Lesson 1 Commentary: The Native Americans—South America and Central America

South America

One of the most highly developed societies of the Americas was along the west coast of South America. These people had been in the Western Hemisphere the longest. They were led by the Inca (and thus named the Incas by the Spanish). The Inca was a religious leader who was considered a descendent of the sun. He was also the leader of the government. The people lived in towns and cities connected by good roads and a postal system. They engaged in agriculture, watering their lands by aqueducts that brought water down from the Andes. They also had factories and a well-developed social system. Taxes were paid in the form of products, some of which were stored for use in times of drought or hardship. The Incas did not fight their neighbors but peacefully absorbed them with promises of prosperity and peace. They also domesticated the dog and the llama. But with all these advances, they did not develop a written language, and their leadership was dictatorial and often harsh.

Figure 1.1. The terraced fields of Machu Picchu, once a center of Incan civilization

Central America

Figure 1.2. Mayan observatory at Chichén Itzá

Several different native groups lived in Central America, but the best-known are the Mayas. Originally they lived in the rain forest, where they built their towns surrounded by fields where the crops that fed them were grown. Because the soil wore out quickly, they were forced to move often, and the forests are dotted with the remains of their temples and pyramids. The ease with which they gained their food and clothing left them with time to develop their society in many ways. When the Spanish arrived, they found the Mayas had a written language, a more accurate calendar than the Europeans, good roads, and a well-developed trade system. Their lives centered around their religion, and they were strongly influenced by their calendar and the growing season. They were a harsh people in some ways; for instance, they practiced human sacrifice to insure good crops. Even their sports could be cruel. The Mayas built ball courts where teams competed in tossing or kicking a rubber ball through a hoop. The losing team was sacrificed to the gods.

A few hundred miles away, in the valley of Mexico, lived the Aztecs. They were the most recent to arrive in the area, and they were the most warlike and cruel. Their pyramids were the site of brutal human sacrifice, often of enemies. Their government was a dictatorship maintained by the religious leaders and a military. Most of the people were farmers, and as the area became more prosperous, the government became more corrupt.