1.1 The Americas — Pyramids, Floating Gardens, and String Computers | U.S. History
After this lesson you will be able to…
- Challenge misconceptions about early American history and imagine complex societies.
- Understand how early inhabitants migrated to the Americas via Beringia.
- Explain how agriculture led to societal complexity and permanent settlements.
- Explore the Olmec's foundational contributions to Mesoamerican culture.
- Understand Olmec religious practices and their cultural influence.
- Discover the Maya's advanced mathematics, astronomy, and urban planning.
- Learn about the Maya civilization's decline and the loss of their knowledge.
- Explore the rise of the Aztec Empire and its capital city, Tenochtitlan.
- Examine Tenochtitlan's advanced sanitation and agricultural innovations.
- Understand the cosmological logic behind Aztec human sacrifice.
- Discover how the Inca governed a vast empire in the Andes Mountains.
- Learn about the Quipu, the Inca's unique information storage system.
- Understand the Inca's unique labor-based tax and welfare system.
- Explore Inca engineering feats and their religious practices.
- Examine how diverse North American cultures adapted to local environments.
- Discover the architectural and irrigation innovations of the Pueblo and Anasazi.