9.8 Africa and The Americas pre-1600
Complex societies and civilizations continued to
develop in Africa and the Americas. The
environment, the availability of resources, and the
use of trade networks shaped the growth of the
Aztec, Inca, and Songhai empires and East African
city‐states. This growth also influenced their
economies and relationships with others.
Students will locate the extent of
the Songhai and East African states
in Africa and the Aztec and Incan
empires in the Americas using an
Atlantic Ocean‐centered map.
Students will examine the
adaptations made to the
environment by the Aztecs
and Incas.
Students will examine the
relationships with neighboring
peoples in the region
considering warfare, tribute, and
trade.
Students will investigate the achievements
and contributions of the Aztec, Inca, and
Songhai empires.
Aztec
Aztec
• floating gardens
• canoes
• levees, dikes, and irrigation
Aztecs
Aztec Empire
• 1325 CE early Aztec
hunters & warriors
found Tenochtitlan
(present-ay Mexico
City)
• By 1500 empire
stretches from northcentral Mexico to
border of Guatemala,
from Atlantic to Pacific
• As empire expanded,
Tenochtitlan prospers
created by staking out the shallow
lake bed and then fencing in the
rectangle with wattle.
fenced-off area was then layered with
mud, lake sediment, and decaying
vegetation, eventually bringing it
above the level of the lake.
Often trees planted at the corners to
secure the chinampa
separated by channels wide enough
for a canoe to pass.
Chinampa = Mesoamerican agriculture which
used small, rectangular areas of fertile arable
land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in
the Valley of Mexico.
Aztec fall
• Fragile empire
• Revolts in outlying areas
• 1521 rebels join Spanish conquistadors
Inca
Inca
• Terraced planting
• Rope bridges / roads
Inca Empire
• “Moche”
– earliest civ. in S. Amer.
– Lived north coast of present-day Peru 100-600 CE
• C. 1200 Inca settle Cuzco
• Greatest expansion 1438-1531
– Pachacuti = ruler
– Topa Inca Yupanqui = ruler
Students will explore the
relationships between religious
beliefs and political power in the
Aztec and Inca empires.
Aztec religion
• Supported / rationalized social hierarchy
–
–
–
–
–
Emperor
Nobility
Commoners
Serfs
Slaves
• Religion motivated…
– War
– Writing
– Calendar & maths
The Inca
• Very regimented society
• Polytheistic
– Viracocha = creator
– Inti = sun god
• Quipu = record keeping using knotted cords
• Observation of sky to predict season
changes
• Advanced math to build roads & buildings
Inca fall
• 1531 Spanish
conquistadors
arrive
Students will examine the
influence of Islam on the growth
of trade networks and power
relations in the Songhai Empire
and in East African city‐states.
Kingdom of Songhai
• The rebellious Songhai,
skilled traders, farmers,
& fishers,
• led by strong rulers
who managed to
conquer the cities of
Timbuktu & Djenne.
Kingdom of Songhai
• 1493 to 1528, under the
Muslim ruler Askia
Muhammad
– came to power when the
Muslim population
overthrew a non-Muslim
king
– Songhai Empire reached
its height of glory.
Kingdom of Songhai
• Devoted to Islam,
Muhammad introduced
laws based on the
teachings of holy book
of Islam, the Quran.
Kingdom of Songhai
• 1528 Askia Muhammad
= overthrown by his
son,
• by 1600 the Songhai
Empire had come to an
end, defeated by an
invading Moroccan
army.
Achievements
• Timbuktu (present-day
Tombouctou)
• Intellectual capital of
Muslim world thanks to
Mansa Musa
• Famous Sankore
mosque
Students will examine the role of
nature and the traditional
religious beliefs in the Americas
and Africa (e.g., animism) during
this period.
Animism