Download Aztecs - Leavenworth High School

Robert Wade AP World History
Bryan Adams High School
New Cultures
appearance of new peoples in central
America
 Toltecs
 Aztecs

The Toltecs
adopted sedentary agricultural practices
 added a strong military and imperial culture

– conquest of neighboring peoples

ritual wars
– war....capture...sacrifice

“givers of civilization”
Toltec empire
central Mexico
 expansion into former Mayan territories
 northern Mexico

– trade with the American Southwest
– Chaco Canyon ???
Quetzalcoatl
The Feathered Serpent
 Topiltzin: a priest

– religious reformer
– opposed to human and animal sacrifice
exiled to the east, with a promise to return
on a specific date
 same year as Cortez and the Conquistadors

The Aztecs
collapse of the Toltecs: 1150 A.D.
 influx of nomadic invaders form the north
 shift of power to central Mexico

– large lakes
– fertile agricultural areas

contests for control
The Aztecs: Origins
obscure background
 claimed to have live in the area originally
 exiled to the north to Aztlan
 actually, nomads from the North
 took advantage of the Toltec collapse
 wrote history to suit their purposes

Origins
group who settled near Lake Texcoco
 1325 A.D.
 competed with other Chichimec immigrants
 small states

– claiming connections to the Toltecs
– speaking Nahuatl
Lake Texcoco
several tribes
 small city-state
 Azcapotzalco, Culhuacan
 Culhuacan: control by diplomatic marriage
 complex alliances, constantly shifting

Aztecs
new group
 used as mercenaries and occasional allies
 constant movement around the lake shore

– driven by stronger powers

reputation: good warriors and religious
fanatics
Aztec Settlement
the legend: an eagle on a cactus, holding a
rattlesnake
 an island in Lake Texcoco
 Tenochtitlan

– 1325 A.D.
– Tlateloco: a second settlement
Aztec expansion
more active role in regional politics
 rebelled against Azcapotzalco
 emerged as an independent power
 political merge: 1434

– Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan
– Aztecs dominated the alliance
Social and Political Change
imperial expansion
 subject peoples paid tribute, surrender land,
and do military service
 stratified society

– under the authority of a supreme ruler
– Tlacaelel: advised rulers and rewrote histories
– the Aztecs had been chosen to serve the gods

human sacrifice greatly expanded
Human sacrifice
role of the military
 role of expansion
 flower wars
 means of political terrorism
 cult of sacrifice united with the political
state

Religion and Conquest
little distinction between the natural and
supernatural
 traditional gods and goddesses
 128 major deities

Gods
male/female dualism
 different manifestations
 five aspects

– four directions
– the center
gods as patrons
 complex ceremonial year

Gods, con’t
gods of fertility and agriculture
 gods of creation

– cosmology and philosophical thought
gods of warfare
 Huitzilopochtli: their tribal deity

– identified with the Sun God
The Sun God and Sacrifice
a warrior in the daytime sky
 fighting to give life to the world
 enemy of the forces of night
 the sun needs strength
 52 year cycle of the world

– required blood to avert destruction
The Sun God, con’t
sacrifice for sacrifice
 the gods need nourishment

– human blood and hearts
adoption of longstanding human sacrifice
 expansion to “industrial” proportions

– 10,000 people on one occasion
The Empire: the Economy
high population density
 combination of tradition and innovation

– chinampas
– 20,000 acres
– four crops a year

food as tribute
The Empire: the Economy
high population density
 combination of tradition and innovation

– chinampas
– 20,000 acres
– four crops a year

food as tribute
Lands of the Aztecs
Aztec View of Tenochtitlan
Ruins of the City Center, Tenochtitlan
The Codex
Mendoza :
The
Founding
of
Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan: The “Venice” of the Americas
Aztec Chinampa or Floating Garden:
15ft. to 30ft. wide
Tenochtitlan - Chinampas
Aztec Writing
Aztec Math
Aztec Sun Stone -- Calendar
Aztec Sun Motifs
Aztec Codex
(15c Manuscript)
The Aztecs Were
Fierce Warriors
Aztecs Sacrifice Neighboring Tribes to
the Sun God
Heart Sacrifice
on an Aztec Temple Pyramid
Wall of Skulls, Tenochtitlan
Sacrificial Statue, Tenochtitlan
Aztec Gold
South America: the Incas

Cuzco: original home
– 1350 A.D.
expansion by 1438
 Incan empire

– ruled 10-13 million people
Religion and expansion
cult of ancestors
 “split inheritance”

– position to successor
– land and wealth to descendants to care for the
dead

new land necessary for each ruler
Religion
animism
 sun worship

The Empire
four provinces
 decimal organizations
 Ouechua: the official language
 colonists

The Empire con’t
infrastructure: roads and bridges
 communications by runners

– 10,000
purpose: land and labor
 little actual tribute

Inca “socialism”
empire claimed all resources
 redistributed them evenly to all peoples
 local independence
 access to new goods and services

Weakness
top-heavy with royal and noble families
 low level of technology
 easy prey for the Spanish

Lands of the Incas
Cuzco: Ancient Capital of the Inca
(11,000 ft. above sea level)
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Incan Suspension Bridges
Incan Terrace Farming
Incan Digging Sticks
Maize in Incan Pottery
& Gold Work
Over 100 Different Types of Potatoes
Cultivated
by the Incans
Produce from a Typical Incan
Market
Incan Ceramic Jars
Peanut
Cacao God
Potato
Cacao Pod
Squash
The Quipu: An Incan Database
Incan Mummies
Inca Gold & Silver