The Americas on the
Eve of Invasion
Chapter Summary
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American societies during the
post-classic era remained isolated from other civilizations. |
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The societies continued to show great
diversity, but there were continuities. |
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American civilizations were marked by
elaborate cultural systems, highly developed agriculture, and large urban and
political units. |
Chapter Summary Continued
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Columbus’ s mistaken designation of the
inhabitants of the Americas as Indians implies a non-existent common
identity. |
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The great diversity of cultures
requires concentration upon a few major civilizations, the great imperial
states of Mesoamerica (central Mexico) and the Andes, plus a few other
independently developing peoples. |
Post-Classic Mesoamerica,
1000-1500 C.E.
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The collapse of Teotihuacan and the
abandonment of Maya cities in the 8th century C.E. was followed by
significant political and cultural changes. |
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The nomadic Toltecs built a large
empire centered in central Mexico. |
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They established a capital at Tula
about 968 and adopted many cultural features from sedentary peoples. |
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Later peoples thought of the
militaristic Toltecs as givers of civilization. |
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The Aztecs organized an equally
impressive successor state. |
The Toltec Heritage
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The Toltecs created a large empire
reaching beyond central Mexico. |
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Around 1000 they extended their rule to
Yucatan and the former Maya regions. |
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Toltec commercial influence extended
northward as far as the American southwest, and perhaps to Hopewell peoples
of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. |
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Many cultural similarities exist, but
no Mexican artifacts have been found. |
Slide 6
The Aztec Rise
to Power
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Northern nomadic invasions probably
caused the collapse of the Toltec empire around 1150. |
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The center of population and political
power shifted to the valley of Mexico and its large chain of lakes. |
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A dense population used the water for
agriculture, fishing, and transportation. |
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The region became the cultural
heartland of postclassical Mexico. |
The Aztec
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It was divided politically into many
small and competing units. |
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The militant Aztecs (or Mexica)
migrated to the region during the early 14th century and initially served the
indigenous inhabitants as allies or mercenaries. |
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Around 1325 they founded the cities of
Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco on lake islands. |
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By 1434 the Aztecs had become the
dominant regional power. |
The Aztec Social Contract
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The Aztecs were transformed by the
process of expansion and conquest from an association of clans to a
stratified society under a powerful ruler. |
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Central to the changes was Tlacaelel,
an important official serving rulers between 1427 and 1480. |
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The Aztecs developed a self-image as a
people chosen to serve the gods. |
Moctezuma II
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The long-present religious practice of
human sacrifice was greatly expanded. |
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The military class had a central role
as suppliers of war captives for sacrifice. |
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The rulers used sacrifice as an
effective means political terror. |
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By the rule of Moctezuma II the ruler,
with civil and religious power, dominated the state. |
Religion
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In the Aztec religion little
distinction was made between the world of the gods and the natural order. |
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Hundreds of male and female gods
representing rain, fire, etc., were worshipped. |
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They can be arranged into three major
divisions. |
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The first included gods of fertility,
the agricultural cycle, maize, and water. |
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The second group centered on creator
deities: Tonatiuh, warrior god of the sun, and Tezcatlipoca, god of the night
sky, were among the most powerful. |
Aztec Gods
Ideology of Conquest
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The third division had the gods of
warfare and sacrifice, among them Huitzilopochtli, the tribal patron. |
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He became the paramount deity and was
identified with the old sun god; he drew strength from the sacrifice of human
lives. |
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The Aztecs expanded the existing
Mesoamerican practice of human sacrifice to an unprecedented scale. |
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Symbolism and ritual, including ritual
cannibalism, accompanied the sacrifices. |
The Circle of Life
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The balance between sacrifice motivated
by religion or terror is still under debate. |
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The Aztecs had other religious concerns
besides sacrifice. |
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They had a complex mythology that
explained the birth and history of the gods and their relation to humans. |
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Religious symbolism infused all aspect
of life. |
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The Aztecs had a cyclical view of
history; they believed the world had been destroyed before and, despite the
sacrifices, would be again. |
Tenochtitlan
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The Aztec believed their capital to be
a sacred space. |
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The great metropolis of Tenochtitlan
had a central zone of palaces and temples surrounded by residential districts
and markets. |
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Its design, craftsmanship, and
architecture were outstanding. |
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By 1519 the city covered five square
miles and had 150,000 residents. |
Slide 16
The Foundation of Heaven
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The island city was connected to the
lake shores by four causeways and was crisscrossed by canals. |
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Each city ward was controlled by a kin
group (calpulli) who maintained temples and civic buildings. |
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Tribute and support came to the
imperial city-state from allies and dependents. |
Feeding the People
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Feeding the Aztec confederation
depended both upon traditional agricultural forms and innovations. |
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Conquered peoples lost land and gave
food as tribute. |
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In and around the lake the Aztecs
developed a system of irrigated agriculture. |
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They built chinampas, artificial
floating islands, that permitted the harvesting of high-yield multiple yearly
crops. |
The Economy of the Empire
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Aztec peasant production and tribute
supplied the basic foods. |
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Clans in each community apportioned
land between people, nobles, and temples. |
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There were periodic markets for
exchange. |
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The great daily market at Tlatelolco
was controlled by a merchant class (pochteca) which specialized in
long-distance luxury item trade. |
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The Aztecs had a state-controlled mixed
economy: tribute, markets, commodity use, and distribution were highly
regulated. |
Aztec Society in
Transition
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The society of the expanding Aztec
empire became increasingly hierarchical. |
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Calpulli organization survived, but
different social classes appeared. |
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Tribute from subject peoples was not
enough to maintain the large Aztec population. |
Widening Social Gulf
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By the 16th century the seven original
calpulli had expanded from kinship groups to become residential groupings
including neighbors, allies, and dependents. |
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The calpulli performed vital local
functions in distributing land and labor and maintaining temples and schools. |
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During wars they organized military
units. |
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Calpulli were governed by councils of
family heads, but all families were not equal. |
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During Aztec expansion a class of
nobility (pipiltin) had emerged from privileged families in the most
distinguished calpulli. |
The Classes
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The nobles controlled the military and
priesthood. |
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Military virtues infused all society
and were linked to the cult of sacrifice; they justified the nobility's
predominance. |
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Death in battle assured eternal life, a
reward also going to women dying in childbirth. |
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The social gulf separating nobles from
commoners widened. |
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Social distinctions were formalized by
giving the pipiltin special clothes and symbols of rank. |
Imperial Families
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The imperial family were the most
distinguished of the pipiltin. |
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A new class of workers resembling serfs
was created to serve on the nobility's private lands. |
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They held a status above slaves. |
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Other groups, scribes, artisans, and
healers, constituted an intermediate social group in the larger cities. |
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Long-distance merchants had their own
calpulli, but restrictions blocked their entry into the nobility. |
Overcoming Technological
Constraints
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Aztec women had a variety of roles. |
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Peasant women helped in the fields, but
their primary work was in the household; skill in weaving was highly
esteemed. |
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Elder women trained young girls. |
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Marriages were arranged between
lineages, and female virginity was important. |
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Polygamy existed among the nobility;
peasants were monogamous. |
Technology
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Women inherited and passed on property,
but in political and social life they were subordinate to men. |
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New World technology limited social
development, especially for women, when compared to other cultures. |
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The absence of milling technology meant
that women spent many hours daily in grinding maize by hand for household
needs. |
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The total Aztec population may have
reached over 20 million. |
A Tribute Empire
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Each of the Aztec city-states was ruled
by a speaker chosen from the nobility. |
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The ruler of Tenochtitlan, the Great
Speaker, surpassed all others in wealth and power. |
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He presided over an elaborate court. |
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A prime minister, usually a close
relative of the ruler, had tremendous power. |
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There was a governing council, but it
lacked real power. |
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During the first 100 years of Aztec
expansion a powerful nobility and emperor had taken over authority formerly
held by calpulli. |
Military Virtues
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Military virtues became supreme as the
state religion, and the desire for more tribute and captives for sacrifice,
drove the Aztecs to further conquests. |
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The empire was not integrated; defeated
local rulers often remained in place as subordinate officials. |
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They were left alone if tribute and
labor obligations were met. |
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Revolts against the exactions were
ruthlessly suppressed. |
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The Aztec system was successful because
it aimed at political domination and not direct control. |
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In the long run the growing social
stresses created by the rise of the pipiltin and the terror and tribute
imposed on subjects contributed to the empire's collapse. |
In Depth: The
"Troubling" Civilizations of the Americas
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European concepts of civilization did
not match with the practices of American Indians. |
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Judging a civilization different from
one’s own always is a complex proceeding. |
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While some condemn Aztec sacrifice,
others romanticize the Indian past. |
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The arguments over the possible
existence of Inca socialism or about the nature of Aztec religion are
examples. |
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Moral judgment is probably inevitable,
but students of history must strive to understand a people’s practices in the
context of their own time and culture. |
Twantinsuyu: World of the
Incas
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During the period following the
disintegration of the states of Tihuanaco and Huari (c.550-1000 C.E.) smaller
regional states exercised power in the Andes. |
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Some of them were centers of
agricultural activity and population density. |
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The considerable warfare among the
states resembled the post-Toltec period in Mesoamerica. |
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The state of Chimor (900-1465) emerged
as most powerful, controlling most of the north coast of Peru. |
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After 1300 the Inca developed a new
civilization. |
The Inca Rise to Power
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In the southern Andean highlands many
groups fought for supremacy. |
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Quechua- speaking clans (ayllus) around
Cuzco won control of territory formerly under Huari. |
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By 1438,under Pachacuti, they began
campaigns ending with their control of the region. |
Rise to Power
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Pachacuti's son, Topac Yupanqui
(1471-1493), conquered Chimor and extended Inca rule into Ecuador and Chile. |
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Huayna Capac (1493-1527) consolidated
the conquests; by his death the Inca empire - Twantinsuyu - stretched from
Colombia to Chile, and eastward to Bolivia and Argentina. |
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From 9 to 13 million people were under
Inca rule. |
Conquest and Religion
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The Inca had other reasons for
expansion besides the desire for economic gain and political power. |
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They adopted from Chimor the practice
of "split inheritance": all of a ruler’s political power went to
the successor, while all wealth and land passed to male descendants for the
eternal support of the cult of the dead ruler's mummy. |
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The system created a justification for
endless expansion. |
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Inca political and social life was
infused with religious meaning. |
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The sun was the highest deity; the
ruler (Inca) was the god’s representative on earth. |
Religion
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The Temple of the Sun at Cuzco was the
center of state religion. |
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The sun cult spread throughout the
empire, but the worship of local gods continued. |
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Popular belief was based upon a
profound animism that endowed natural phenomena with spiritual power. |
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Prayers and sacrifices were offered at
holy shrines (huacas), which were organized into groupings under the
authority of ayllus. |
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The temples were served by priests and
women dedicated to preparing the sacrifices and managing important festivals
and celebrations. |
The Techniques of Inca
Imperial Rule
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The Inca, considered virtually a god,
ruled the empire from Cuzco. |
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It also was the site of the major
temple. |
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The empire was divided into four
provinces, each under a governor. |
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The Incas had a bureaucracy in which
most of the nobility served. |
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Local rulers (curacas) continued in
office in return for loyalty. |
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They were exempt from tribute and
received labor or produce from their subjects. |
Imperial Rule
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Their sons were educated in Cuzco. |
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The Quechua language, the use of
colonists (mitmaqs), and the forced transfer of peoples were important
techniques for integrating the empire. |
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A complex system of roads, bridges, and
causeways, with way stations (tambos) and storehouses, helped military
movement. |
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Conquered peoples supplied land and
labor. |
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They served in the military and
received rewards from new conquests. |
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The Inca state organized building and
irrigation projects beyond the capabilities of subject peoples. |
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In return tribute and loyalty were
required. |
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All local resources were taken and
redistributed: there were lands for the people, the state, and religion. |
Labor and State
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Labor on state and religious land was
demanded rather than tribute in kind. |
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Women had to weave cloth for the court
and religious use. |
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Some women were taken as concubines for
the Inca or as temple servants. |
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Each community, was controlled by the
ayllus and aimed at self-sufficiency. |
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Most males were peasants and herders. |
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Women worked in the household, wove
cloth, and aided in agriculture. |
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Since Andean people recognized parallel
descent, property passed in both lines. |
Woman of the Inca
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The idea of gender cooperation was
reflected in cosmology. |
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Gods and goddesses were venerated by
both sexes, though women had a special feeling for the moon and the fertility
goddesses of the earth and corn. |
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The ruler's senior wife was a link to
the moon. |
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Still, male power within the empire
showed in the selection of women for state and temple purposes. |
The Classes
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Reciprocity between the state and local
community allowed the empire to function efficiently. |
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Within the system the Inca nobility had
many privileges and were distinguished by dress and custom. |
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There was no distinct merchant class
because of the emphasis on self-sufficiency and state management of the
economy. |
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The state remained strong until it lost
control of its subject peoples and government mechanisms. |
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Royal multiple marriages used to forge
alliances eventually created rival claimants for power and civil war. |
Inca Cultural
Achievements
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The Inca produced beautiful pottery and
cloth. |
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Their metallurgy was among the most
advanced of the Americas. |
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They lacked the wheel and a writing
system, instead using knotted strings (quipu) for accounts and enumeration. |
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The peak of Inca genius was in
statecraft and architecture. |
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They constructed great stone buildings,
agricultural terraces, irrigation projects, and road systems. |
Comparing Incas and
Aztecs
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Both empires were based upon the long
development of civilizations that preceded them. |
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They excelled in imperial and military
organization. |
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The two were based upon intensive
agriculture organized by the state; goods were redistributed to groups or
social classes. |
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The Aztecs and Incas transformed an
older kinship system into a hierarchical one where the nobility predominated. |
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In both the nobility was the personnel
of the state. |
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Although the Incas tried to integrate
their empire as a unit, both empires recognized local ethnic groups and
political leaders in return for loyalty. |
Comparing Incas and
Aztecs
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The Aztecs and Incas found their
military power less effective against nomadic frontier people; their empires
were based on conquest and exploitation of sedentary peoples. |
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There were considerable differences
between Incas and Aztecs, many of them the result of climate and geography. |
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Trade and markets were more developed
among the Aztecs. |
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Other differences were present in
metallurgy, writing systems, and social definition and hierarchy. |
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In the context of world civilizations
both can be viewed as variations of similar patterns, with sedentary
agriculture as the most important factor. |
The Other Indian Nations
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Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations
were high points of Indian cultural development. |
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The rest of the American continents
were occupied by many peoples living in different ways. |
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They can be grouped according to
gradations based upon material culture and social complexity. |
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The Incas shared many things with
tribal peoples of the Amazon, including clan divisions. |
Native Americans
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The diversity of ancient America forces
a reconsideration of patterns of human development dependent on examples from
other civilizations. |
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Social complexity based upon
agriculture was not necessary for fishing and hunting-gathering societies of
the northwest United States and British Columbia: they developed hierarchical
societies. |
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In Colorado and South America, Indians
practiced irrigated agriculture but did not develop states. |
How Many Indians?
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Arguments about the population of the
Americas have been going on for a long time. |
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Most scholars now agree that
Mesoamerica and the Andes had the largest populations. |
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If we accept a total of 67 million, in
a world population of about 500 million, Americans clearly were a major
segment of humanity. |
Differing Cultural
Patterns
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There were major cultural patterns in
the Americas outside of the main civilization areas. |
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They shared features with both the
Andes and Mesoamerica, perhaps serving at times as points of cultural and
material change between the two regions. |
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In central Colombia the Muisca and
Tairona peoples had large, sedentary agriculture-based chiefdoms that shared
many resemblances with other similarly based states. |
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Along the Amazon the rich aquatic
environment supported complex, populous chiefdoms; other large populations
dependent upon agriculture were present on Caribbean islands. |
Differing Cultural
Patterns
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Such societies resembled societies in
Polynesia. |
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By 1500 agriculture was widely diffused
throughout the Americas. |
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Some societies combined it with
hunting-gathering and fishing. |
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Slash-and-burn farming caused frequent
movement in societies often not possessing large numbers, strong class
divisions, or craft specialization. |
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There were few nomadic herders. |
Differing Cultural
Patterns
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In 1500 about 200 languages were spoken
in North America. |
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By then the towns of the Mississippi
Mound Builders had been abandoned and only a few peoples maintained their
patterns. |
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In the southwest the Anasazi and other
cliff dwellers had moved to pueblos along the Rio Grande and practiced
irrigated agriculture. |
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Most other North American Indians were
hunters and gatherers, sometimes also cultivating crops. |
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In rich environments complex social
organization might develop without agriculture. |
Differing Cultural
Patterns
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There were sharp differences with
contemporary European and Asian societies. |
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Most Indian societies were kin-based,
with communal ownership of resources. |
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Material wealth was not important for
social rank. |
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Women were subordinate to men, but in
many societies held important political and social roles. |
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They had a central role in crop
production. |
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Indians, unlike Europeans and Asians,
viewed themselves as part of the ecological system, not in control of it. |
Conclusion: American
Indian Diversity in World Context
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Two great imperial systems had been
created in Mesoamerica and the Andes. |
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By the close of the 15th century these
militaristic states were fragile, weakened by internal strains and
technological inferiority. |
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American societies ranged from the
Aztec-Inca great civilizations to small bands of hunters. |
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The continued; evolution of all Indian
societies was disastrously disrupted by European invasions beginning in 1492. |
The Americas on the
Eve of Invasion