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How was this society shaped by the geography, natural resources, and the environment of this region?

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How was this society shaped by the geography, natural resources, and the environment of this region?

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The geography of the land very heavily influenced the lives of many societies in the early Americas.  For example, the Chaco and Mesa Verde civilization settled in a dry, treeless area in North America, so they had no wood to build their towns. To adapt to this, they built towns on the side of cliffs  with and other building materials they could find. The Aztecs also adapted to the climate around them and built their homes on an island in the middle of a swampy lake. They used the lake for protection against attacks and for feeding their crops.

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How did this society manipulate the environment to meet its needs?

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How did this society manipulate the environment to meet its needs?

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The Mississippians are a prime example of manipulating the environment to fit their needs. They had built huge monumental mounds  that were used for religious purposes or for elite residence. The Aztecs had also used the environment for their own benefit.  The Aztecs built their city on an island in the middle of a swampy lake as a precaution for attacks. They had built aqueducts to allow water to flow into the city,  they built floating gardens to provide more space for gardening, and they dug ditches for lake water to irrigate their fields and to drain parts of the lake for more land.

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How was the society organized? How did groups within this society interact with one another? 

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How was the society organized? How did groups within this society interact with one another? 

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The Mississippians had a strict class system similar to the Hindu caste system. The ruler (known as "the Great Sun" was at the top, followed by nobles and priests, under the nobles and priests were farmers, merchants, artisans, and hunters, and under them were slaves (usually prisoners of war). Unlike the Mayan civilization, who ruled as city states. Each was ruled by a King and consisted of surrounding cities.

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What rules, norms, and customs determined interactions between groups and individuals?

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What rules, norms, and customs determined interactions between groups and individuals?

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A tribute system was used by the Aztecs, which was a payment that conquered people would have to pay to the empire. The payments could consist of military service, goods and services, money,  and land. It could also be practical goods like food, cloth, and firewood, or luxury items such as feathers, beads, and jewelry. In exchange, the Aztecs extended their protections to the conquered people. Early civilizations of the Americas also believed heavily in religious ceremonies and sacrifices.

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How did this government rise, expand, and fall?

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How did this government rise, expand, and fall?

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The Inca government had began to rise in 1438 with a tribal leader who named himself "Pachacuti" (shaker/transformer of the earth). He began conquering tribes that were living near modern day Cuzco, Peru. With him and his son's military victories, they combined small tribes into the Incan Empire. From there, the empire was split into four provinces with its own bureaucracy and governor. Instead of the conquered people paying tributes, men from ages 15-50 had to provide mandatory physical service for the empire. Like the Mississippians, there are many different beliefs on way the empire fell. Some say because of the civil war, the Inca were weakened and the Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, had prevailed on them at their weakest. Other scholars say it was because of diseased brought by Europeans had led to the Inca decline.

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How did the government maintain order and exercise power?

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How did the government maintain order and exercise power?

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The Aztecs had been big believers in exercising power. The tribute system that they used was purely for power purposes. The Aztecs allowed local rulers to stay in their positions and act as tribute collectors. With this, the Aztecs were able to assert political dominance, without being too involved with direct control.

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How did this society produce and exchange goods and services?

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How did this society produce and exchange goods and services?

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Most of the civilizations in the Americas believed in using conquered people to do manual labor.

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How did this production and exchange affect the society?

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How did this production and exchange affect the society?

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It kept people in their classes for the most part and also ensured that they would have a functioning military since most tributes were payed with military service.

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What ideas and beliefs shaped this society? How did they affect the way the society saw themselves?

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What ideas and beliefs shaped this society? How did they affect the way the society saw themselves?

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Each civilization was unique by its political beliefs. For instance, the Mississippian civilization had a matriarchal society. When their leader (the Great Sun) would pass away, instead of the role of leader going to the Great Sun's own son, it would go to his sister's son, instead. The Aztec government lead with a theocracy, which is ruled by religious leaders. The Mayans ruled in city states, and the Inca lead in provinces. Despite their differences, almost every civilization in the Americas believed in religious ceremonies that consisted of human sacrifices.

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What political, social, and cultural consequences did these ideas and beliefs have?

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What political, social, and cultural consequences did these ideas and beliefs have?

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The Aztecs had watched the decline of the empire since they desired human sacrifices so much that they conquered farther than they could reasonably govern. Tribes that were ruled by the Aztecs were ready to rebel because of their pent up resentment towards the Aztec leaders because of their human sacrifices.

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What innovations did this society create or advance?

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What innovations did this society create or advance?

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The Inca society was very intelligent and advanced. They had developed the quipu, which was a system of knotted string that they could use to record information about trade and engineering, and also could be used to record messages that were brought all around the empire. The  Mayans had invented an accurate calendar that we, of course, still use today.

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What were the consequences of these innovations? 

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What were the consequences of these innovations? 

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There weren't any negative consequences to these inventions. Since the invention of the quipu, the Inca were able to keep track of trading efficiently. The development of an accurate calendar, the Mayans were able to track when they should go to war or when they should celebrate.