The New World

1
The New World

• The Incas, Mayas and Aztecs

2
The empires before the conquest
3
Outline

• Introduction
• Part I. The Incas
• Part II. The Mayas
• Part III. The Aztecs
• Conclusion
• References
• Timeline

4
Introduction

• Native Americans of North America, indigenous
  peoples of North America. Native Americans had
  lived throughout the continent for thousands of
  years before Europeans began exploring the New
  World in the 15th century
• The ancient ancestors of modern Native Americans
  made their way across a land bridge that once
  spanned the Bering Sea and connected northeastern
  Asia to North America
• Scientists believe these people first migrated to
  the Americas more than 10,000 years ago, before
  the end of the last ice age
• Estimates range from 40 million to 90 million for
  all of the Americas when Columbus arrived in 1492

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Part I. The Incas
Today about 8 million descendants of the Incas
inhabit the lands of the former empire, speaking
the Quechuan language and following many of the
ancient Inca beliefs and customs
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a. The Inca empire

• Inca Empire, vast kingdom in the Andes Mountains
  of South America that was created by the Quechua,
  a Native American people, in the 15th century AD
• The Incas built a wealthy and complex
  civilization that ruled between 5 million and 11
  million people (capital Cuzco)
• Although the Incas lacked both a written language
  and the concept of the wheel, they accomplished
  feats of engineering that were unequaled
  elsewhere in the Americas
• They built large stone structures without mortar
  and constructed suspension bridges and roads that
  crossed the steep mountain valleys of the Andes
• Inca lands eventually totaled about 906,500 sq
  km The political center of the empire was in
  what is now Peru

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b. Conquest of the Inca empire

• The Inca civilization was at its height around
  1493, as Spaniards began arriving in the Americas
• About 1525, struggle for power between two of
  Huayna Capacs remaining sons, Huáscar and
  Atahualpa
• Civil war weakened the empire until Atahualpa
  captured Huáscar and ordered his execution in
  1532
• Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro and 180
  Spanish soldiers landed on the coast of Peru
• Pizarro, launched a surprise attack on
  Atahualpa's followers and seized the emperor
• In 1533 the Spaniards executed Atahualpa by
  strangulation the Spanish beheaded Tupac Amarú
  in 1572, ending the Inca dynasty

8
Part II. The Mayas
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a. The Maya empire

• The people known as the Maya lived in the region
  that is now eastern and southern Mexico,
  Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and western
  Honduras
• The Maya culture highest development from AD 300
  to 900
• The Maya built massive stone pyramids, temples,
  and sculpture, achievements in mathematics and
  astronomy, which were recorded in hieroglyphs
• After 900 the Maya mysteriously declined revived
  in the north on the Yucatán Peninsula
• In Postclassic times (AD 900 to 1521) the
  city-states of Yucatán were ruled by a hereditary
  halach uinic (also called ahau) who was also the
  highest religious authority

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b. Conquest of the Maya empire

• In 1527 Francisco de Montejo attempted to conquer
  Yucatán, and in 1546 his son succeeded
• By 1524 Spanish explorer Pedro de Alvarado had
  conquered the southern highland area, which had
  also fallen into tribal warfare
• Spanish domination of the entire Maya region was
  achieved in 1697
• Many Maya were killed or died of European
  diseases that the Spanish brought with them
• The Spanish forced most of the remainder to labor
  on Spanish farms or in gold and silver mines

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Part III. The Aztecs
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a. The Aztec empire

• Native American state that ruled much of what is
  now Mexico from about 1428 until 1521, when the
  empire was conquered by the Spaniards
• At the height of their power, the Aztec
  controlled a region stretching from the Valley of
  Mexico in central Mexico east to the Gulf of
  Mexico and south to Guatemala
• Their capital, Tenochtitlán, was located on the
  site of present-day Mexico City, possibly the
  largest city in the world at the time of the
  Spanish conquest
• The name Aztec is derived from Aztlán, the
  mythical homeland of the Mexica according to
  tradition, Aztlán was located northwest of the
  Valley of Mexico, possibly in west Mexico. The
  name Mexico is derived from Mexica

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b. Conquest of the Aztec empire

• In 1519 Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés and more
  than 500 Spaniards landed in eastern Mexico in
  search of land and gold
• Advised by Malinche, his Native American
  mistress, Cortés formed an alliance with one of
  the rivals of the Aztec, the Tlaxcalans, and set
  out for Tenochtitlán
• Aztec ruler Montezuma II allowed Cortés to enter
  the city in order to learn more about him and his
  intentions
• Cortés seized Montezuma as a hostage and forced
  him to swear allegiance to the king of Spain
• Montezuma was killed during a revolt the fall of
  Tenochtitlán in 1521 marked the end of the Native
  American civilization

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Conclusion

• The conquistadors came from areas of Spain where
  fighting was a way of life. The wars against
  Muslims in Spain had lasted for centuries
• By taking treasure, territory, and subjects for
  their country, they won recognition from the
  king. Many explorers also felt it was their moral
  responsibility to convert people to Christianity
• The conquerors introduced the encomienda system,
  which put Native Americans to work at forced
  labor on great agricultural estates. Thousands
  died of European diseases, and many others fled
  the land of their ancestors, causing the
  population to drop
• Spain gained enormous wealth from the spoils of
  its conquests and from silver and gold mines in
  the newly conquered lands

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References

• http//encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.
  aspx?refid761560004
• http//www.theincas.com/history/empire_map.htm
• http//www.teacheroz.com/Meso_Latin.htm
• http//www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0857587.html
  
• http//encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.
  aspx?refid761593151
• http//encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefEdList.a
  spx?refid210005483
• http//encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.
  aspx?refid761595536

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The Spanish empire