Inca Empire Research Paper

The Incas and the Aztecs Before the Spanish and Portuguese "discovered" the New World, there

During the 15th century, there were two leading empires of Mesoamerica. The Inca Empire, which was located in what is now Peru and the Aztecs, whose area was located in what is now Mexico. Both the Aztec and Inca empires were advanced civilizations with a good economy, agricultural developments, and religious practices that spread across the region of Mesoamerica.

There were several ancient civilizations that built their cultures around their geography. The Incas were among one of those ancient civilizations. They had amazing ingenuity to make use of their environment. The Incas built agriculture terraces and they had a complex irrigation system. And some crops that we use today. The physical environment of the Incas affected and shaped their civilization.

The article states, “To get news from one end of the empire to the other, the Incas developed a messenger system using their roads.” One can see from this the Inca road system was an advanced transportation system. This also reveals Stone Highways were part of the Inca army’s winning strategy.

First, the Incas were both master builders and stonemasons, and they created and constructed many useful and beautiful buildings, roadways, and walls. The Incas built the site of Machu Picchu in Peru, and its, "City buildings and terraces ... are of the best quality", and, they are still standing today (3). This shows that the Incas were a very sophisticated society who solved their agricultural problems and provided shelter for their people. Also, this indicates that the Incas were very conscious about the quality of their buildings. In addition, the Incas were also superior wall builders because, “ Using bronze chisels and stone hammers they fitted

At the time the Spaniards first arrived in Mexico, Aztec civilization was thriving. They controlled a broad empire that stretched from central Mexico to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and into Oaxaca in the south. The population at the time was between 5 million and 15 million people. Tenochitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire, had a population of between 200,000 and 400,000 people. The Aztecs established their rule on military conquest and on tributes gained from the people they conquered. Tributes could be paid in the form of gold, cotton, jade, cacao beans, maize, and other products. The Aztecs responded viciously to local rulers who did not pay tribute or resisted it. They would then destroy the rebellious villages and slaughter or

How did the entire Aztec population get wiped out? In theses two books I read, “Conquest of New Spain“ by Bernal Castillo and “Broken Spears” by Miguel Portilla, to piece together to form my own opinion of how a small group of Spaniards was able to completely take control of and completely wipe out the Aztec empire.

One of the most advanced civilizations of the ancient world was thriving for centuries in Central America. This empire had built magnificent temples, was plentiful with gold and silver, and was brought to its knees by the Spaniards. The Aztecs. This mysterious, unworldly nation was destroyed in less than a month’s time. The Spaniards, who erased hundreds of years of history and culture, were honored and held in high regard, but at a price. The destruction and carnage that the Spaniards left across the once majestic empire, was the heinous crime of genocide.

At the top of the social ladder, there is the leader and their family, which all of their power gained lots of wealth due to all the taxes. Under the leader were the priests, high ranked warriors, and government officials and they were wealthy enough to get a full education, art, housing decorations, and more. These people also influenced the empire well in one way or another.

The title "Inca Empire" was given by the Spanish to a Quechuan-speaking Native American population that established a vast empire in the Andes Mountains of South America shortly before its conquest by Europeans. The ancestral roots of this empire began in the Cuzco valley of highland Peru around 1100 AD. The empire was relatively small until the imperialistic rule of emperor Pachacuti around 1438. Pachacuti began a systematic conquest of the surrounding cultures, eventually engulfing over a hundred different Indian nations within a 30-year period. This conquest gave rise to an empire that, at its zenith in the early 16th century; consisted of an estimated 10 million subjects living

The Inca Empire was located in Peru, the empire included around six million people that developed a complex political system and a large network of paved roads that brought together the residents of tribes throughout the area. In Central America and the Yucatan peninsula, the Mayans created a sophisticated culture. They had established a unique written language, an accurate calendar, a numerical system, and an innovative agriculture system. The Aztecs assembled intricate administrative, educational, and medical systems. These systems were close to those of Europe which was one of the most progressive countries in the world.

This obviously required a strong and central government that can gather the people and resources to build and maintain the roads. During this time building roads like this was considered really impressive. This

In 1532, a spaniard explorer, Francisco Pizarro sailed to the Americas in search of gold. However when near South America he encounters the Inca. He manages to capture their newly renowned leader Atahualpa and slaughters many of the indigenous Inca. He ransoms the ruler for a room full of gold, however murders the leader anyway. Due to this event, the brother of the dead ruler, Manco Inca is then made leader of the remaining Inca.

The Inca Empire had an advanced knowledge of charting time and dates. The Inca date and time keeping are similar to ours today; divided into twelve months, three weeks a month, and 10 days a week, and using the sun to chart the hours in the day.After all the Inca’s were pretty smart they had their own kind of a house.The most common type of Inca house was rectangular with a thatched roof, and usually had just one room. The walls were usually made of stone or adobe (a claylike material). The stone blocks were carved so that they fitted together perfectly, and there was no need for cement.

The Incas did not have many of the basic technologies we often consider important in advanced societies. The Incas did not use the wheel for transport; they didn’t have a writing system of records, and didn’t have iron for making tools. However, they did build a large system of roads that went throughout the empire. The Inca road system was the most widespread and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America.