Tamayo, Khryzelynne Rhoanne J.

January 17, 2019

COA 1G – BS Management Accounting Science100 MTh 7:30-9:30

1. What caused the fall of Mayan Civilization?

From the late eighth through the end of the ninth century, something unknown
happened to shake the Maya civilization to its foundations. One by one, the
Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, and by A.D. 900, Maya
civilization in that region had collapsed. The reason for this mysterious decline is
unknown, though scholars have developed several competing theories.
Some believe that by the ninth century the Maya had exhausted the environment
around them to the point that it could no longer sustain a very large population.
Other Maya scholars argue that constant warfare among competing city-states
led the complicated military, family (by marriage) and trade alliances between
them to break down, along with the traditional system of dynastic power. As the
stature of the holy lords diminished, their complex traditions of rituals and
ceremonies dissolved into chaos. Finally, some catastrophic environmental
change–like an extremely long, intense period of drought–may have wiped out
the Classic Maya civilization. Drought would have hit cities like Tikal–where
rainwater was necessary for drinking as well as for crop irrigation–especially hard.

All three of these factors–overpopulation and overuse of the land, endemic

warfare and drought–may have played a part in the downfall of the Maya in the
southern lowlands. In the highlands of the Yucatan, a few Maya cities–such as
Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and Mayapán–continued to flourish in the Post-Classic Period
(A.D. 900-1500). By the time the Spanish invaders arrived, however, most Maya
were living in agricultural villages, their great cities buried under a layer of
rainforest green.

Source: https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/maya

2. What caused the fall of Inca Civilization?

The collapse of the Inca Empire started when the Spaniards arrived in
Central America and transmitted their diseases to locals who spread them to
other parts of the continent including South America. It is believed that in ten
years between 50% and 90% of the population was attacked by diseases like
smallpox, influenza, typhus, diphtheria, chicken pox and measles, disease spread
alarmingly fast as Amerindians did not have the immunity to fight off newly
brought viruses. Influenza and smallpox were the main causes of death among
the Inca population and it affected not only the working class but also the nobility.
As a result, disease weakened the working class which resulted in lower
agricultural output as well as in the effectiveness of the communication network
which were the backbone in the success of the empire. Without its reliable
communication network which used man power or chasquis,officials in Cusco,
the capital, did not know what was happening as they were invaded in the north.
When the nobility got affected by disease it unraveled previously unseen struggle
for power and a fight for the succession to the crown of Sapa Inca. This situation
triggered a civil war between supporters of the two brothers Atahualpa and
Huascar which enabled the Spaniards quick access to the control and the wealth
of the empire.

Source: http://www.discover-peru.org/the-fall-of-the-inca-empire/

3. What caused the fall of Aztec Civilization?

The Aztec empire, which controlled some 11,000,000 people, had always
had to deal with minor rebellions - typically, when new rulers took power at
Tenochtitlan - but these had always been swiftly crushed. The tide began to turn,
though, when the Aztecs were heavily defeated by the Tlaxcala and Huexotzingo
in 1515 CE. With the arrival of the Spanish, some of these rebel states would again
seize the opportunity to gain their independence. When the conquistadors finally
did arrive from the Old World sailing their floating palaces and led by Hernán
Cortés, their initial relations with the leader of the Aztecs, Motecuhzoma II, were
friendly and valuable gifts were exchanged. Things turned sour, though, when a
small group of Spanish soldiers were killed at Tenochtitlan while Cortés was away
at Veracruz. The Aztec warriors, unhappy at Motecuhzoma's passivity, overthrew
him and set Cuitlahuac as the new tlatoani. This incident was just what Cortés
needed and he returned to the city to relieve the besieged remaining Spanish
but was forced to withdraw on the 30th of June 1520 CE in what became known
as the Noche Triste. Gathering local allies Cortés returned ten months later and in
1521 CE he laid siege to the city. Lacking food and ravaged by disease, the
Aztecs, now led by Cuauhtemoc, finally collapsed on the fateful day of 13th of
August 1521 CE. Tenochtitlan was sacked and its monuments destroyed. From the
ashes rose the new capital of the colony of New Spain and the long line of
Mesoamerican civilizations which had stretched right back to the Olmec came
to a dramatic and brutal end.

Source: https://www.ancient.eu/Aztec_Civilization/