State-Building in the AMERICAS [AP World History Review—Unit 1 Topic 4]

Summary

In this engaging video by Heimler's History, the host delves into the state-building efforts in the Americas from 1200 to 1450, focusing on major civilizations such as the Maya, Aztec, Inca, Mississippian culture, Chaco, and Mesa Verde societies. The video provides insightful comparisons between these civilizations, highlighting their unique political structures, cultural practices, and innovations. The Maya are noted for their decentralized city-states and emphasis on human sacrifice, which influenced the Aztecs, who also maintained tributary states and engaged in religiously motivated wars. The Inca Empire, in contrast, showcased a centralized bureaucracy and labor system. In North America, the Mississippian culture's hierarchical society was evident in their mound-building, while the Chaco and Mesa Verde developed innovative solutions for building in arid environments.

Highlights

• The video explores the continuity and innovation in state-building from pre-Columbian civilizations to the Aztec and Inca empires. 🌐
• The Maya civilization is highlighted for its decentralized city-states and cultural practices like human sacrifice. 👥
• Heimler discusses the rise of the Aztec Empire, emphasizing their religious motivations for human sacrifice and expansion. 🔥
• The Inca Empire's centralized political structure and labor system were key to its administration. 🏢
• The Mississippian culture is recognized for its large-scale civic projects and hierarchical societal structure. 🌿
• The Chaco and Mesa Verde societies adapted to their environment with unique building techniques. 🏜️

Key Takeaways

• The Maya civilization thrived with a sophisticated writing system and a network of tributary states. 📜
• The Aztec Empire was founded by the Mexica people and expanded through strategic alliances and religious motivations. 🌞
• The Inca established a centralized bureaucracy and utilized the Mita labor system to maintain their empire. 👷‍♂️
• Mississippian culture was marked by its hierarchical society and impressive mound-building projects. 🏔️
• The Chaco and Mesa Verde societies excelled in architectural innovation despite challenging arid conditions. 🏜️

Overview

From 1200 to 1450, the Americas saw remarkable state-building endeavors across diverse landscapes, shaping unique and influential civilizations like the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. The video begins by revisiting the Maya civilization, known for its sophisticated writing and network of tributary states. Despite their focus on human sacrifice, the Maya laid the groundwork for future civilizations in Mesoamerica.

The Aztec Empire, formed by the Mexica people, demonstrated continuity and innovation by marrying into power and forming strategic alliances. Their decentralized political power echoed the Maya, while their religious zeal for human sacrifices drove further conquests. The Aztecs left an indelible mark on history with their impressive capital, Tenochtitlán, and dynamic culture.

In contrast, the Inca Empire espoused a highly centralized bureaucracy to manage its vast territory. They replaced tribute payments with a labor system known as the Mita, ensuring the empire's cohesion through extensive public works. Meanwhile, North America's Mississippian culture and the Chaco and Mesa Verde societies displayed remarkable ingenuity in architecture and societal organization.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: The Maya Civilization The chapter provides a brief overview of the Maya Civilization, which flourished between 250 and 900 CE before the primary focus period of 1200-1450 in the Americas. The Maya established large urban centers and developed the most sophisticated writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas.
• 01:30 - 04:30: The Aztec Empire During the time of the Maya, their society became complex, especially with mathematical concepts like the use of zero. The state's structure was decentralized, comprising a collection of city-states often at war with each other. Expansion was aimed not at gaining territory but at establishing a network of tributary states, where local powers retained some independence but paid tributes to the Maya rulers. These tributes included textiles, military weapons, and building materials.
• 04:30 - 05:30: The Inca Empire The chapter on 'The Inca Empire' begins with a discussion of Maya culture, particularly its emphasis on human sacrifice. The Maya believed that the sun was a deity that required human blood as life-giving energy to combat darkness. This reference to Maya culture is used as a background to provide context for understanding the states during 1200 to 1450, although the Maya culture itself is not directly part of the time period covered in the course. The discussion aims to elucidate how knowledge of earlier cultures like the Maya is essential for understanding the characteristics and practices of subsequent states, including those within the scope of this chapter.
• 05:30 - 07:00: North American Civilizations The chapter 'North American Civilizations' explores the Aztec Empire, highlighting its rise and expansion from 1345 to 1528. The Aztecs originated from the semi-nomadic mashika people who migrated south in the early 14th century. They increased their influence through military advancements and strategic marriages. By 1428, they had consolidated significant power in the region and formed an alliance with two other states.

State-Building in the AMERICAS [AP World History Review—Unit 1 Topic 4] Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 what's that you want to know how State Building is going in the Americas from 1200 to 1450 you know I got you so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked let's get to it first let's start our little tour in mesoamerica which is right about here if you're in the mood for a little historical context and I know you are so let's back up before 1200 and get acquainted with the Maya civilization which ran from about 250 to 900 CE and by the way if you hate reading your textbook and you still want to do well in this course then check the link below to get my video note guys to follow along with this video anyway the Maya were insane they built huge Urban centers had the most sophisticated writing system in all the Americas
• 00:30 - 01:00 during that time and got real complex with all their Matthew stuff including but certainly not limited to using the concept of zero anywhere their state structure was basically a decentralized collection of city-states that were frequently at war with one another when the Maya thought to expand their power their goal wasn't necessarily to gain more territory but rather to create a vast network of tributary States among neighboring regions that just means that the local power is conquered by the Maya remains somewhat independent but they were required to send tribute payments to the Maya bigwigs including things like textiles and military weapons and various building material and one key
• 01:00 - 01:30 feature of Maya culture was its emphasis on human sacrifice they believed that the sun was a deity and was constantly losing energy and his struggle against darkness and therefore required the life-giving energy of human blood so that's fun but anyway put all that in your pocket and we will come back to it but maybe at this point you're like why are you flapping your mouth all about a civilization that isn't even part of the time period covered in this course well my dear pupil I assure you I am not just doing it for funsies you need to know something about the Maya because now as we move into our time period 1200 to 1450 you need to understand how the States during this period demonstrated
• 01:30 - 02:00 continuity and Innovation compared to these states that came before so that means it's time to get to know the Aztec empire which ran from 1345 to 1528 and here you see the Empire at its greatest extent but despite that metric butt load of territory this Empire had much humbler Beginnings the mashika people were a semi-nomadic bunch who migrated South around the beginning of the 14th century and got busy building up their military prowess and strategically marrying into more powerful families it's the kind of wedding we all dream about anyway by 1428 they Consolidated a lot of power in the region and entered into an online with two other
• 02:00 - 02:30 Mesoamerican States thus establishing the Aztec empire with an aggressive program of expansion now don't get confused the mashika and the Aztecs are not two separate Empires or states the meshika ethnic group were the folks that established the Aztec empire so mashika Aztec samezies anyway the Aztec ruled their massive honking Empire in a few ways that demonstrate continuity with older Mesoamerican States like maybe I I don't know the Maya you see what's happening here historical thinking and don't lie you know you love it anyway the political power structure of the Aztecs was decentralized meaning that
• 02:30 - 03:00 all the various peoples that they conquered were set up as tributary States so again what that means is for the privilege of being a conqueree of the Aztecs the various peoples under their power had to provide regular payments of food and animals and building material this was how the Aztecs administered their vast and rapidly expanding Empire but their Wars of expansion also had religious motivations too the sun god needed blood and so Human Sacrifice remained a key motivator for extending their power over more and more people all right guys we just got our tribute list from the Aztecs looks like they're gonna need some maze some grain and Kevin what do
• 03:00 - 03:30 they need me for don't worry about it anyway in order to secure their legitimacy as rulers over all these people the meshika claimed Heritage from older more renowned Mesoamerican people this is a theme you're going to see in Empires and States all across the world like people from outside come in and grab hold of power in order to keep that power they claim relations to ancient peoples that everyone revered now I should also mention that the city building projects of the Aztecs were pretty magnificent for example the seat of power and religious Authority was located right here in their magnificent capital city of Tenochtitlan which boasted a population of something like 150 to 200 000 people to which I say
• 03:30 - 04:00 dang and within the city vast marketplaces were set up which tells you that their economy was commercialized to some degree like we saw in the first video on song China there were also elaborate palaces for rulers and pyramid temples one of which was like 200 feet tall that's a big old pyramid Tony sure is but now let's move South and consider the Andean civilizations down here in this region now from ancient times a series of societies were developed along the Indian mountains and in their valleys and coastlands and one of the most significant of these earlier societies was known as the war which
• 04:00 - 04:30 collapsed around 1000 CE now I mentioned them because around the mid-1400s the Inca Empire will be established in roughly the same area as the wari and the Inca borrowed a whole heck of a lot from those older civilizations including the war anyway like I said the Inca did establish their empire and in some ways it was similar to the way the Aztecs established there for example the Inca were also a group of Outsiders who because of their military prowess quickly Rose to power in the region and expanded their empire rapidly with said military prowess but whereas the Aztec power structure was decentralized and relied on tributary relationships the Inca centralized the crap out of their
• 04:30 - 05:00 power structure what I mean is that in order to rule such a vast and diverse Empire the Inca set up a massive bureaucracy to ensure that the will of the ruler was followed in all parts of the Empire now the Incas also made requirements of the people they conquered but not so much tribute payments as labor payments it was known as the Mida system and it meant that the Inca state required the labor of all people for a period of time each year to work on state projects like mining or military service Additionally the income made prodigious use of systems employed by earlier civilizations like the wari and others not least their religion-centered political structure
• 05:00 - 05:30 and the use and expansion of infrastructure including a vast networks of roads and bridges okay now the last stop on our tour of American civilizations will take us to North America and first let me introduce you to the Mississippian culture which emerged around the 8th or 9th century CE it was established in the Mississippi River Valley and represented the first large-scale civilization in North America because the soil in this Valley was all kinds of fertile their society developed around farming or if you're nasty agriculture their political structure was dominated by powerful Chiefs known as the great sun which ruled each town and extended political power over smaller satellite settlements
• 05:30 - 06:00 in short their society was thoroughly hierarchical now one of the things these cultures were most known for is their extensive mound building projects I have to be honest as far as Mountains go these are pretty fantastic they were mostly Memorial in nature acting as burial sites for important people and they hosted religious ceremonies on the tops of the map in each major urban area in the civilization was surrounded by these mounds and it should tell you something about the political structure of these settlements that they were able to Marshal enough people to construct such massive public projects and the biggest and most significant of all these mounts was built in the urban center of Tokyo which was the largest
• 06:00 - 06:30 urban center of the Mississippian culture okay now going Westward we have the occasion to meet the choco and Mesa Verde Society they established themselves in the southwest portion of what we call today the United States after the rise of the Mississippian culture now this region is to use the technical term driasek and so these people developed innovative ways of transporting and storing water and because it's dry as heck there weren't many trees to provide timber for building structures so what did they do well the choco carved Sandstone blocks out of massive quarries imported Timber from distant locations and built massive structures that were some of the largest ever built in North America Mesa Verde
• 06:30 - 07:00 people solve this problem by building housing complex right into the sides of cliffs using sandstone and they are magnificent all right that's it click here to watch my other unit 1 review videos and click here to check out my AP World heimler review guide if you want an A in your class and a five on your exam in May thanks for coming along and I'll catch on the flip-flop I'm Laurent