The Aztecs Guided Notesname

The Aztecs Guided NotesName:

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Beginnings

Middle America was the home to two great ancient civilizations, the Olmec and the Maya. As time went on, these civilizations lost their power but people continued the traditions of farming and building in the area. In the 1400s, the Aztec built and empire that compared to the achievements of the Maya hundreds of years earlier. The center of Aztec culture and power was the great capital city called Tenochtitlán.

Tenochtitlán was probably the biggest city in the world at the time. Today, Mexico City is built on the remains of Tenochtitlán.

The Aztec Settle in Middle America

According to legend, the Aztec, who called themselves Mexica, migrated for years in Middle America looking for a place to settle. In the 1100s the Aztec came to the Valley of Mexico looking for a place to settle. This valley is surrounded by high mountains and several lakes. In about 1325, the Aztec arrived at Lake Texcoco. According to legend, the Aztec had received a signto build their city here from an eagle, on a cactus with a snake in its mouth.

By the 1470s, the Aztec Empire stretched from the Gulf of Mexico in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. These lands were ruled by an Aztec Emperor who demanded tribute, or heavy taxes, in the form of food, gold, or slaves.

Tenochtitlán was really a very swampy area with poor farm land. The Aztec were able to increase their farmland by developing advanced systems of agriculture. They carved canals for irrigation, transportation, and trade, and built aqueducts to carry fresh water to the area. They built chinampas, raised fields or islands, the size of football fields, to create more farmland. They used the silt from the lake bottom and planted trees to keep the water from washing away the soil.

Growth of an Empire

When the Aztec first arrived in the Valley of Mexico, they had to paytribute, or taxes, to the rulers of nearby cities. The tribute was usually paid in crops to the other areas.

Before long, the Aztec were collecting the tribute because they quickly became one of the most powerful groups in the area. In 1428, the Aztec joined forces with two other cities, Texcoco and Tlacopan and formed the Triple Alliance. By 1450, under the leadership of Aztec ruler Ahuítzotl, the armies conquered areas to the west to the Pacific Ocean and south to what is today Guatemala. Soldiers used wooden shields and sharp stone spears and caused great fear among the people. Prisoners of war were sacrificed to honor the god of the sun, Huitzilopochtli. The Aztec believed only human blood could nourish the sun god.

Conquered cities paid tribute and brought the Aztec great wealth. Workers brought more than one million loads of food for tribute to Tenochtitlán every year. The population of Tenochtitlán was approximately 150,000 people.

Aztec Social Classes

Aztec Civilization

By the year 1500, Tenochtitlán was a busy city filled with trade and learning. Doctors made medicines from plants. Plants were used to heal wounds, reduce fevers, and cure stomachaches. Aztec astronomers made accurate calendars that could accurately predict eclipses and the movement of the planets. Craftworkers created feather headdresses, gold and copper jewelry, ceramic storage jars and woven cloth. Most girls were trained to be excellent weavers.

Religion played a central role in the lives of the Aztec. The center of religious life in Tenochtitlán was the temple district. Located where the three main streets came together were temples to the different gods, homes for men and women priests, schools, and ball courts. The largest temple was the Great Temple to honor the sun god, Huitxilopochtli, and rain god, Tlaloc. The Great Temple was eight-stories high, with two staircases to the top of the temple platform. On the top of the platform, special priests sacrificed thousands of prisoners every year.

The Aztecs priests kept records using the Aztec system of writing. Pictures and symbols were drawn on a long folded sheet of paper called a codex. Two or more of these sheets of paper were called codices. Codices contained information about the history, religion, government, and science of the Aztec. Few of the codices remain because the Spanish destroyed the Aztec records in the 1500s.

Downfall

In 1519, Spanish conquistadors, or explorers and conquerors, invaded the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs had many enemies in the people they had conquered and those conquered people fought to overthrow the Aztec emperor, Moctezuma. In 1521, the Aztec were conquered by Hernan Cortes, his army, and the armies of the native people. Cortes was able to surround the island city of Tenochtitlán and cut off supplies and fresh water. The city was left in ruins by the time the battle was over.