1.4 - State Building in the Americas

• Maya civilization


  • Ran from 250 to 900 CE
  • Had the most sophisticated writing system in the Americas at the time
  • Decentralized collection of city-states frequently at war
  • Conquered neighboring regions to create a network of tributary states
  • Practiced human sacrifice
• Aztec Empire


  • Ran from 1345 to 1528
  • Began as the semi-nomadic Mexica people who consolidated power and formed alliances
  • Ruled through a decentralized political structure with tributary states
  • Expanded for religious reasons to provide human sacrifice to the sun god
  • Had a capital city of Tenochtitlan with a population of 150-200,000
  • Developed a commercialized economy with large marketplaces
• Inca Empire


  • Established in the mid-1400s
  • Borrowed from earlier Andean civilizations like the Wari
  • Centralized power structure with a massive bureaucracy
  • Conquered peoples were required to provide labor rather than tribute payments
  • Utilized infrastructure and religion-centered political structure of earlier civilizations
• Mississippian culture


  • Emerged in the 8th/9th century CE in the Mississippi River Valley
  • Hierarchical political structure dominated by powerful chiefs
  • Known for extensive mound building projects as burial sites and for religious ceremonies
  • Largest urban center was Cahokia
• Chaco and Mesa Verde societies


  • Established in the American Southwest after the Mississippian culture
  • Developed innovative ways to transport and store water in the dry climate
  • Built massive structures using carved sandstone blocks and imported timber
  • Mesa Verde people built housing complexes into cliff sides