Katie Day

Period 4 Stone

The Aztec Empire

Historical Background:

In about 1200 a.d., the Aztecs, then called the Mexica, arrived in the valley of Mexico. A few
small city-states had survived the fall of the Toltec empire and had work for the poor nomads
from the deserts of northern Mexico as soldiers for hire. In about 1325 a.d., the Mexica found a
place described by their god of sun and war in an old legend, and built their great city of
Tenochtitlan on a small island in Lake Texcoco. In 1428 a.d., they joined the triple alliance with
Texcoco and Tlacopan, two other city-states. By the early 1500s, they held an empire in the
valley. The Aztecs demanded a tribute and if it was not payed, they would destroy the village
that failed to meet expectations. Also around 1500 a.d., Tenochtitlan grew. It had surpassed
other urban centers like London with a booming population of between 200,000 and 400,000
people. In 1502, Montezuma II took the throne. Under his reign, the empire weakened. Sensing
a collapse, he ordered more sacrifices to be performed to appease their god of war. This angered
many of the subjects and led to uprisings and rebellion. In 1519, Hernando Cortes, a Spanish
conquistador began a journey that would bring him and his army of 600 men to the heart of the
Aztec Empire- Tenochtitlan. Upon seeing him, Montezuma II assumed that Cortés was a god
wearing armor and gave him a large portion of the empire’s riches. Unfortunately for the
Aztecs, Cortes wanted a much larger bounty. In 1520, Cortes’ men killed a few of the Aztec
generals during a religious festival. The Aztecs then drove out the Spaniards, who responded
by enlisting the assistance of some resentful city-states surrounding the Aztecs, and through
superior weaponry, local help, and diseases brought from Spain, conquered the Aztecs by 1521.

Religious Beliefs:

The Aztecs were polytheists. They had an estimated 1,000 different Gods. Hundreds of
temples and structures were erected in Tenochtitlan dedicated to these gods. Many of these
gods were adopted from other Mesoamerican civilizations, such as Quetzalcoatl. They believed
he was the god of learning and books, wind, and rebirth and death. He was pictured as a
feathered serpent or as a pale man with a beard. Public ceremonies were used to worship the
gods. Priests made offerings consisting of dramas, songs, and dances. These ceremonies were
plentiful. Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun, was one of their most important gods. Huitzilopochtli
was said to have made the sun rise and at night, battle evil forces in order to bring the sun back
the next day. The reason for human sacrifice was that the god needed human blood to keep his
strength to fight the evil forces. If he was too weak, the world would be plunged into darkness
and life would cease to exist. The reason for Aztec conquest was sometimes not even war. It was
to fetch more war captives to sacrifice.

Accomplishment and Achievements:

The Aztecs created an intricate calendar known as the sunstone. There were two Aztec
calendars, both believed to have been derived from the Mayan one. First, there was the sacred
on. It had 13 months of twenty days. Second was the solar one, with eighteen months of twenty
days. The solar one also had a five-day period called nemontemi, an unlucky period. Every 52
years, the calendars would start on the same day and a ceremony of fire would take place. A
crowning achievement however, was not an invention. It was the capital city of Tenochtitlan, a
sprawling center of commerce with broad streets and canals to bring in goods from the farthest
corners of the empire. Chinampas or “floating gardens” were also present at the market. They
were small plots that grew local agriculture for sale in the market on the lake. The center of the
city held the Great Temple, with twin pyramids adorning the roof, one to the sun god and the
other to the rain.

Historical Figure or Major Historical Event:

In 1502 a.d., a new emperor rose to power; Montezuma II. With the population growing so
very large, Montezuma had to call for more tribute and sacrifice from the provinces of the Aztec
empire. Several provinces were angered by this and many began to oppose Aztec oppression.
Following uprisings and unrest, Montezuma attempted to calm the provinces by lessening the
number of officials in the government and decreasing the demand for tribute. Then, in 1502,
pale bearded men from across the ocean came and brought far more trouble to Montezuma.
Hernando Cortes was believed by the emperor to be a deity and under this emperor, the Aztec
empire crumbled and collapsed.

Impact of Geography:

Because the Mexica had lived as nomads in the harsh deserts, they chose to migrate south in
to the more accommodating valley of Mexico. These nomads used the land around them to
flourish, building their capital city on a lake, surrounded by water because they had previously
had so little. They used the fertile soil to build their economy on agriculture around their capital
city.
Economic Factors of the Society:

The Aztec economy was based on agriculture grown in their Chinampas. As the population
swelled and their city grew, more products were introduced. The capital Tenochtitlan was a
center of trade that could easily rival that of London in its day. Obsidian, cloth, gold, jade,
cotton, food, and even things such as cacao beans were sold there to support the thriving
empire of the Aztecs.