Course Sample for Our 250 Years of Exploration, Settlement, and Reformation: World History Homeschool Course

250 Years of Exploration, Settlement, and Reformation:
World History
By Melissa Bontadelli

Week One: Americas – The Incan Empire

Objective: To learn the history of the Incas

Lesson 1: Incan Beginning

The Incas were a unique empire of people that lived in South America. Their empire spanned from the early 1400s until the mid-1500s. During this time, they conquered many people and made a vast empire. As a people, the Incas had a variety of strong beliefs on life, death, and creation. There are two different versions of the Incas creation story that exist.

The first Incan creation story says that a creator god Viracocha came out of the ocean and created the sun and all ethnic groups. The first people were buried by Viracocha and later came out of rocks and springs and back into the world. The Incas themselves were brought into existence by the sun god Inti. This made them the chosen people.

The second Incan creation story revolves around humans. The first humans were Manco Capac and his wife Mama Oqllu. They lived inside caves south of Cuzco. Soon, three more brothers and wives were born, and they all set off to establish their civilization. They defeated their enemies with the use of stone warriors they called pururaucas. They finally settled in the valley of Cuzco when Manco Capac threw his golden rod into the ground and founded the capital city of Cuzco.

Archaeologists have found that there were settlements in the valley of Cuzco in 4500 BC when hunter-gatherer tribes occupied the area. The city only became an important center in the late 1400s when the Incans had their first great ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui.

Activity

1. Identify the Cusco area where the Incan people first lived.
2. Identify the final area of the Incan Empire.
3. Identify each of the four regions of the Incan Empire.
4. Identify the location of the cities of Cusco and Machu Picchu.

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