Goals: Pretests and Tests Classwork/ Study Guides Grading Policy Overhaul Essential Questions

Goal: To understand the origins and factors establishing the Aztec Empire

*The Aztec established a vast empire in central ____________. The Aztecs flourished from ___________ to ___________ C.E. They were destroyed by invaders from _____________.

*A legend about the origins of the Aztec empire states that the Aztecs were to settle where they saw a ______________ perched on a cactus with a ____________ in its mouth.

*The Aztecs settled on an island in the middle of Lake __________________. There they built the city of Tenochtitlan (the place of the fruit of the _________ ________ cactus).

*The Valley of Mexico is about __________ feet above sea level and is a fertile area.

*Two previous groups in the Valley of Mexico influenced the Aztecs - the _________________________and the _________________________. Both groups built _______________ structures.

*The Mexica, (later known as the ______________) arrived in the Valley of Mexico around 1250 C.E. Aztec is derived from ___________, an island in a lake to the northwest of the Valley of Mexico that the Aztec left around 1100 C.E.

*Define – mercenary-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*The Aztecs were employed as ________________ by the city-states in the Valley of Mexico.

*The Aztecs adopted __________________ the Teotihuacan’s feathered serpent god. The Aztecs also married into the surviving ____________ royal line.

*The Colhuas drove the Aztecs away when the Aztecs _____________ the Colhua chief’s daughter. The Aztecs were forced to an island in the shallow waters of Lake _______________. Here they built the city called ____________________.

From Mercenaries to Empire Builders

Define – alliance

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*The Aztecs served as mercenaries for the __________. The Aztec gained land, _____________ connections and wealth through this alliance. The Aztec _________________ against the Tepanecs.

*The Aztec joined two other city-states to form the ____________ ______________. They conquered many areas.

*Itzcoatl ___________ records that referred to the Aztecs’ humble beginnings and instead connected them to the Toltecs.

*The population of Tenochtitlan was between ______________ and ______________ people.

* The Aztecs created ________________ or “floating gardens” by sinking timbers in the lake and filling the area between the timbers with mud, boulders and reeds. These “floating gardens” created an extra ___________ square miles of space.

*Define – plaza-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*At the center of the city lay a large commercial plaza which was surrounded by a wall called Coatepantli and was studded with sculptures of ______________. Palaces and homes of ______________ lined the outside of the wall.

*A stone pyramid called the ______________ ___________________ stood inside the wall. It had _____________ staircases leading to double shrines. The shrines honored Huitzilopochtli, the _________ god, and Tlaloc, the __________ god.

*In front of the shrines were stones used by priests for ______________ sacrifice. The trompantli (“________ rack”) was used to display the ____________ of the thousands of people who were sacrificed.

*Define the following:

*aviary-

*causeway-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*dike-

*The royal palace was the home of the ________________ ruler. It contained government offices, _____________, courts, storerooms, gardens and courtyards.

*One could obtain feathers of ____________ and ________ at the royal aviary.

*The marketplace sold gold, silver, _______________, animal skins, clothing, pottery, _______________ and vanilla, tools and slaves.

*Four wide __________________ met at the foot of the Great Temple. One could also travel by ____________ on the canals that crossed the city.

*The ____________________ that linked the city to the mainland were _____ to ______ feet wide. They all had wooden _______________ that could be raised to let _______________ through and to ______________ the city in an enemy attack.

*____________________ carried water from the Chapultepec springs and a _______________ ten miles long helped control flood waters.

24.4 The Aztec Empire

*By the 1500s, the Aztec Empire stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the __________________ Ocean. It covered Central Mexico and reached as far south as ____________________.

*The Aztecs did not force conquered peoples to ___________ their ways. The conquered city-states were required to provide ____________.

*Tribute could be in many forms, such as food, ___________, gems and stones, cotton, cloth, animals, animal skins, shells, building materials and even soldiers.

Warfare

*The Aztecs gained tribute, territory, laborers, and ______________ victims through warfare. Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli required ____________ blood for survival.

*The Aztecs fought with bows and arrows, spears, clubs and wooden swords with sharp ___________ blades. Warriors carried shields decorated with figures of animals such as the ____________ and ____________.

*Aztecs asked a city to join the empire and gave then __________ days to agree. If they refused, the Aztec attacked. Most defeated soldiers were _____________.

*A defeated city had only to pay ______________, honor the god Huitzilopochtli and promise obedience to the Aztec ruler.

Name________________________

Class Period________________________

Eng-Social Studies

Guide for Chapter 25 – Daily Life in Tenochtitlan

Goal: To understand the class structure and elements of daily life of the Aztec

*_____________ beans are considered valuable in Aztec culture.

*Priest preform sacrifices at the ______________ Temple.

*Nobles play a game called tlachtli at a ____________ court.

*Aztecs had ___________ main social classes.

*Define the following:

*semi-divine-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*hereditary-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*The ruler was considered _____________. The emperor maintained the empire and decided when to wage _____________. The position was not _____________. New emperors were chosen from the emperor’s family by a group of advisors.

*Each ruler was expected to acquire new ________________ of his own.

*Officials worked as ____________ and governors of the city’s districts. They may also work to collect tribute and supervise construction of public _____________ and roads. The emperor appointed government officials for _______________.

*Priests conducted religious rites, ran schools, studied the sky and made predictions about the ____________. Priest generally came from the ___________ class, but a commoner could become one.

*Military leaders commanded groups of soldiers and took part in _________ councils. A commoner could become a leader by ____________ enemies in battle.

*The highest class of commoners were called _____________. They were professional traders who led _____________ to distant land to acquire exotic goods. Some also served as ___________ - reporting what tribute a city could pay.

*The pochteca could send their children to ____________ schools. Membership in this class was ________________.

*Craftspeople, such as potters, jewelers and ________________ were the next level of commoners.

*The lowest level of commoners included farmers, fishers, _____________ and servants. Farmers were loaned plots of land by their calpulli or _____________.

Define – ward-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*All commoners paid tribute in the form of crops, labor or _________________ goods.

*About ___________% of the Aztec people were peasants. They hired out their services to _________.

*One might be forced into slavery if they were prisoners of _________, lawbreakers or debtors.

*Slaves had rights and could own ____________, goods and even other slaves.

*Children of slaves were born ___________ and were not considered slaves.

*A slave could gain freedom by working off a _______________, completing the terms of punishment for a crime, or when the master died.

25.3 Marriage

*Define the following:

*dowry –____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*polygamy-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Men married around the age of _______. Young women married around the age of _______.

*Marriages were arranged by the ______________ of the bride and groom with the help of a matchmaker. It was customary for the bride’s family to __________ at first. A few days later, the bride’s family would accept and set the _______________.

*Marriage ceremonies began with a ______________ at the bride’s house. That evening the guests marched to the __________ house. The matchmaker carried the bride on her ____________. The groom’s cloak and the bride’s blouse was tied together to symbolize the __________ of marriage. Couples retired to __________ for four days and then reemerged on the fifth day for another ______________.

*Aztecs permitted ____________ or to marry more than one wife.

*Aztecs permitted divorce. A man could ask for divorce for a wife who ______________ her duties at home, had a poor temper or did not bear ________________. A woman could ask for divorce if her husband _________ her, deserted her or failed to ____________ her or her children.

*The ______________ was the master of the house as men had higher status than women.

*Married women could, however, own _____________ and sell goods. Some older women worked at _____________ or midwifery.

*Women wove ____________ of different colors and patterns and traded them at the market.

*Women were honored for their role in giving ____________ to children as much as men were honored for fighting in wars.

*Children learned skill form a ___________ age. Boys fetched ____________ and wood. Older boys learned how to ___________ and handle a canoe. Girls cleaned the ____________ and ground maize. Girls learned how to weave when they were ____________ years old.

*________ attended school. Commoners attended the telpochcalli or “house of youth” where they learned to be ___________________. Sons of nobles attended the calmercac where they learned to be __________, government officials or military commanders.

25.5 Food

*The most important food of the Aztec was ______________ because it could be dried and then stored for a long time.

*Maize was ground into _____________. This was made into foods such as _____________ and tamales. Atole is maize ______________.

*Most people ate ____________ meals a day.

*On special occasions, meat such as turkey, hairless ________, rabbits or pigeons might be eaten.

*Farmers grew red peppers, tomatoes, sage, squash, green _________, sweet potatoes and avocados.

*When food was scarce, people ate frogs, shrimp, insect eggs and _____________, a type of plant skimmed off the surface of the lake.

*Wealthy Aztecs ate __________ ants, a lizard like creature – the ____________, cocoa, pineapples, oysters and crabs.

*Large towns held markets every day while small villages held them about every ____________ days.

*People did not use money. Instead, the Aztec used a _____________ system.

*People traded for cloth, dogs, warrior costumes, quetzal feathers, slaves, gold, silver and _________________ for making spoons.

*Guards watched over the market to make sure the ____________ was acting honestly. A court with ___________ judges at one end of the market settled disputes.

25.7 Religious Practices

*The Aztec _______ god was called Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs believed the sun god battled the forces of ________________ each night. To keep the sun god strong, the Aztec nourished him with ______________.

*The Aztec sacrificed hundreds of birds each ________________.

*The Aztec sacrificed humans. They particularly valued the sacrifice of _______________ captured in battle, because they believed their blood was especially nourishing. The victim was pinned down to a stone and his living ______________ was cut out.

*Sacrificial victims of the _____________ god were thrown into a blaze. Women’s heads were cut off to honor the _____________ god.

25.8 Recreation

*Patolli was a board game played on a ____________-shaped board. The goal of the game was to move one’s piece around the board _____________ times first.

*Tlachtli was a __________ game played by nobles. Players tried to hit a rubber ball through a small _____________ projecting from a wall. Players had to use their elbows, knees and hips to hit the ball because using _____________ and ________________ were not allowed.

Name_________________________

Class Period_________________________

Eng – Social Studies

Guide for Chapter 26 – The Incas

Goal: To understand the rise of the Inca empire, its cultural norms and how the empire maintained control

*The Inca Empire developed in the ______________ Mountains of South America and lasted from the 1400s to 1532 C.E. (when the Spanish conquered them).

*The Inca Empire extended over ______________ miles. To communicate over vast distances, the Incas used runners called ___________ to relay messages. A set of strings called a ______________ helped the runners remember messages.

26.2 The Rise of the Inca Empire

*The Inca Empire covered the modern countries of Peru, Ecuador and most of Bolivia, Chile and _____________.

*Two groups that influenced the Inca were the __________ and the ___________. Both groups had well planned ____________ and irrigation systems.

The Beginnings of the Empire

*The capital of the Inca Empire was _____________ located in a valley high in the mountains of southern Peru.

*Inca legend states that the Incas were descended from Inti, the ______ god. Inti commanded his son ____________ ___________ to rise out of the waters of Lake Titicaca. Inti’s son founded the Inca tribe.

*The empire began expanding in 1438 after Yupanqui (son of the Inca leader and later known as Pachacuti) defeated the ____________, the Inca’s neighbors. Yupanqui and his son Topa Inca launched a series of ___________ against nearby tribes.

Roads and Messengers

*About ______________ miles of roads connected all areas of the empire. Every 15 to 30 miles a ______________ was placed to give travelers a place to rest.

*Messengers, called ______________, carried messages along an elaborate relay system. Messenger ___________ were built every couple of miles. A message could travel more than __________ miles per day.

*Messages consisted of memorized ___________ and sets of ____________ called quipus. The quipu is a _____________ aid. Knots tied on strings of different colors stood for _________________. The Inca had no written _______________.

*There were three broad classes, the ____________ and his immediate family, ________________ and _______________________.

*Those who were “Inca by blood” – whose families were originally from ___________ - were considered higher status than non-Incas.

The Emperor

*Incas believed that the emperor or _____________ Inca was descended from the sun god. The emperor ruled with _______________ authority.

*The Sapa Inca owned ______________ in the empire. Servants carried him in a ___________ and the people did not look him in the ____________.

*Define – litter-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*The Sapa Inca could have many wifes and hundreds of ______________. The Sapa Inca’s primary wife was called the ___________. She was his _____________ sister.

*Nobles enjoyed privileges such as gifts of land, servants, _____________, and fine clothing. Nobles did not have to pay ___________ and noble men could marry more than ________ wife.

*There were three classes of nobles, _____________ Inca (relatives of the emperor), ____________ Inca (no royal blood) and ____________ (leaders of conquered people).

*Capa Incas were descended from _____________ Capac, the founder of the Inca dynasty. They controlled the land and resources, such as llamas, coca leaves, and _________.

*Capa Inca held the most important positions in government, the ______________, and priesthood. The governors of the four quarters of the empire, or __________, were chosen from the Capa Inca.

*Hahua Incas were called “Inca by ______________” and were elevated to noble status to help run the government.

*Curacas were local leaders of ______________ peoples. Their job was to make sure their people were following Inca __________.

*Curacas collected taxes and inspected their people to ensure they were following Inca __________ and customs, such as proper clothing and keeping homes clean.

*Commoners worked as _______________ and herders. They might also work on ______________-sponsored projects.

*Farmers grew squash, peppers, beans, peanuts, corn, and ______________. The most important crop was the _____________ because it could survive heavy ________________ at high altitude.

*Crops were collected and distributed to warriors, temple priest and people in ______________.

*Define the following:

*ayllu-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Families in the Inca Empire belonged to larger clans called _____________.

Life in the Ayllu

*The government ______________ land to each ayllu. People worked the ______________ land in a cooperative arrangement.

*Curacas ruled over groups of 10, 100, 500, 1000, 5,000 and ___________ households. Leaders made sure the work assigned to them was completed.

*Taxes were paid in the form of ____________ and _________________. The Sapa Inca claimed one third of everything produced, the next third went to support the Inca _____________ system and the final third was kept by the commoners.

*The mit’a or public duty tax was paid by contributing _______________ to government projects, such as repairing roads or mining.

Childhood

*Commoner children did __________ receive formal education. They learned skills and customs from their __________.

*Noble children were taught by amautas, or ______________. They taught the noble children religion, geometry, history, military strategy, _____________ speaking and physical training.

*At the age of _________, all boys received a loincloth. Nobles underwent a series of test of courage, strength and __________. After passing these tests, they received the _____________ of an Inca warrior.

*Commoners married only __________ wife. Men married in their early ________ and women married at __________.

*Marriages could be arranged by the family, the curaca or by the young people _______________. There was even a “____________ market” where men could choose brides.

*Marriage involved holding hands and exchanging ______________.

*Commoners lived in one room homes made of ___________ brick or stone. Nobles lived in fancier homes with ______________ rooms.

26.5 Religion

Incas believed in many gods who controlled various aspects of _________________.

*Huacas are places where Incas believe ______________ dwell. They include temples, charms, springs and ____________.

*Large number of priests worked in _______________ and shrines of the gods.

*Incas sacrificed corn, live animals – such as llamas or ___________ ________.

*Humans were sacrificed only on the most sacred occasion or in times of a _________ disaster. _____________ were chosen because their purity honored the gods.

*Priests practiced ________________ to try to predict the future.

*Define the following:

*divination-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*oracle-

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Chosen Women

*Girls between the ages of ______ and _______ were selected to be chosen women. The chosen women studied Inca religion, how to prepare special __________ and _________ for relgious ceremonies and wove garments for the Sapa Inca and the Coya.

*At the age of 15, chosen women could leave to work in temples or shrines, become convent teachers, or become __________ of nobles or the Sapa Inca.

*A few chosen women were _______________ at important religious events.

*A ____________ was sent to meet with a tribe and offer the tribe the opportunity to join the Inca Empire. If the tribe refused there would be ____________.

*Local leaders had to build a __________ temple and accept that the Inca gods were more powerful than their own. Local leaders and their sons were sent to ___________ to study Inca law and Quechua, the official ___________.

*The leader of rebellious tribes were _________________ and their people were moved far away.

*The Sapa Inca was thought to rule in the _______________________. Therefore, each Sapa Inca had to acquire new ______________ to establish his own source of power and wealth.

Name_______________________

Class Period_______________________