Aztec Notes

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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