:

372

Pages:

17
Author:

Cierra S

General Info ! Aztecs = in Mexico and Central America ! Incas = in South America ! Both lacked: work animals, metal tools, wheels ! Both still developed: centralized governments & armies and both conquered other empires ! Both ended when: conquered by the Spanish Aztec Empire Inca Empire Aztec Empire ! Capital = Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City) ! Agricultural center and marketplace Aztec Empire ! Built chinampas = artificial islands used for farming made by piling mud from the lake onto rafts à floating gardens ! As population grew, Aztecs expanded outside of the city à built canals and bridges to connect the mainland to the island where the capital was The Empire ! Stretched from Mexico to the border of Guatemala ! Stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean ! Conquered people had to pay tribute (taxes) in the form of: food, clothing, raw materials, prisoners for sacrifice, jewelry, military supplies, rubber balls, etc. The Empire ! Aztec civilization organized as a hierarchy ! ! At the top = the emperor Classes = nobility, commoners, serfs, slaves ! ! ! ! Land owned by: nobility and commoners Commoners = priests, merchants, artisans, farmers Serfs = farm workers tied to noble lands Lowest class = slaves = prisoners of war; criminals; debtors – often sacrificed Religion & the Arts ! Religion moved them to engage in war and sacrifice ! Live human sacrifices were needed to keep the gods happy ! Aztec artists decorated temple-pyramids with scenes of gods or battles ! Writers glorified Aztec victories in their works Quetzalcoatl God of dying & resurrection The Inca Empire ! Lived in the Andes Mountains in South America ! Empire stretched about 2500 miles along the Andes ! Capital = Cuzco The Inca Empire ! Raided other tribes and slowly built a large empire ! Strong central government à local rulers had to report to Inca emperor ! Unlike the Aztec Empire, which had no centralized government or complex administration The Inca Empire ! Emperor closely controlled the lives of common people ! ! ! Owned all land and carefully regulated the growing & distribution of food Farmers used step terraces on hillsides Part of all crops after every harvest went to emperor as taxes The Inca Empire ! Work crews built roads & bridges to link different regions of the empire ! Gods pleased with food, animal, and human sacrifices ! Not even close to the scale of the Aztecs ! No writing system à used quipus to record information = ropes with knotted cords of different lengths The Inca Empire ! Mita = labor service used ! Required periodically of every household ! Required to work for the state ! ! Examples: farming, herding, mining, crafting manufactured goods, construction In return: state provided elaborate feasts for the people “Gender Parallelism” ! Both the Aztec and Inca Empires used this system with men and women ! Separate spheres and responsibilities, but each one equally valuable ! Each had autonomy in its own sphere ! Did NOT mean total gender equality