Ch. 14: The Americas

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Ch. 14 The Americas

• P. 383

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Lesson 1 The First Americans

• P. 386

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Geography of the Americas

• Americas
• North America
• South America
• Central America
• Caribbean

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Geography of the Americas

• Mountains
• Rockies
• Appalachians
• Andes
• Plains
• Great Plains
• Amazon Basin
• Pampas
• Rivers
• Mississippi
• Amazon

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Settling the Americas

• 2 theories
• Land bridge theory
• Coastal route
• Farming begins in Mesoamerica Andes region
  9,000 to 10,000 years ago
• Peppers, pumpkins, squash, gourds, beans,
  potatoes, later maize

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Olmec Culture

• Olmec civilization began about 1200 B.C., lasts
  about 800 years
• Based on farming trade
• Grew beans, gathered salt
• Lived on tropical lowlands along the Gulf of
  Mexico
• Created centers for religious ceremonies
  (pyramids, etc.)

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First Planned City

• Central Mexico people build Teotihuacan Place
  of the Gods
• 1 of the first planned cities in the Americas
• Lasted from about A.D. 250-800
• Temples, palaces, Pyramid of the Sun

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Other Mesoamericans

• Zapotec people built farms cities in south
  central Mexico
• Capital Monte Alban
• Developed hieroglyphs
• Maya lived in Yucatan Peninsula, southern
  Mexico, Central America

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Early Civilizations in South America

• 900 B.C. Chavin people develop a civilization
  in present-day Peru Ecuador
• Did not build an empire

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Early Cultures in North America

• Hohokam
• Lived in present-day Arizona
• Anasazi
• Settled in the canyons cliffs of the Southwest
• Built pueblos (large stone dwellings)
• Ex Pueblo Bonito (connected by roads to other
  villages)
• Carved dwellings in the walls of steep cliffs
• Ex Mesa Verde

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The Mound Builders

• Lived east of the Mississippi River 1000 B.C.
  A.D. 400
• Built huge mounds of earth that were used as
  tombs or for ceremonies
• Hopewell 200 B.C. A.D. 500
• Built animal-shaped mounds

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Who were the Mississippians?

• Lived in present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and
  south to the Gulf of Mexico
• Built cities
• Largest Cahokia
• Built pyramid-shaped mounds w/ flat tops
• Ex Monks Mound (at Cahokia)

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An Orderly Society

• Mississippian Society
• Several social classes
• People could change social classes
• Cahokia capital from A.D. 850-1150

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Lesson 2 life in the americas

• P. 396

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Maya Communities

• A.D. 300 Complex civilization develops
• Area Petén
• Swamps sinkholes year-round water
• Set up more than 50 independent city-states
  (often fought each other)

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What was Maya society like?

• Each city-state ruled by a king descended from
  the sun god
• Greatest king Pacal II
• Ruled Palenque in the A.D. 600s
• Strict class system
• Lower class paid taxes
• Priests performed ceremonies to please gods
  (sometimes human sacrifices)
• Chac god of rain

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Maya Achievements

• Astronomy
• Developed calendar system to predict eclipses,
  schedule religious festivals, plant harvest
  crops
• 2 calendars
• 260-day calendar for religious events
• 365-day calendar for seasons farming
• Math
• Invented method of counting based on 20
• Used concept of zero
• Used hieroglyphics

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North American Peoples

• Inuit the people 1st ppl to reach far northern
  areas of North America
• Settled along coasts of the tundra

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West Coast Life

• Pacific Coast of North America most heavily
  populated region north of Mesoamerica
• Pacific Northwest Tlingit, Haida, Chinook
• California Chumash, Cahuilla, Pomo
• Southwest Hopi, Acoma, Zuni
• Later (A.D. 1500s) Apache, Navajo
• Navajo lived in hogans

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Life on the Great Plains

• Nomads, lived in tepees
• Mandan, Pawnee tribes

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How did people live in the Eastern Woodlands?

• Different kinds of gov.
• Muskogee Creek loose union of different groups
• Cherokee developed formal codes of law
• 1500s Great Peace
• Iroquois League (federation) set up
• Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga
• Created constitution (1st constitution written in
  what would become the U.S.)
• Set up Grand Council to govern the league

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Quiz Topics

• 2 theories of how the Americas were settled
• Where the Maya civilization started
• Capital of the Zapotec
• Where farming began in the Americas
• Where the Chavin lived
• Who built Mesa Verde
• Who the Hopewell were
• How Maya city-states treated each other
• Maya god of rain
• Maya achievements
• Where most people north of Mesoamerica lived
• How people lived on the Great Plains
• Where the Inuit lived
• What made the Iroquois League special
• How geography affected the groups in this chapter