Geography & Daily Life
What were the majority of lower-class Maya people who produced food for their society?
Peasant farmers
Which ability did the Maya believe their kings possessed that linked them to the gods?
The ability to communicate with the gods
In Aztec society, what was a "tribute"?
A payment (or tax) made to a more powerful ruler or state.
Who led the Spanish forces that invaded the Inca Empire?
Francisco Pizarro.
Where did the first Incas live?
Along the Andes Mountains of South America.
What did the Maya believe was necessary to perform to prevent disaster and keep gods content?
Blood offerings (including human sacrifice and bloodletting rituals).
What were common jobs/tasks completed by people under the Inca mita system? (Name two.)
Building roads, working in mines, farming government land, making clothing.
Which Spanish leader did the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II initially welcome because he thought the leader might be a returning god?
Hernán Cortés (Moctezuma thought Cortés might be Quetzalcoatl).
What name did the Aztecs give to the raised, floating gardens they built to grow crops on lakes?
Chinampas
How did Aztec religion differ in basic structure from the Christian religion that the Spaniards practiced?
Aztecs were polytheistic (many gods); Spaniards were monotheistic (one God).
What was one theory historians suggest for the decline/abandonment of Maya cities (besides drought)?
Increased warfare between cities; poor leadership; environmental degradation. (Accept: rebellion/warfare/leadership/farming issues.)
Why did some Native American groups ally with Cortés against the Aztecs?
They resented paying tribute to the Aztecs and sought to overthrow Aztec control.
What labor system required Inca commoners to perform public work such as building roads and mining?
The mita
What role did human sacrifice play in Aztec society?
It was believed necessary to keep the gods happy.
What was Machu Picchu primarily used for in Inca society?
A royal retreat for Inca rulers.
What effect did horses have on the outcome of Spanish conquests in Mesoamerica?
Horses were large and powerful and frightened many indigenous people who had never seen them, helping the conquistadors gain military advantage.
Explain two geographic reasons why Maya cities might have faced food shortages that contributed to abandonment.
soil exhaustion from intensive farming, deforestation leading to erosion, and extended drought reducing water for crops
Describe a religious or political reason why Maya rulers’ religious role could contribute to social instability during hard times.
If rulers failed to ensure good harvests or could not stop disasters, their religious authority (as mediators with gods) could be questioned, leading to unrest or loss of support.
Compare and contrast two economic features of the Aztec and Inca empires (example: tribute vs. mita; role of markets vs. centralized distribution).
The Aztec economy relied heavily on tribute from conquered city-states and market trade (pochteca merchants), while the Inca used the mita labor tax and centralized state redistribution rather than market exchange; the Inca government controlled much production and storage for redistribution.
Name the disease that killed a large portion of the Aztec and Inca populations after contact with Europeans and explain briefly why it had such an effect.
Smallpox. Indigenous populations had no prior exposure or immunity to Old World diseases, so epidemics caused extremely high death rates and social collapse.