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The Legend of the Aztecs
The Aztec were hunter-gatherers living on a small island in northwestern Mexico, when their god, Huitzilopochtli (wee
tsee loh POCH tlee), told them to leave their homeland. He said:
"Go where the cactus grows, on which the eagle sits happily…there you shall wait, there you shall meet a number of
tribes and with your arrow or with your shield you shall conquer them."
They journeyed through deserts and over steep mountains. They were hungry and thirsty, hoping at every turn to see
the promised sign: an eagle sitting on a prickly pear cactus, eating a snake.
There was no time to grow food, so they ate fly eggs and snakes to survive. There was no time to weave cloth, so they
wore animal skins for clothing.
They journeyed through the lands of tribes that were larger and stronger. These tribes called them Dog People because
of their barbarian ways. They did not allow the Aztec to settle. Besides, the Aztec still had not seen the sign.
Finally the Aztec came upon the promised sign. They found the eagle eating the snake on a cactus on a small, swampy
island in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. After 200 years of wandering, they started to build a powerful empire.
They named their new home Tenochtitlan,(tay nawch tee TLAN) " Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus."
Aztecs Adapt and Thrive
Around 1300 CE, a wandering tribe of Indians wandered into the Valley of Mexico. These people were called the Aztecs.
When the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, other tribes were already in residence. They had already taken the best
land. The Aztecs had to make do with the swampy shores of Lake Texcoco.
But this did not bother the Aztecs. Not only were they very clever people, but they had every faith that their main god
had sent them to the swampy shores of Lake Texcoco, so obviously this place was perfect for them.
They adapted to their environment. They built canoes, so they could fish and hunt birds that lived near the water. They
created floating gardens for growing food. They created more land for agriculture by filling in the marshes. They built
dikes to hold back the water.
Aztecs Build an Empire
After they settled in, they began to conquer the neighboring tribes. They conquered first one tribe, and then another,
and then another.
Each conquered tribe had to pay tribute to the Aztecs in the form of food, clothing, jewels, and of course, captives to
feed the hungry gods. That made the Aztecs very happy and very rich.
The Aztecs expanded and expanded until they had built an empire.
One day, around 1500 CE, Spanish soldiers arrived in the Valley of Mexico. They were amazed at what they saw.
One soldier said, “There were soldiers among us who had been in many parts of the world, in Constantinople and Rome
and all over Italy, who said that they had never before seen a market place so large and so filled with people.”
Aztec Warriors
The Aztecs also wanted to control the Valley of Mexico, so they made war on any tribes who resisted them. And they
conquered more and more tribes.
At schools, the boys learned ruthless fighting methods and became strong warriors. Aztec warriors fought without fear
of death. They believed that if they died in war, they would go live with the gods in the heavens.
"Only this my heart craves: death in war." (from an Aztec codice)
Warriors also fought hard because the more captives they took, the higher their social rank would be.
But their cruelty led to deep anger among conquered tribes. Later, Spanish invaders would use this anger to help defeat
the Aztec.
Aztec Religion
The everyday lives of all classes of Aztec society revolved around religion.
These are just a few of the 1,000 Aztec gods- most of them represented forces of nature:Corn, Water, Fire, Food,
Mother, Flowers, Wind, Moon, and Sun.
Because the Aztec lived by farming, the two most important gods in the Aztec world were the god of rain and the god of
the sun and war who could destroy the world whenever he wanted.
The Aztec priests offered sacrifices to the gods to make their crops grow. When the Temple of the Sun in Tenochtitlan
was dedicated to the sun and rain gods, the Aztec sacrificed as many as 10,000 people! Most of the people sacrificed by
the Aztec were captives of war.
The Aztec believed that sacrificing an enemy warrior especially pleased their gods. Some think that the Aztec arranged
wars just to capture sacrifices for the gods.
Spain Conquers the Aztecs
The Spanish conquered the Aztecs. The arrival of the Spanish brought guns, horses, huge fighting dogs, and disease.
Because the Aztecs were such fierce warriors, they might have had a slim chance of survival against guns and horses and
huge fighting dogs. But they had no defense against disease. They had never been exposed to childhood diseases like
measles. Many became ill once the Spanish arrived; many died.
The Spanish also received help from the other tribes in the area. These tribes saw a chance to get even, and perhaps
even to rid themselves of the feared and hated Aztecs. These tribes did not expect to be conquered themselves, which
they were. Nor did they know how harshly the Spanish would rule their people.
By the mid-1500’s, the Aztec Empire had collapsed, and the Spanish had taken over the entire region.
Today, there are around 1,000,000 (one million) descendants of the ancient Aztecs living and working in Mexico. Human
sacrifice is no longer part of their festivals. But the beautiful art and clever games the Aztecs created are still enjoyed
today.
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From http://aztecs.mrdonn.org/quick-history.html
From http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/Renaissance/Aztecs/aztecs1.htm