The Incas

The Rise of the Incan Empire

Textbook pages 602-604

Geography

• The Inca built their civilization in the Andes mountains.

• The Andes are a mountain range along the western edge of South America.

• This area is a hard place to live.

• The slopes are rocky and steep and the climate is cold.

• Breathing is difficult because the air is thin at the high elevations.

• The Incas adapted to these harsh conditions

Multiple Choice

What is the mountain range where the Incan Empire was located

• Alps

• Andes

• Rocky

• Himalayas

Multiple Choice

True or False: The climate where the Inca lived was cold.

• True

• False

Andean Agriculture

• Andean peoples farmed land along rivers and they farmed the hillsides by cutting terraces.

• Terraces were strips of level land that are planted with crops

• Irrigation canals carried water to these terraces.

• The people were able to grow corn, chili peppers, squash, beans, cotton, peanuts, and potatoes.

• Andean people also raised llamas and alpacas

Multiple Choice

What did the peoples of the Andes mountains build to allow them to farm?

• chinampas

• terraces

The Incan Empire

• The Incas built an empire in the 1400's and 1500's by taking over lands of other people.

• They settled in present day Peru in the early 1200's.

• Over the next 300 years they built a large empire led by Sapa Incas (warrior kings)

• A strong army helped the Incas expand.

• The kings offered peace and protection to those who agreed to join their empire

Multiple Choice

What are the kings of the Incan called?

• Dictators

• Pharaohs

• Sapa Incas

A Unified Empire

• The Incan government took care of their people.

• In a time of need, the government officials would distribute food and clothing.

• These benefits did come at a price, however. The Incan people had little freedoms.

• The Inca's forced their language on all the people. This unified their empire

• This language was only spoken, they did not have a written language

Multiple Choice

What unified the empire of the Incas?

• their language

• their religion

Any Questions??

Thursday we will finish up our discussion on the Incas