Unit 4 Quiz

Unit 4 Quiz:

A Day - Wednesday / B Day - Thursday

Study:

Unit 4 Vocabulary

1. region – an area where the people share similar cultures and characteristics

2. Latin America – the region made up of all of the countries of Central (Middle) America and South America; (all countries south of the United States)

3. climate – the average temperature and rainfall for most of the year

4. natural resource – anything we use that is not man-made

5. Panama Canal – the man-made waterway that was built to connect the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean

6. conquistador – conquerors from Spain who took over areas of Latin America

7. indigenous – native; the original (first) people, plants, or animals in an area

Cortes and the Aztecs

Hernando Cortes was a conquistador.  The conquistadors were conquerors from Spain who took over areas in the New Land.  After hearing about a rich and powerful Indian tribe, Cortes sailed to Mexico in 1519.  He would soon come in contact with the powerful Aztecs.  The Aztecs were a very powerful Indian tribe in central Mexico.  The Aztec Empire controlled many of the surrounding tribes.  They charged the other tribes taxes and used many of the men as slaves.  Cortes used this to his advantage.  Before invading the Aztecs, he recruited men from these surrounding tribes.  These Indians were happy to help Cortes, because they hated the Aztecs.

            When Cortes and his men arrived in central Mexico, the Aztecs were amazed.  They had never seen light-skinned men before.  They had also never seen large ship or horses.  They assumed that these men were gods.  Montezuma II was the leader of the Aztec Empire.  He welcomed these men, and gave them gifts of gold.  The Aztecs treated Cortes and his men like royalty. 

            Cortes realized that he could take advantage of the situation, so he kidnapped Montezuma.  Montezuma was later killed in prison.  Cortes knew that, without a leader, the Aztecs were weak and easy to conquer.  Cortes also had guns and canons, which were superior to the weapons of the Aztecs.  After about two years of fighting, Cortes gained control of the Aztec Empire.

            Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec empire.  Cortes and his men destroyed this city.  In its place, Cortes built a new city, making it look like the large Spanish cities.  He called it Mexico City.  Spain controlled Mexico for the next 300 years.  Mexico City is now the capital of Mexico.

Pizarro and the Incas   

        

            Francisco Pizarro was the cousin of Hernando Cortes.  He was also a conquistador.  He heard about an extremely wealthy tribe south of Mexico.  In 1532, he landed on the western coast of South America.  He encountered a tribe called the Incas, who lived in the Andes Mountains.  This was the Inca Empire, the richest empire in South America.

            After arriving in South America, Pizarro learned that two brothers had recently fought over control of the Inca Empire.  After the death of their father, Atahaulpa and Huascar battled over control of this rich and powerful empire.  Atahualpa defeated his brother and locked him in prison.  Pizarro did not have many men, so he needed a good plan to conquer the Incas.  He sent a message to Atahualpa, saying that he wanted to meet him and congratulate him on his victory over Huascar.  Atahualpa agreed to meet with Pizarro.

            However, this was a part of Pizarro’s plan.  He actually set a trap for Atahualpa.  On his way to meet with Pizarro, Atahualpa was captured.  Pizarro demanded a ransom of a room full of gold and a room full of silver in order to release Atahualpa.  Pizarro threatened to kill Atahualpa if he did not get the money.  The Incas agreed to his demands.  They gave Pizarro and his men 24 tons of gold and silver.  However, after receiving the gold and silver, Pizarro went back on his word and killed Atahualpa. 

            Like his cousin Cortes, Pizarro had far better weapons than the Incas.  So without their leader, it was easy for Pizarro to conquer the Incas.  Pizarro continued to take all of the Incas’ gold and send it back to Spain.  He also built the city of Lima, which is now the capital of Peru.  Pizarro was later killed by some of his formers Spanish partners.  Spain controlled that area of South America for the next 300 years.