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A map of where the Inca Empire is located

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The ancient city, Machu Picchu that is in Peru.

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Recounts the history of the Inca Empire in South America. The segment also reveals parts of Inca civilization that still remain today, including the ancient city of Machu Picchu, Peru.

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Machu Picchu, a city that was built on top of the Andes Mountains in Peru.

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The Inca arose in the 1400s and fell in 1532. Since it was such a large empire, they had chasquis who relayed messages, handing a set of strings called a quipu from each messenger. The empire was was 2,500 miles long, from the Pacific Coast to the Amazon River. Moche built cities, dug irrigation canals, and developed special classes of workers, as did the Chimu, who were both major influences on the Incas.
The Incas adopted ideas and institutions that had been pioneered by earlier cultures.The center of the Inca Empire was the capital city of Cuzco. Inca society was based on class structure, there are three main classes, the emperor and his family, nobles, and commoners. The allyu was the basis of Inca society. Everyone was born into an allyu. Most Incas were born into allyus of hardworking commoners. The children of most commoners did not receive any formal education. People usually marry within their allyu. Religion was an important part of Inca life. To the Incas the most important god was Inti. The Incas had many ways of bringing other groups of people into the empire.

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The Aztecs farmed on chinampas, which are small floating islands that are made using mud and plants

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A map of where The Aztec Empire is located.

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How Tenochtitlan became such a large and powerful city-state.

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- [Lecturer] We've already talked about the Aztec civilization in several videos, but what we're going to focus on in this video is the Aztec empire which shouldn't be confused with the Aztec civilization. The civilization is referring to the broader groups of people over hundreds of years, but the Aztec empire is a very specific entity that formed in the 100 years before Spanish colonization. What you see here is a zoomed in version of what today would be southern Mexico and right over here on the globe and you can see many city-states formed here. A city-state is a city that is also considers itself a state that has its own political organization, its own way of functioning. It's not dependent on any other government forms, and it's analogous to what we see in classical Greece where we have the city-states of Athens and Sparta. Now what's particularly interesting is what's going on around Lake Texcoco in the 14th Century. In 1325 you have the city of Tenochtitlan form on this island in Lake Texcoco and initially Tenochtitlan is one of the weaker city-states around Lake Texcoco. You see many of these city-states, some of the stronger ones you have Texcoco right here, and in particular you have Azcapotzalco, but as we fast forward roughly 100 years, you get to a situation where Azcapotzalco falls into a civil war. Their ruler dies and there's a succession battle and the various city-states around Lake Texcoco take sides. What eventually happens is Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan form what is known as a triple alliance or the triple alliance and are able to conquer the Azcapotzalco. And so in conquering the Azcapotzalco, what you have forming is known as the Aztec empire. Now it starts as an alliance between these three city-states and other city-states in the area, but over time Tenochtitlan which is sometimes referred to as Mexico Tenochtitlan because it is a city-state of the Mexico people and this is where the name Mexico or Mexico actually comes from. Now even though it's an alliance, over time, Tenochtitlan essentially becomes the capital of this alliance, or the capital of this Aztec empire which continues on for roughly 100 years until 1521 when it is defeated by Hernando Cortes. Now the story of how Hernando Cortes is able to conquer this empire is fascinating and I'm not going to be able to go into all of the details in this video, but needless to say he's able to convince several hundred conquistadors to come and try to conquer the empire and he's able to do so by recruiting tens of thousands, some estimates I've seen are 100,000 soldiers from neighboring city-states who had issues with the Mexico or with the Aztec empire and so he's eventually able to take over the famed city of Tenochtitlan. It's really important to recognize how advanced they were at the time. You see these causeways, these bridges leading into the island. They had a fairly advanced dam system to collect freshwater from the rain while also to control flooding. In fact a lot of that was destroyed when the conquistadors came and Mexico City which eventually gets founded over this lake is going to have issues with flooding for some time in the future. In fact the Spanish, in order to control the flooding, end up draining this lake and it's where Mexico City forms. But the big takeaway here is near the end of the Aztec civilization, as we get to the 100 years before the conquistadors arrive, you have this empire form. This empire which starts as an alliance of city-states but eventually becomes a tributary empire. Unlike the neighboring Mayans, which were on the Yucatan peninsula. On this map they would be in this region right over here, the neighboring Mayans were autonomous city-states. Some might have had more power, more influence at different times, but the Aztec tributary state means the other city-states are paying tribute to Tenochtitlan. They are paying revenue, they are paying service to what essentially is the capital or the seat of that empire until it is conquered by the Spanish with, and remember, the Spanish are able to do this with several hundred conquistadors with the help of neighboring city-states and a smallpox epidemic which kills 50% of the population of the region.

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Lecturer] We've already talked about the Aztec civilization in several videos, but what we're going to focus on in this video is the Aztec empire which shouldn't be confused with the Aztec civilization. The civilization is referring to the broader groups of people over hundreds of years, but the Aztec empire is a very specific entity that formed in the 100 years before Spanish colonization.

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The Aztecs lived in Mexico. Their capitol city was called, "Tenochtitlan."  They would grow their own crops. One of the things that  the Aztecs grew were peppers. The Aztecs would use peppers that they grew for seasoning and they would also use the peppers to make homemade clay, which was used to make containers, bowls, and cups .
The Aztecs had a class structure. The ruler and his family would be in the first class. Then the noble class of government people would be in the second class. Next The commoners would be in the third class. Commoners were ordinary Aztecs without a rank or title.  Last but not least, peasants and slaves were in the fourth class. Did you know that 30% of the Aztecs population consisted of peasants? Aztecs were forced into slavery if they were prisoners of war, lawbreakers, or debtors.
Aztecs also grew their own crops. Everyday Aztecs would tend their crops. Sometimes Aztecs would eat food that was  imported from far away places. Aztecs would trade their crops with other people  at a market.  Aztecs would usually wake up and have breakfast. For breakfast the Aztecs would eat Atole.  Atole is a maize porridge. The Aztecs would add seasoning to their Atole. For seasoning they would add peppers for spice and honey for sweetness.

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Tenochtitlan was an Aztec city-state, which grew to become the most largest and powerful city in Mesoamerica.

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As the Aztecs’ power grew, their capital city of Tenochtitlan started to become one of the largest cities in the world. Tenochtitlan became such an amazing city it even surprised the Spanish. It ruled over 200,000 to 300,000 people. Tenochtitlan had plazas and pyramids that were beautifully decorated.  Just outside the plaza was the royal palace which seemed like it’s own small town. Royal palaces homed the Aztec ruler, but included government offices, shrines, courts, storerooms, and gardens. The city also had a main marketplace which was located in Tlatelolco.
The Aztecs were lenient with their control of their conquered city states allowing them to keep their religion ,customs , language and sometimes its leaders. Most of the conquered city states were unhappy with the Aztecs rule because they still had their own free will so,they wanted to rule on their own. This leniency was one of the reasons that the Spanish conquistadors were able to conquer the Aztecs easily.

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A map of where the The Maya civilization is located.

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Mayan Pyramids that are in an ancient city.

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Mayan Pyramids of Chichen Itza | Lost Temples

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A temple in Tikal, which is one of the Maya city states.

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The Mayan Civilization  lasted from about 2000 B.C.E to 1500 B.C. Mayan culture spread over much of Mesoamerica, The Mayan Civilization was built by the influences of the Olmec. Historians divided the Mayan Civilization into three periods, Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic. During the Pre-Classic period, the Maya farmed and lived in simple small houses overtime the Mayan culture became more complex, as the population grew, the buildings and settlements did the same. During the Class period, the Maya developed the ideas they had gotten from the Olmec. The Class period consisted of many independent states, The Maya abandoned their cites in the southern lowland area, and the great cities fell into ruin in the jungle, Which caused the civilization to collapse in 900 C.E. During the Post-Classic period, the Maya continued their warfare  and empire building, even at its peak the Mayan civilization were not one unified nation.
Mayan society was structured like a pyramid, the ruler was at the top of the pyramid, next was the nobles and priests, they were the only members of Mayan society who knew how to read and write, next were the merchants and artisans, under them were peasants they were the backbone of Mayan society, under the peasants were slaves, the bottom of the pyramid. The Mayans worshiped animals and gods. The Maya honored their gods with offerings such as plants, foods, flowers, feathers, jade, and shells. The Maya used their knowledge of calendars and seasonal change to help them become even better at growing food. One of the obstacles the Maya faced was how to produce enough crops to feed their population.

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Sapphire                                                                    Kaylee Kang                                      3/27/18                                              Creating a kid friendly padlet, that explains the three main groups of people that were living in Central and South America, the people and their culture.