What Should History Say About the Aztecs?

Document Analysis Questions

Use the following questions to guide your analysis of the DBQ. Always ask yourself the following of EVERY document in addition to specific ones listed for each document!

  1. What is the main idea of the document?
  2. What are some supporting details provided by the author?
  3. Why is THIS person writing THIS document at THIS time?
  4. How does this document help me to answer the analytical question of the DBQ?

Document 1: The Growth of the Aztec Empire-map

  1. How long did the major expansion era last?
  2. What happened to end it in 1520?
  3. In which direction did the Aztecs expand first? Last?
  4. Were all the areas next to Tenochtitlan defeated and controlled by the Aztecs?
  5. What does this map suggest about Aztec administration and power?
  6. The region the Aztecs over was fairly large and the way they took it over was systematic.
  7. Some areas avoided Aztec expansion and remained independent.
  8. There were many city-states that were part of the empire. Can you make any inferences about law and order, sanitation, food supply, roads, schools based solely on the evidence of the existence of small cities?

Document 2: Justification for Aztec Reign Over Central Mexico

  1. Where would you bucket this document and why?
  2. According to the document, on what did the Aztecs base their legitimacy, i.e. their right to locate where they did and rule over whom they ruled over?
  3. What sorts of characteristics did gods believe the Aztec Nation should have?
  4. What should a historian emphasize about Aztec political life, according to this document?

Document 3: Itzcoatl and Tlacael Adjust Aztec History

  1. Do you think rulers should tell the truth?
  2. Do people in a civilization or country have the right to know both good and bad information about their homeland?
  3. Are there any circumstances in which lying or bending the truth might be an acceptable political practice?
  4. Paraphrase what the poem says.
  5. If this evidence if document destruction is true, what does it say about the character of Aztec society?
  6. How much damage does this do to your opinion of the Aztecs? Is it a significant stain on Aztec history? Should it be remembered?

Document 4: Tenochtitlan-two images

Tenochtitlan was a capital city built on a landfill (the earth had been dragged from surrounding swamp or brought by canoe from the mainland). There were two earthenware channels and one masonry aqueduct that carried fresh drinking water the three miles from the mainland to Tenochtitlan. It is believed that Tenochtitlan had one of the best fresh water delivery systems in the world at the time.

  1. Make a list of factual observations, inference, and supportable generalizations by looking closely at the two images.
  2. If you were to write a paragraph about Aztec political power and what historians should emphasize, what would your topic sentence be? What is one piece of evidence you could use to support that topic sentence?

Document 5: A Young Scribe’s Impressions of Ritual Sacrifice

  1. Who is the source of this document?
  2. Who is the author and what is his purpose in writing about this sacrifice?
  3. What do we learn from the account?
  4. If a historian’s only evidence on Aztec sacrifice was Document 5, what might that historian say about the subject?

Document 6: The Scale of Sacrifice (drawing)

  1. What is the purpose of this document?
  2. Consider the note in the Codex Mendoza. What light does it shed on the reliability of the drawing as an accurate rendering of Aztec sacrifice?
  3. Does the Duran quote that follows the image strengthen the case for accuracy?
  4. Does Document 6 discredit the individual sacrifice depicted in Document 5?
  5. Can you imagine a justification for killing 2,300 prisoners as described by Duran?
  6. The authors of this DBQ material debated about whether to include three sacrifice-related documents. The concern is that it would overwhelm the rest of the Aztec story and therefore create an unfair negative bias. Just how much emphasis should a historian give to sacrifice when telling the Aztec’s story? Consider Document 7 as well in this question.

Document 7: Understanding Aztec Sacrifice

  1. Re-state the five ways to understand Aztec sacrifice that are presented in the Stearns document.
  2. Which of these do you believe is the most likely? Why?
  3. Revisit the key question – What should history say about Aztec sacrifice?

Document 8: Chinampas Agriculture (drawings and account)

  1. Look closely at the diagram of the chinampas and the “blow-up” of the individual plot. Create a list.
  2. From the list, what inferences can you make about the level of organization in the Aztec economy?
  3. Was Aztec chinampas agriculture communistic? Explain. Read the Stearns’ excerpt.

Document 9: Diego Rivera Mural

  1. Diego Rivera was a Mexican Nationalist painter. This means he had opinions about what made Mexicans special and different from everyone else. This mural is located in the main government palace in the Zocalo, or central square, in Mexico City. Why would he choose agriculture as a theme for a painting?
  2. Why did Rivera include a deity in the mural? Do you think that a twentieth century artist believed in the deity? Would including this be a compliment or a criticism of Aztec agricultural practices?
  3. Write three sentences that explain what Rivera wanted to emphasize about Aztec agriculture in this mural.
  4. Do you think that a historian would be justified to follow Rivera’s lead and emphasize Aztec agriculture over sacrifice in describing Aztec life?

Document 10: Tribute Demands (drawing)

  1. Examine and list some of the items that the city-state of Tepecoacuilco and her neighbors had to pay the Aztec government in Tenochtitlan.
  2. What information does this add to the information we already have about agriculture?
  3. What information does this tell us about the relationship between the Aztecs and their neighbors? Is this tribute system any different from the present-day tax system in the U.S.?
  4. What should a historian emphasize about the Aztec economy based on Document 10?
  5. As an interesting, non-economic aside, what can be learned from Document 10 about Aztec writing?

Document 11: The Market of Tenochtitlan

  1. What sorts of comparisons does Diaz make between the Aztec markets and other markets he has seen in the Old World? What impression does the Aztec market make on him?
  2. What is the purpose of a market?
  3. Why does a vital market with lots of goods, lots of buyers, and lots of sellers encourage hard work and economic well-being?
  4. What should a historian emphasize about the Aztecs from reading this account?
  5. Consider the four economics documents together (8, 9, 10, and 11). What should history say about the economic practices and achievements of the Aztecs?

Document 12: Childhood, Marriage, and Discipline

  1. The text of the Codex Mendoza illustrates many of the occupations that were available to a young Aztec boy. These included: messenger, farmer or farm laborer, stoneworker, woodcutter, painter, goldsmith, feather worker, musician, fisherman, and builder. Young girls and women spent their time bent over a metate (mortar) for six hours grinding corn, child rearing, and weaving. The smoke treatment referred to in the document involved holding a child over or next to a fire of hot peppers, which made the eyes sting and got the child’s attention.
  2. Do you think strict discipline in children is in the best long-term interest of the child? Are strict discipline for children and harsh punishments (like stoning to death for drunkenness) for adults in the best interest of the state?
  3. Make a list of long term pros and cons.
  4. What in this document should a historian emphasize about life in Aztec society?

Graded Debate/Discussion!

As a culmination of our Aztec unit, we will be debating and deciding what history should say about the Aztecs. You will be graded based on your participation in the debate, and I will serve as class moderator.

You should prepare for the exercise by doing the following:

  1. Answer the question by choosing at least three things to highlight about the Aztecs using the DBQ.
  2. Prepare a counter-argument-meaning be ready to respond to what others may argue and make a claim for why your reasons are better. Again, you must use evidence from the DBQ to make your case.
  3. You should have three well developed arguments to share. This means you have to participate at least three times to get full points. You must also type up your arguments and turn them in at the beginning of class-bring two copies! You’ll be turning one in and you may want one to use one during the debate.
  4. Have fun!

World History

Farhan