Independent Study of the Aztec and Inca

Read the material in Bulliet on the Aztec and Inca. Pages 305-308, 312-320. (Lots of details) Read the material in Bentley on the Aztec and Inca. Pages 478-486, 488-493. (Big picture) When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico and Peru they found highly sophisticated complex societies. Consider them empires and evaluate the strength and unity of each empire by creating a PERSIA chart and the following guided questions:

1. How did the ruler establish legitimacy? 2. How did the conquerors treat the people they conquered? 3. How did they hold the empires together? 4. What was the economic base of each empire? 5. What was the social class system within each empire? 6. What did the emperor expect from the people he controlled? 7. What was the role of religion in each empire? 8. How was the government organized? Did they have extensive bureaucracies? 9. How was the government funded? 10. What were the weaknesses of each empire? Historian Arturo Giraldez of the University of the Pacific raised the following questions as dilemmas (problems) when looking at the Aztec and Inca cultures. Be prepared to offer your opinion in class discussion. 1. The Aztec and Inca never used the wheel for transportation, why not? 2. How do you explain the existence of the Incan Empire occupying one of the highest and steepest mountain ranges of the world? 3. How can the Inca be considered a complex society??? They had no written language! 4. The Spaniards had difficulty reconciling the commercial activity of the markets with the human sacrifice of the temples but the Aztec did not. Why do you think this was the case?