Page 110 - Key to Social Studies 6

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What Is the Reason behind the Inca Decline?

Were There Any Independent Civilizations That Developed in Mesoamerica? The Spanish invaded areas of South America in 1532 C.E.

The Mesoamerican civilizations mentioned so far were dependent on each other and grew from the The Spanish forces, led by the conquistador

civilizations that came before. Some grew in a di erent way. Francisco Pizarro, were technologically superior
to the Inca, although their invading army was not
The Inca Empire
very large. They succeeded thanks to instability
• The Inca Empire developed independently in the Andes Mountains of South America around 1200 C.E.
within the empire, as well as the help of allies in
• The Incas settled in a city named “Cuzco,” which became their capital. The emperor, Pachacuti, and his
South America who wished to see the Inca
son expanded the Inca Empire; it became the largest empire in the New World. It was ruled by a
Empire’s end.
centralized government.
Although the empire ended, the Incan people
• Pachacuti ordered all the people in the empire to speak a common language in order to unify the
remained in the area. Some of their descendants
empire. To unify is to combine or bring together. The common language used in the empire was named
still live in the area, especially in the countries of
“Quechua.”
Peru and Ecuador. Statue of Francisco Pizarro in Lima, Peru

Ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu, Peru

Quechua women in colorful
traditional dress, Sangolqui,
Ecuador

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