Inca
Until the 1400s AD, the Pacific coast of South America was made up of a lot of small independent kingdoms. These kingdoms often raided each other, but then they went home again and made peace. This was like the city-states of ancient Greece, or the Etruscan period in Italy. Then one of those kingdoms, the Inca, began to take over the others and keep control of them, instead of just raiding them (like Philip of Macedon, or like the Romans). Gradually the Inca put together an empire.
Why did people want to punch Socrates?
Where did Egyptians bury your liver?
How old are the Rocky Mountains?
What does a half-timbered house look like?
How do you spin wool?
(a project)
The Inca did not call themselves the Inca; they actually called themselves the Tawantin Suyu, which means The Four United Regions (like the United States). The capital was Cuzco (in modern Peru). The Inca are the people that are in the movie, The Emperor's New Groove (the one about the emperor who gets turned into a llama).
To find out more about Inca history, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Aztec
Moche
Maya
South America after 1500 AD
North America before
1500 AD
North America after
1500 AD
Kidipede - History for Kids home page
