Hola muchachos! So, today was the last day of teaching & learning before final exam reviews. On the agenda today was the following:
1) Review the last 2 days of stuff (see 1st slide below)
2) Discuss Christopher Columbus
3) Learn about Pre-Columbian American Civilizations:
*Olmec (the "Mother Culture")
*Maya
*Aztec
*Inca
To see what we learned today (or to review) please scroll down to see the slides, read the info, and view video clips.....
To view the answers to the "Review!" questions, scroll to the bottom of today's blog and see the answers on the bottom right.
Christopher Columbus "discovered" America and the "Indians" that lived there. Remember from elementary school that Columbus left Spain looking for a shorter route to India. To do this, he sailed WEST because he knew the Earth was round and that he could get to India from that direction, too. Most people thought he was crazy because he would "fall of the edge of the world" (they thought the world was flat). Anyway, Columbus DID hit land, but instead of India, he landed on land that he never knew existed... America! (See his route below).
Columbus DID NOT meet the Olmec (below) because they had disappeared before he arrived. Nobody knows what happened to them, but they left behind giant stone heads. We consider them Mesoamerica's "Mother Culture" because of their cultural influence on the Maya & Aztec.
The Maya civilization had collapsed before the arrival of Columbus and other Europeans, but the Mayan people still lived there (and they still do today!)
Mayan learning and the "2012 doomsday calendar"
The Maya king and queen practiced "bloodletting"...they would cut themselves weekly to perform religious rituals.
The Aztec originally farther north (what is today the southwest USA) and had to leave their homeland because of a terrible famine. The main god, Huitzilopotchtli, came to the Aztec king in a dream and explained to him that he should lead his people to a new place and build a new capital city --- and this city should be the greatest city in the world.
HOWEVER! They should build this city ONLY where they found a special sign: An eagle, eating a snake, while standing on a cactus! (This symbol is found on the flag of Mexico today.) The Aztec searched for years to find this sign, and finally found it... however, it was on a small island in the middle of a lake! It is here where they build their city - Tenochtitlan, which is today Mexico City. Tenochtitlan was a "floating city" with neighborhoods that floated on the lake built on giant floating rafts made of organic matter. See the slides below.
The Inca lived high up in the Andes and had a highway system connecting all their cities.
Anyway, unfortunately, these highways helped the Spanish conquer the Inca because the Spanish used the highways to get to each city easily. Also, a civil war before the arrival of the Spanish weakened the army of the Inca, so that the Spanish could take them over more easily.
The Inca also performed human sacrifice in their religious rituals. Often, the sacrifice would be a young virgin girl... usually of royal blood. Becaues the Andes Mountains are so high up and so cold, the bodies of these girls are still preserved as if they have been in a freezer for hundreds of years.
Review Answers: 1-D, 2-C, 3-A, 4-B, 5-B
