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The Americas in 1491

The Americas in 1491 . Prior to European arrival in the Americas, there were approximately 50-100 million native Americans Many were complex civilizations with written language, religions, cities. All adapted and shaped their environment. South and Central America

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The Americas in 1491

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  1. The Americas in 1491 • Prior to European arrival in the Americas, there were approximately 50-100 million native Americans • Many were complex civilizations with written language, religions, cities. • All adapted and shaped their environment.

  2. South and Central America • Contained unified empires: Aztec (Mexico) and Inca (Peru) • Population of millions • North America • Primarily small populations, widely dispersed • No large scale “civilizations” at time of Euro arrival

  3. Aztec • A vast empire Located in present-day Mexico • Large capital city, Tenochtitlan • 200,000 people…larger than any European city • Built in a large lake. • Large temples, courts, canals and causeways. • Complicated religion which required human sacrifice • Huitzilopochtli • Led to frequent wars in order to gain captives. • 20,000 sacrificed to inaugurate a new temple.

  4. Human Sacrifice…Aztec style

  5. Artistic rendering of Tenochtitlan

  6. Ziggurat style temples in Tenochtitlan

  7. A Spanish map of Tenochtitlan showing the elaborate system of causeways leading into the city.

  8. Inca • Large empire that stretched along the coast of South America • Bigger than any European nation, the Ming Dynasty, or the Ottoman Empire. • 32 degrees of latitude

  9. Built huge public works: • Giant state-run farms • 25,000 miles of paved roads • Some are steep stairs that go straight up mountainsides (perfect for llama, not horses) • Suspension bridges (scared the bejezzus out of the Spaniards) over huge gorges • Communication maintained by a system of runners who used knotted ropes to transmit messages.

  10. An Incan suspension bridge

  11. To adapt to the steep moutains, the Inca constructed terraces for farming.

  12. Mound Builders • Adena & Hopewell Cultures • Ohio River Valley • Constructed huge burial mounds, filled with goods. • Extensive trading along riverways.

  13. Mound Builders • Mississipian Culture • Largest of mound-builders • Built Cahokia, a city / religious complex near St. Louis

  14. Monk’s Mound dominates the city known as Cahokia. The structure is 100 ft high, 16 acres at base

  15. Woodland Indians • Along the NE coast of the US • Language groups: • Algonquian • Massachusett • Wampanoag • Pequot • Narraganset • Iroquoian • Six Nations (Iroquois Confederacy): Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarawas • Lived in long-houses

  16. Woodland Indians • Diet • “Three Sisters” Farming • Maize (corn), beans, and squash were grown together, conserving space and replenishing nutrients in the soil

  17. Iroquoian farms were perceived as a jumbled mess to Europeans, but the three sisters technique made wise use of space and replenished needed nutrients in the soil.

  18. Woodland Indians • Diet • Diet was supplemented by food that was collected (berries, nuts, fruits, oysters, clams, etc) & hunted (fish, deer, bear) • Women tended to farms and to collection of food, while men hunted…women provided 90% of the families food-sources.

  19. Woodland Indians • Cleared land for farming and travel by setting fires to the forest • Controlled burns • Cleared out underbrush for ease of travel • Killed insects • Allowed sunlight to get to the forest floor, allowing berries to grow and attracting deer and bear

  20. Woodland Indians • Used rivers as highways • Perfected the canoe as a mode of transport. • War canoes could carry up to 20 people. Penobscot Indian birch-bark canoe

  21. Woodland Indians • Wampum • Belts made of shells, used as a currency for trade.

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