Networks in the Americas
Driving Question: How did environment and geography shape networks of exchange?
Long-distance networks of exchange in the Americas existed long before the arrival of Europeans and the beginning of the first global age. These networks crossed through Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, the Andes, the Amazon Basin, and in different regions of North America. Yet, these networks weren’t as extensive as those in Afro-Eurasia, mainly due to the lack of pack animals in the Americas. Despite these barriers to trade, people living in the Americas formed extensive networks that carried goods, ideas, people, and diseases in much the same way as those in Afro-Eurasia.
- Analyze the long-distance networks of trade in the Americas.
- Use a graphic biography as a microhistory to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What were some barriers to trade in Mesoamerica?
- What made Teotihuacan an important trading center?
- What sort of goods traveled across long-distance routes in the Americas?
- Why don’t we know very much about merchants in Teotihuacan? Why do we know more about merchants in Tenochtitlán?
- What was life like for merchants in the Aztec Empire? What roles did they play in the empire, other than trade?
Evaluate
- Think about the region you live in. What environmental features would have made it easier or harder for you to trade with other regions if you had to carry all your trade goods only on your back or in a canoe?
World of Chaco
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- What sorts of buildings were constructed at Chaco Canyon and who built them?
- What are kivas and what are outliers?
- How many people lived in the Chaco Canyon region? Why did this number change?
- According to Kurt Anschuetz, why is it wrong to think of Chaco as a center?
- According to Kurt Anschuetz, why is it important that some Pueblo peoples today describe themselves as being “of Chaco”?
- According to Brian Vallo, what sort of trade and long-distance connections did the people at Chaco Canyon have?
After you watch
- How was Chaco Canyon similar to other complex societies you’re learning about? How was it different?
- All three speakers in this video argue that the history and memory of Chaco Canyon remains important to Pueblo communities in the present. Can you think of other histories or historical sites that have similar importance for people today in other parts of the world?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- Who was Macuilxochitl and how does she describe herself?
- She describes the Tenochtitlan (Aztec) conquest of Tlacotepec as “forays for flowers [and] butterflies.” What does this mean?
- She writes that Axayacatl spared the Otomi warrior partly because he brought a piece of wood and deerskin to the ruler? What does this tell you?
- How does the artist use art and design to emphasize and demonstrate the importance of tribute?
Connect
- How does this biography of Macuilxochitl support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the state and economy in Mesoamerica in this period?