topic 4

• State Building


  The process of establishing and strengthening a political authority over a territory and population
• Time period covered


  1200 to 1450
• 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, requiring human sacrifice
  • Claimed heritage from older Mesoamerican civilizations to legitimize rule
  • Built the magnificent capital city of Tenochtitlan
• 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 or 9th century CE
  • Established in the Mississippi River Valley
  • Dominated by powerful chiefs known as the Great Sun
  • Extensive mound building projects for burials and religious ceremonies
  • Largest urban center was Cahokia
• Chaco and Mesa Verde societies


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