The Impact of the Columbian Exchange on Mesoamerican Civilizations
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Presentation Transcript
Starter 10/6 • Read over the items on the handout • List what activities you could not participate in if those items had not been brought to the US • Describe whether or not you are thankful or regretful of the Columbian Exchange
Mesoamerica– advanced native civilizations of Central America – Maya, Aztec and Inca.
Where did humans first originate? • How did people first come to America?
Maya – 300 – 900 C.E bloody civilization on the Yucatan peninsula (Mexico). Lived in the rainforest and built cities in the jungle *Gods fed on and survived on human blood– human sacrifice. *Built pyramids
Indent this under Chicken-Itza • Pok-a-tok – sacred ball game of the Maya. • Using only head, knees and elbows get a rubber ball through a hoop thirty feet off the ground. • Winners win great prizes. • Losers are sacrificed.
Brutal but brilliant • Hieroglyph writing system – • One of only five original writing systems invented. • Maya math – used zero. Used a form of decimal system = five = one
Great astronomers - predict eclipses of sun and moon. Believed the earth moved through cycles of birth and destruction. • December 23rd, 2012 – Mayan Day of Doom – The end of this cycle according to the Maya. • Around 900 C.E. the Maya abandon their cities and return to the jungle. No one knows why.
Inca - 1200-1500 C.E. 2,500 mile long, 12 million people empire in the Andes Mountains in S. America. • Empire ruled by an emperor • Capital city of Cuzco • Bodyguards wore golden armor
Farmed the Andes Mts. • Lived and farmed on the sides of mountains – potatoes and corn • Terrace farming – cutting steps into mountain sides for farming.
Inca never invented the wheel! • Never invented the wheel – used llamas as work animal.
Great road system Road system – suspension bridges, way stations, runners to carry messages.
Coca leaf -chew for a burst of energy – like caffeine. Cocaine
No written language • Quipas – no written language – knots and colored ropes to keep track of goods and records for business.
All Inca cities destroyed except… • Machu Picchu– religious city in the clouds. • Not discovered until 1911. • 50 ton blocks cut precisely • No mortar! Everything cut perfectly. • Incan mummies! • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK0PVKfN7M0
Aztecs – 1200 – 1500 A.D. – warlike empire conquered all of Mexico. • Huitzilopochtli – sun and war god of the Aztecs. • Demanded constant feeding of human blood.
Flowery Death – the honor of dying and feeding the god! • Aztecs sacrificed sometimes thousands a day. • Some were volunteers. Others were captured from war.
Aztecs conquer an empire • Obsidian swords – didn’t have metal. Made swords from volcanic rock obsidian. • Extremely sharp swords but brittle. Also wore cotton quilt armor.
What do you do with an empire? • Tribute – nation is forced to pay heavy taxes to prevent invasion. • Gold and captives for sacrifice. Aztecs were hated by the people they ruled.
Put all that cash into the Aztec capital city!!!! • Tenochtitlan –great capital city of the Aztecs built in the middle of a lake. Held 300,000 people with canals for streets. • Aqueducts brought water to the city • Hundreds of pyramids to different gods. Some coated in gold! • Where present day Mexico City is
Spanish invasions! • Conquistadors: conquerors. Given the right by Spain to hunt for treasure. • keep 1/5 of all treasure found.
What treasure be there? • El Dorado: legendary 7 cities of gold in the Americas. • Hernando Cortez – Spanish conquistador who landed in Mexico in 1519 C.E. Has an army of 500 men, 16 horses and 14 cannon.
Conquer or die! • Cortes lands in Mexico. Burns his ships. • Befriends native tribes. • Met by emissaries of the Aztecs. Cortes asks if they have any gold. They say lots. • “Bring it to us, for I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart that can only be cured by gold.”
Cortez welcomed into Tenochtitlan! • Montezuma: Aztec emperor! Believes whites represent powerful nation. • Cortes also shows up in the year of the god Quetzalcoatl • Quetzalcoatl: white skinned god who once ruled over the Aztecs. • Spanish have horses, guns, and armor. Could Cortes be Quetzalcoatl?
Spanish horrified by sacrifice and order it stopped. It is. Montezuma taken prisoner. • Months pass becomes obvious Cortes just greedy white guy. Aztecs chase them out. • A year later Cortes returns with a native army of 100,000. • But, most of the Aztecs are dead…
Pizarro: Conquistador who conquers the Incas with 350 men. Tons of Gold. • Gold, gold, gold flows into Spain making Spain a superpower.
Columbian exchange– gifts exchanged by the Old World and the New World. • Europe gets • Tomatoes • Corn • Potatoes • Squash • Chocolate • Tobacco • America gets • Slavery • Smallpox • Conquest • Horses
Bartoleme de Las Casas • Read Information and complete the following: • Create a before and after chart comparing how natives were treated by the Spanish before Las Casas advocated for them • Create a venn diagram comparing Spanish and American treatment of natives • In both North and South America what roles did natives play in the economy?
Apocalypto questions • Describe the environment • Describe the appearance of the people
Movie Poster • You and a partner • Create your own movie about contact with the Spanish • Create a plot • Create a title • Draw and color a poster • Be prepared to present your movie to the class
