Global Studies – Mr.

Wulff
Guided Notes Homework: Unit 3 – Sections 16.3 and 9.3
Mesoamerican and South American Civilizations

Note: These notes are part TWO of a two-part set of guided notes for this unit. These part two notes are due on 11/9
(Monday) for set 5 and 11/10 (Tuesday)for sets 2 and 4.

Section 16.3 – The Aztecs (continued from part one of these guided notes)

The Aztecs based their power on military

_______________________
conquest tribute
(2 words) and _____________ gained from conquered
subjects. They usually let _________
local rulers govern their own regions. In these areas they demanded tribute, which was
typically paid in the form of __________, ___________,
maize cacao beans, cotton, or jade. Failure to pay was met with a
gold
brutal response – the destruction of villages and the _____________
capture or ____________
slaughter of its people.

Aztec society was basically divided into three classes – the noble class was for ____________
military leaders, government
officials and __________.
priests These people owned lands and ruled like ___________.
lords
Review Challenge: The social, political and economic system that involves land-owning lords ruling over and protecting
peasant farmers in exchange for their labor is called ___________________.
feudalism Name one other part of the world had
developed this type of system in its ancient societies.

In the middle of the Aztec hierarchy were the ____________________

commoners (merchants, artisans, ___________
soldiers and farmers).
At the bottom of the hierarchy were enslaved
_______________.
persons Merchants played a special role in Aztec society. They often
worked as ____________
spies for the emperor while they traveled and traded. The top of the Aztec hierarchy was reserved
for the ____________ who had ____________
absolute power.
emperor

It
Opinion Question: Would it be possible to have a society that wasn’t divided into different social classes? Explain. ________
would not
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
bepossiblebecauseeveryoneplaysanimportantroleinsociety
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.

Tenochtitlan

By the early 1500s, the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was an urban center with as many as200,0001
_______________
0400,000people. It was
bigger than any city in ______________
Europe (continent). Though the city was on an island, _______________
causeways connected it
to the mainland. The city center was connected to outlying areas by ____________
streets (or avenues) and __________
canals that
intersected with roadways.

The agricultural produce (name to things: ______________________________________)

fruitsandvegetables sold in Aztec markets was
grown on __________________
Chinampas - essentially ______________________
farmplots that were watered appropriately by the
marshes and lakes upon which they sat.

The city center included palaces, temples, and government buildings inside a massive, _____________
walled complex. The
GreatTemple
main structure was the _____________________ (2 words), with temples dedicated to the _______ and _______ gods.
sun rain
____________
Religion played a big role in Aztec life. Temples and other religious structures were everywhere and dedicated to
the over ___________
nooo gods the Aztecs worshipped. The Aztecs had adopted many of their gods from other, earlier
Mesoamerican societies such as the _______________.
Toltec The Aztecs believed in communicating with their gods through
________________,
offerings ritual dramas, songs, and dances.
The sun god (____________________)
Huitzilopochtli was made strong enough to make the sun rise each day through offerings of
________________________.
humanblood The Aztecs performed ______________
massivescales of human sacrifices each year, which involved
priests using ______________
obsidian knives to carve out victims hearts. Those sacrificed were typically slaves, _____________,
criminals
or people given as tribute by conquered people. Prisoners
_______________________ (3 words) were the favored victims, so the
ofwar
Aztecs carried out conquests to capture prisoners more than to acquire land.

Montezuma11
The Aztec emperor ___________________ helped bring about the decline of Aztec society by demanding even more
_____________
tribute and sacrifice – so much more that Aztec ______________
Empire began to rise up and rebel. When he tried to
back off, it was too late, and ________________
resentment continued to grow. This internal conflict was already happening when
the ________________
Spanish arrived in the 1500s.

Section 9.3 – the Chavin, Nazca, and Moche

SouthAmerica
In western ___________________ (continent) the ___________
Andes Mountains run for 4500 miles from north to south. The
continents first civilizations developed in the northern parts of the mountain chain, in modern day _________.
Peru The
geography was tough - ___________
steep and rocky, poor soil, and lots of ice and snow at higher elevations. The climate was
hot and dry in the _______ and freezing at __________. Most of the coastline between the Andes and the ___________
day night Pacific
Ocean is ___________
harsh and received very little rain. It was along the ___________
river
valleys in this otherwise challenging area that
societies developed. People first created villages in these areas between and 3600 B.C.E. and 2500 B.C.E. Around 3000
farm
B.C.E. they learned to ____________.

The first significant civilization – the __________

Chavin - developed in the mountains. They existed between 900 B.C.E. and
200 B.C.E. Their homeland had pyramids, ________, and big earth mounds. The belief is that the Chavin were mostly a
plazas
___________
religious civilization that had no political or economic organization. We know they were significant, primarily,
because their art styles and _____________
religious images appear in far away communities.

The ___________
Nazca civilization existed from about 200 B.C.E. to 600 C.E. in southern, coastal Peru. They developed
______________
irrigation techniques and built _________
canals that enabled them to farm effectively. They’re also known for their
___________
textiles and pottery, which often had images of animals or mythological beings. They’re most famous for the
___________________
NazcaLines (2 words).

Northern, coastal Peru was home to the _________

Moche civilization from about 100 C.E. to 700 C.E. They also built
impressive ________________
irrigation systems to take advantage of nearby rivers and farmed corn, _______,
beans ______________,
potatoes
squash and peanuts. It’s believed the Moche were a very _____________ civilization that made jewelry from ________,
wealthy gold
silver, and other stones. Their ___________ showed scenes from everyday life and, as they never developed a
pottery
____________
written language, much of what we know about them comes from these illustrations.

REQUIRED CHALLENGE: Write ONE question related to the ideas and information in these chapters/sections
that YOU would be interested in discussing or hearing other people’s opinions about. Try to write a question
that asks us to put ourselves in the shoes of those who lived in the past OR to really think about the realities in
which we live today. Try to make it fun or meaningful or both for us!

wouldtheChavinculturehavebeenmoreinfluentialifithadrisenalongthePeruviancoast
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________.