Textbook:

• A.D. 1300s: Came to power in Mesoamerica

• Early Aztec were hunters and warriors

• A.D. 1200: Moved into central Mexico.

• For many years, searched for home believed to have been promised by sun god, Quetzalcoatl

• A.D. 1325: Took refuge on swampy island in Lake Texcoco

  • Priests declared that gods demanded they build a great city on this spot

  • Worked around the clock

    • Bridges to the mainland with soil dug from lake bottom

    • Floating gardens on lake surface

  • Became known as the city of Tenochtitlan

• Next 100 years: built temples, palaces, and homes

• Center of a web to trade routes

• Relied on strong kings that claimed to be descendants from the gods

• Council of priests, nobles, and warriors usually named new emperor from the ruling family

  • Wanted someone skilled in warfare to lead troops to battle

• Montezuma I

  • Most powerful Aztec ruler

  • Governed from A.D. 1440 to A.D. 1469

  • Used armies to expand empire to Gulf of Mexico

  • Built temples, aqueducts, and roads

• By A.D. 1500: armies conquered much of what is current Mexico

  • Made up of independent territories governed by local leaders

  • Leaders had the Aztec rulers support in return for tribute such as goods or money paid from the conquered peoples

• Emperor = top of Aztec society

  • Nobles

  • Commoners

    • Majority

    • Worked as farmers, artisans, or merchants

  • Unskilled workers

  • Enslaved people

• Boys were taught to be warriors

• Girls trained to work at home, weave cloth, and prepare for motherhoods

  • Not equal to men

  • Could own and inherit property

• Priests:

  • Important role in society

  • Sacrificed captives to please the gods

  • Death considered honorable

    • Those sacrificed would be rewarded in the afterlife

  • Worked to preserve religion, history, and literature

    • Recorded these in books

• Like the Maya: Developed two different calendars

  • 260-day

    • Religious calendar

    • Used to track important ceremonies and festivals

  • 365-day

    • Everyday use

    • When to plant and harvest crops

• Mexico not suitable for farming

  • Overcame this issue with the use of irrigating and fertilizing the land

• Aztec trade

  • Crafts, fruit, vegetables, and grain passed through markets and along trade routes

  • Helped to make Aztec empire wealthy

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