Download Aztec Origins, Arrival and Rise of the Mexica

Aztec Origins, Arrival and Rise of the Mexica
At the time of Spanish contact, the Aztecs were the most powerful civilization in
all of North America, but they did not start out that way. The Aztecs were an
empire centered in the Valley of Mexico, a highlands valley around Lake Texcoco.
The area had been inhabited for thousands of years. The early Tlatilco culture
flourished there, but starting about 1427, it was the Aztecs turn to dominate.
The Aztec capital was Tenochtitlan, an amazing city situated in the middle of
Lake Texcoco. There were causeways leading from the mainland to the city.
Canals with canoe traffic ran through Tenochtitlan. It it’s peak, Tenochtitlan was
home to more than 200,000 people. The Spanish called Tenochtitlan the “Venice
of the New World.” Today is it beneath Mexico City.
The Aztecs did not have an empire in the traditional sense of the word; it was
more like a collection system for tribute. The Aztecs did not impose their culture
on the people they controlled. They required tribute, but not a change in
customs. The old leaders were left in place, and most people could continue their
own ways. Life continued as separate cultures. The conquered people were
required to send trade goods to the Aztec capital. This was often good for the
elite people of conquered civilizations, but it was harder work for the commoners,
who had to produce more to support the Aztecs.
At European contact, the Aztec area of domination was growing quickly. They
controlled most of Central Mexico from coast-to-coast. They did make most of
the people Nahuatl. In a few palaces, the Aztecs rebuilt temples, and they often
occupied places with Aztec warriors. It is possible they Aztecs might have grown
into a rational empire if the Spanish had not intervened.
The Aztecs spoke Nahuatl, which is an Uto-Aztecan language from the southwest
United States. Today there are about 1.5 million people in Mexico who speak
Nahuatl. Where the speakers live in an echo of the Aztec Empire’s extent.
The Aztec warrior class was huge. All commoner boys were trained to be
warriors. They defended the capital and they were quickly dispatched if other
cultures did not provide their tribute. The two classes of warriors were the eagles
and the jaguars.
Aztec wealth was based on a commercial economy. Merchants called pochtecas
traveled to find exotic thing. Common people traded the market on a daily basis.
60,000 people were recorded in Tenochtitlan’s market every day. Warriors
protected the transport of tribute. It was an orderly system.
Aztec elites were statesmen. They were well mannered and well spoken, clean,
nicely dressed lovers of art and literature. Poems and songs were exalted in Aztec
society. Aztec society aspired to higher ideals. They envisioned themselves as
having a Toltec heritage. History knows the Aztecs as brutal, but there was both
beauty and blood. Those two went hand-in-hand. That was the Aztec world from
the mid 1300s up to Spanish contact in 1519.
Aztec beginnings
The Aztecs were foreigners who migrated to the Valley of Mexico. The people
who were already there did not immediately welcome the Aztecs. It took a few
generations, but the Aztecs eventually went from interlopers to overlords of the
region.
The accounts of Aztec origins vary, but they all agree that they came from the
north: a place called Aztlán. We don’t know if Aztlán was real or mythical
because we don’t have a location for Aztlán. If you search the Internet for Aztlán,
you’ll find the modern Chicano movement in the southwestern United States,
which was Chicano land before it was the United States. For Chicanos, Aztlán is a
national pride movement. The original Aztlán likely was somewhere near the
American southwest, though archaeologists and historians have various ideas.
Many Aztec chronicles contradict one another about their origins. An Aztec
historian name Tlacaelel made a huge revision in Aztec history. He ordered every
history book in the region burned and in the mid-1400, he recast the story of
Aztec origins, probably to a new a more complimentary story. Aztlán means
“place of herons.” It is environed as a white, marshy place and is depicted as an
island on a lake, but so is Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital.
The name Aztec comes from the word Aztlán and is a general term for the people
of the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs actually referred to themselves as the Mexica,
and that’s where we get the name of the country Mexico. Aztec is a modern
invention coined by Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). on Humboldt first
published the term in 1810 to distinguish the ancient Aztecs from the modern
Nahuatl people.
Aztec myths speak of a place before Aztlán called Chicomoztoc, the place of seven
caves. Seven groups came from those caves. They were the original groups in the
Valley of Mexico. The Mexico alone stayed north, and they settled near Aztlán.
The other six groups headed south to the Valley of Mexico. The Mexica described
themselves as the last of the original group to arrive in the valley. Aztlán may be
real of mythical. The priest Diego Doran said Moctezuma I sent a mission to find
Aztlán. Reportedly they did, but then the maps were burned in a siege. The
Mexica left Aztlán only a century before, not thousands of years. Duran wrote
that Aztlán sounded like a place in the American southwest. The myth inspired
expeditions to go as far northwest as California.
What made the Aztecs leave Aztlán and move to the already crowded Valley of
Mexico? Perhaps they were driven out of Aztlán because they were the
commoners of the city, and they were kicked out by the elites. They decided to
leave for a better life as they were inspired by visions of a patron god
Huitzilopochtli—the Aztec god of war. Other accounts suggest drought forced the
Aztecss from Aztlán because they could not farm. Climatic studies support this
suggestion. There was a huge drought in the southwest United States from about
110 to about 1300. The Aztecs say they left about 1200. The archaeological
record suggests massive migrations from the American southwest at that same
time.
The chronicles report many stops and hardships on the Aztecs journey to the
Valley of Mexico—a journey that took between fifty and two hundred years. In
any event, the Aztecs were nomadic warriors. The Aztecs began their journey in
the year “one flint,” which may have been between 1064 and 1272 in the 52-year
cycle of the Aztec calendar. These dates should be treated with suspicion because
Tlacaelel may have revised the date of the Aztec’s arrival. The Aztecs stopped
many times and often rested on their journey.
Legends say they stooped at Coatepec—“snake mountain—a mythic place where
corn was first cultivated and water sprung from a ball court. Coatepec is also the
legendary birthplace of Huitzilopochtli. He was born in full war gear. He
chopped up his sister as the sister and his other siblings tried to attack
Huitzilopochtli’s mother. Huitzilopochtli threw his sister’s body down the
mountain. Legends say some Aztecs wanted to stay in Coatepec, but the priests
of Huitzilopochtli insisted the Aztecs move on. The situation was resolved on a
night raid when the rebels who wanted to stay were killed by those who wanted to
leave. The rest of the Aztecs moved on to Lake Texcoco.
Somewhere, about 1300, the Aztecs arrived in Lake Texcoco. This is a beautiful
region filled with very cultured Toltec cities. The Aztecs were dirty, uncivilizted
vagrants who were unwelcome. The Aztecs were outnumbered, outranked, and
outclassed. The lake was surrounded by rival cities, and more cities were found
in the valley. There was a tenuous alignment among them. Two groups were
larger than the rest: the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco, who held the northwest shore
of the lake, and the Culhuacan, who lived south of the lake.
The Tepanecs allowed the Aztecs to settle at Chapultepec—“grasshopper hill—an
areas this is now the Centreal Park of Mexico City. Around the park are some of
the richest homes in the city. Azcapotzalco is now a stop along the Mexico City
subway system.
The city of Azcapotzalco had a long liniage. Azcapotzalco was once part of
Teotihuican’s kingdom. When Teotihuican fell, Azcapotzalco became part of the
Toltec empire. When the Toltec’s fell around 1200, the Tepanec society rose to
power and becdame the dominant force in the valley, though all other cities in the
region considered themselves to be of Toltec decendency.
In less than a year, the Tepanecs expelled the Aztecs from Chapultepec. The
Tepanecs saw the Aztecs as savage, uncultured pekople who refused to pay their
proper tribute. In truth, the Aztecs had nothing to give, so they were forced to
move south where they wandered the shore until they entered Culhuacan’s land.
Culhuacan gave the Aztecs a barren land called T____. Farming was difficult
becaudse there was little water. The Aztecs were said to have lived off of rodents
and lizards. They prayed to Huitzilopochtli for guidance. This leads to a turning
point in Aztec history. They had nothing to trade, so they became mercinaries
who honored their war god with they deeds. They fought for Culhuacan, taking
dity jobs no meant for civilized people. Then Aztecs honed their skills as warriors
and made sacrifices to their god. They gained stregnth and respect. The Aztecs
were rewarded be being allowed to intermarry with the Culhuacan people. As
twenty years went by, Aztec children learned culture, and a new generation of
Aztec leaders emerged. King Achicometl gave the Aztecs his daughter to the ruler
of the Aztecs as a wife. This official invited the Aztecs into the royal Culhuacan
dynasty. The Aztecs offended King Achicometl by sacrificing his daughter as a
precious gift to Huitzilopochtli. In 1323, the Aztecs were once again forced to
wander the lake.
While on their journey, the high priest of the Aztecs had a vision: he saw the
place of their new home. He said it would be marked by an eagle on a cactus with
a snake in its mouth. That today ios the symbol on Mexico’s flag. They didn’t
find it immediately. First the Aztecs settled back in Tepanec land. They were
smarted thius itme. They paid their tribute and became mercenaries who stirred
up trouble in the region. All of the valley’s cities were fighting back-and-forth,
and the Aaztecs were inn the middle—like a hornet’s nest, stirring up everyone in
the area.
About two years after they were dismissed by King Achicometl, the priests saw
the eagle on the cactus, but it was on a tiny island in Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs
waded through the shallow, marshy swampland to build their new capital. They
used a local farming technique: chinampa—a process in which the Aztecs piled up
lake muck to create farmland. The Aztecs took this to a new level but putting
pole enclosures inside the shallow lake. They them put the muck in the space
between the poles to create a sturdy and more usable land. The top surface was
very fertyile for planting, and the lake’s waters continually replenished the
nutrients in those fields. The usedn the chinamp method to creater land wheren
they could live. The Aztecs slowly expanded the habitable sections.
Little by little, the Aztecs transferred themselves from Tepanec land on the
lakeshore where they were still paying tribute, to their new city, which they called
Tenoctitlan—probably named for an Aztec leader. The city was established in
1325. By then, they had enough land to live. They expanded the land as time
when on.
The new Aztec home was quite practical. It was defensible because it was in the
middle of a lake, and they could live autonomously on the island because the
chinampas provided them with food. Through this method, the Aztec population
grew and its leaders were no longer savages but statesmen. The Aztecs, however,
still remnained warriors at heart. In time their army began to rival their
neighbor’s forces. A century passed, and with the Aztecs as their mercenaries, the
Tepanec’s expanded their territory to control the entire valley. The other cities
were now forced to pay tribute to the Tepanecs, so Tepanec wealth increased.
When Itzcoatl (“the Obsidian Serpent”) became the Aztec ruler in 1427, he
formed a secret alliance with two small local kingdoms: Texcoco and Tlacopan.
The new alliance suddenly turned on the Tepanecs to conquer Azcapotzalco.
Tepanec wealth was suddenly transferred to what was later called the Triple
Alliance. The Aztecs could not conquer the regikon on their own, so they
partnered with these other groups. With the Tepanecs gone, however, the
Texcoco and Tlacopan were soon to follow. First they conquered Culhuacan on
the south of the lake to contyrol the entire valley. Itzcoatl needed to co-rule
because Texcoco and Tlacopan had great regional support. Even though ghe
Aztecs had made great headway in the area, the other local groups still had a
great deal of distriuct for the Aztecs.
Moctezuma took the Aztec throne in 1440. Moctezuma and his half-brother,
Tlacaelel, took the next step by recasting the Aztec’s public image. All old
histories were burned, and a new age began. Tenoctitlan became Aztlán reborn
and the Age of the Aztec Empire had begun.
Aztec Chronicles
Life in the Aztec world was full of traditions; some beautiful and other quite
macabre from the perspective of modern society. Daily life for a citizen of
Tenoctitlan was steeped in religious ritual, strict codes of behavior, and
obligations to their community.
We know about Aztec life because there were several chronicles written during
the contact period. They were written by soldiers, priests, and literate Aztec
people. These chronicles provide different perspectives that often disagree with
one another. Some chronicles were written at the point of contact, while others
were written well after the fact.
Hernán Cortés, the captain who defeated Tenoctitlan, wrote a number of letters
to the King of Spain from 1519 to 1521. These letters provide detailed
descriptikons of people, places and events. Cortés’s writings are important
because life was still fiully Aztec at that time. His motivations are suspect
because his expedition was a mutiny. Cuba’s governor forbade Cortés from going
and sent a force to stop Cortés. Much of what Cortés wrote is a justification to
King Charles V, so he may have exaggerated and justified the destruction of the
Aztec capital by emphasizing Aztec savagery.
After the conquest, Cortés wrote his biography with Francisco López de Gómara.
Cortés’ biography inspired other conquest accounts.
Bernal Díaz del Castillo was a soldier with Cortés. Díaz wrote his account years
later as a response to what Gómara had written. Díaz specifically called the
biography “the lies of Gómara” and he wanted to counteract the biography with
his own version of events. Bernal Díaz was biorn in Spain. At that time he was
poor and uneducated, but he was one of the first missions sent to the Yucatan.
He was there in 1517 and 1518. He joined Cortés in 1519. Díaz saw the conquest
with his own eyes. After the conquest, Díaz became the governor of Guatemala
and Chipas. About thirty years after the conquest, his anger at Gómara and other
writers inspiured him to write The True History of the Conquest of New Spain.
In his book, Díaz described the Aztec cities and their people. He wrote the book
as a great adventure story.
Both Cortés and Díaz wrote important accounts, but they were soldiers who
didn’t speak the Nahuatl language or take the time to understand the people. The
priests who came later did speak Nahuatl. Bernardino de Sahagún was a
Fanciscan who arrived in Mexico City in 1529. Sahagún learned Nahuatl and
traveled the region widely, spending fifty years chronicling Aztec life. He wrote a
twelve volume series that we today call the Florentine Codex. It was 12,400
pages with illustrations—an encyclopedia of everything Aztec. Sahagún has
respect for the indigenous people and a distinct dislike for the conquistadors. He
credited all of his sources by name and he recorded all aspects of his life nthat he
could view. He verified whatever he learned through three independent sources.
Some people call Sahagún the “Father of American Ethnography.”
Diego Durán moved to Mexico as a child in the 1540s. At the start of his book, he
says “he got his second teeth in Texcoco.” He was a Spaniard who grew up Aztec.
His playmates were Aztec. Durán wrote three books. One was The History of
the Indies of New Spain, another was The Book of Gods and Rites. The third was
The Ancient Calendar. Durán joined the Dominican order in 1556, and he wrote
his books to alert his fellow priests of what was happening. Durán knew that
Aztec religion was still alive. He had grown up an Aztec. The Aztecs trusted
Durán, so they told him things they would not tell other priests. Durán was able
to to witness and record many brutal rituals that were still going on. In part of
his books, he rants that other priests do not understand what the Aztecs were
doing. Durán wrote that the Aztecs often held off saint day festivals until the
pagan deity’s day. In essence, the Aztecs had Christian priests funding their
rituals.
The Aztec Class System
Aztec society had two clear cut tiers: commoners and nobles. At the very bottom
of Aztec society were slaves, and there were many. Anyone could end up a slave.
Slaves were sold in the markets. The owners were obligated to feed and house
the slaves, and many of the houses of the nobles had many servants who were
actually slaves.
People could become slaves in different ways. Some people were captured in
foreign lands and brought into the city others were sentenced to slavery for
crimes. Some people sold themselves into slavery because of debt. Gamblers
often bet themselves into slavery. Poor families often sold children into slavery to
support the rest of the family.
The loss of someone’s freedom was recorded. There were official documents and
decrees. Slaves could still have money and time off. They could also have wives
and children of their own. The children of slaves were born free. Slaves could
also be brought specifically to be sacrificed.
The vast majority of people were commoners. They were simple farmers or
craftworks, often tending the land of nobles. The commoners farmed the land
during the rainy season from May to November, and then they worked as
taxation for the state. They worked a construction laborers or as warriors on a
campaign.
Common women stayed home. They did the cooking, cleaning and weaving.
They also did all of the shopping in the market. Women who made excess textiles
could sell them in the market.
Some men were craftworkers who stayed home. They were potters or
woodworkers. Children stayed at home learning their parents’ trade.
Aztec workers lived in simple one-room houses, usually made from reed walls or
waddle-and-daub or adobe. The homes had thatched roofs but no windows and a
single doorway. Inside they slept on reed mat beds. A hearth inside kept them
warm. Four to five families would surround a shared patio. Often the families
sharing a patio were related.
Each group of houses had a temezcal, or sweat bath. Families gathered inside.
Children were often born in the temezcal. The temezcal made people who lived
without air conditioning feel cooler.
House groups lived within neighborhoods that were usually owned by a noble.
Labor in that neighborhood would be assigned by that noble. The neighborhoods
also had temples, schools, and markets. Some even had small ball courts. The
noble would have a larger palace within the neighborhood.
Commoners could not become nobles, but they could elevate their status by
becoming a warrior or a priest. This might allow them to live in a better city
compound, or perhaps become a royal guard who lived in the palace.
There was a middle class of pochtecas—travelling merchants who sold exotic
items in the market. Pochtecas often served the king by going on diplomatic
missions or serving as spies and finding new places for the Aztecs to conquer.
Teams of pochtecas, their apprentices and carriers would often go on trade
missions that might last months. Everyone in the party were armed warriors.
There were twelve heredity guilds of pochtecas within Tenochtitlan. The
pochtecas controlled all of the trade routes. They also served as judges in the
market. Some pochtecas become even richer than nobles, but they were not
allowed to show their wealth. They often dressed in rags to hide their wealth.
The nobles comprised only five percent of Aztec society, but they owned
everything. Only nobles could wear capes and jewelry. The children of nobles
went a calmecac, a special school that prepared children to lead armies or be high
priests.
The nobles lived in much nicer homes. Many were palaces built of beautiful
volcanic stone walls transported from far away. Noble homes had flat roofs with
beautiful cedar beams. Inside the nobles home there many rooms, often with a
place set aside as servant’s quarters. The homes had finely crafted furniture and
beautiful plateware.
Nobles were also expected to be model citizens. Penalties were stricter for nobles
than for common people. Nobles had to lead and organize all Aztec feasts. They
also had to organize labor teams. In times of war, the nobles had to lead the
army.
The Aztec king was the speaker and the statesman, the head of the army, the
commander in chief. The kingship was not heredity, the king was elected by a
group nobles. The king had a great palace and many wives. He also had
thousand of servants. All city lands were his property. Nobles were granted land
by the king, and all taxes and laws were his to decide.
The king was also the high priest who oversaw the daily sacrifices. He was also
the general who led the army and developed all battle strategies. He also created
political relationships with kings of other lands. Everyone from slave to noble
depended on the king to provide security and a good life. He was the father
figure and the spiritual leader of everyone in Aztec society.
Everyday Life in the Aztec Empire
Aztec babies were born at home with in the sweat bath with the help of a midwife.
On the fourth day, the baby was brought out to the courtyard where it was bathed
in a tub of lake reeds. Three boys would call out the baby’s temporary name. The
baby’s umbilicus was buried in the courtyard. The burial of the umbilicus
connected the child to this place forever.
A temple priest would announce the name of a child in a festival the following
May. Most commoners were named after the day of their birth. The day of your
birth portended your destiny.
Aztec birthday celebrations were unusual. The Birthday person would throw a
party for everyone who helped him or her during their life. People who didn’t
were scored for the next year. All children had to help at home. By the age of five,
by the age of five, boys were hauling wood and girls were cleaning. School was
mandatory telpuchcalli ("house of youth").
Everyone learned basic skills, but boys were trained as warriors and had to serve
in the army. Your worth was measured by how many people you captured during
your lifetime.
Marriages were arranged by relatives and teachers. Men were to marry by
twenty, but girls married at ten or twelve. Soothsayers picked the day of the
wedding and the ceremony occurred in two parts. The party bean at the bride’s
home where there was a great feast. A sunset the bride was bathed and dressed
and carried to the grooms house with the families following by torchlight. The
couple sat together on a mat as their robes were tied together. Elders fed the
couple and burned incense. From that point, both were adults and had
responsibilities. Bridal mats are still used and are for sale in Mexico City today.
All activities were done by order of the calendar. There were good days and bad
days to do things. A priest would decide the good days for harvest.
Parents were required to focus on the upbringing of their children by being
proper social role models. Most of their income was supposed to be spent on
their children and their elders.
Adults had to allow their elders to live in their home as part of their social
contract. Upon old age, people were no longer expected to set a good example.
Once your children were raised, it was acceptable to be publicly drunk. Old men
had crossed the finish line of Aztec society so they no longer had to go to war.
All Aztecs participated in the monthly festivals. There were eighteen months of
twentys days each along with a five day “useless” month. Each month had its
own theme and activities. Some of those festivals were beautiful, while others
were scary.
Diego Durán recorded each of the festivals, often in gory detail. Aztec religion
was alive and well in to the 1570s. The first day of every month was a feast day.
One the first day of the month, every person born that month would be honored.
The first month began on March 1 during Durán’s time. It was called Touch the
Bouquet. People went around touching plants and offering food to the gods to
ask for a fruitful year. The second month began with March 21, the Spring
Equinox. This month was called Skinning of Men. It honored the god Xipe Totec
(“the Flayed One”). During this month, priests wore the dried skin of their
enemies and danced through the neighborhoods. The eights month was July
when corn was ripe. During the eight month (July) a virgin was sacrificed on top
of four men who were also sacrificed. During this month, midwives woiuld give
their sacrifice by leading a girl to the temple where she was sacrificed. Her blood
was rubbed over the idols of the temples. The eleventh month was called the Day
of Sweeping that honored grandmother, heart of the earth. At that time
everything cleaned everywhere. Even rivers and streams were cleaned. Durán
though this festival promoted sloth the rest of the year.
The twelfth and fifteenth months honored Huitzilopochtli. The twelfth month
honored his bitrh. Priests waited through the night for a sign of his birth. The
people rejoyced when the found it, but gthat was done by severe bloodletting.
Everyone in the party would cut themselves many times. They would run the
blood over themselves. The thirteenth month honored the great volcanoes.
The ighteenth month was growth whne the planting season began. The Aztecs
only ate special foods. They stretched the lims of children to promote their
growth. That same month a boy and a girl were sacrificed to Tlaloc to ask for rain
for the newly planted crops.
The extra “useless” days were used for fasting and bloodletting.
Aaztec life was an almost mix of happy feasting and solemn sacrificing.
How the Aztecs Expanded the Empire
By the time of European contact, the Aztec Empire covered more of Mesoamerica
than any culture had ever managed to dominate, but their empire was not
traditional, and their shortcomings made it tenuous at best.
Not since the days of Teotihuican had any culture had such a wide influence. The
Aztec empire was expansive, going from coast to coast in Central Mexico, going
south to Oaxaca and dominated the Mixtec lands. The Aztec frontiers were
rteally the resisters at their boders, but at the time of contact, the Aztecs were
pushing their way into those lands as well.
Aztec control was commercial, not cultural. They demanded tribute, but not
assimilation. Local leaders, politics, and religion were essentially left alone, and
for that reason, so historians suggest the Aztecs did not really poses an true
empire. Webster’s dictionary defines empire as “a major political unit having a
territory of great extent or a number of territories or people under a single
sovereign authority. A traditional empire, such as Rome, imposed a new world
order. They build a new infrastructure: roads, bridges, temples, ands new
administrative buildings. They sent new government officials to regulate things.
They also sent garrisons of soldiers. They imposed their language and their
religion on the new peoples. Of course, the demanded tribute and taxes. A new
world example of a traditional empire is the Inca. That empire of ten million
connected its empire with a road system and every community was outfitted with
new buildings. Language and religion were uniform—they all followed the Inca
way and everything was administer from the Inca capital at Cuzco. The Aztecs
were only interested in tribute. The dominated cities to get the taxes. They didn’t
built many roads and constructed few fortresses or temples in their conquered
areas. Religion was also left along. Local leaders could be left in charge and
conduct the business. So long as tribute was sent, there wasn’t much else to do.
Similarly, Alexander the Great controlled wide areas. Alexander’s armies brought
great prosperity to those regions, but they left culture alone. Alexander
controlled Egypt, but they left the religion intact. In fact, Alexander was crowned
pharaoh and they loved him there.
Independent city-state existed in Europe and in Mesoamerica. Perhaps many
Europeans of that era believed that forced assimilation would be a bad choice for
people who has always lived independent lives. Alexander did build cities and
after his death, many Greek ways to hold.
Though the Aztecs did not impose their culture, they did create an empire.
Scholars differentiate two types of empires: territorial and hegemonic. Rome
had a territorial empire, but Athens and Teotihuican had hegemonic empires.
The Aztecs did not enter the Valley of Mexico as an empire. Rather, they were a
group of ruffians following a cult of war. Empire building was something they
leaned from the already established cultures of the valley.
[…]
In 1425, the Tepanec ruler Tezozomoc died and his son, Maxtla, took over.
Maxtla attacked the city of Texcoco—the second largest city in the valley—for
rebelling. He forced the Texcoco king, Nezahualcoyotl, into exile. Maxtla also
assassinated Chimalpopoca, the king of the Aztecs.
Itzcoatl, the new Aztec ruler, made a deal with Nezahualcoyotl, the exiled king of
Texcoco. The two leaders, along with smaller city of Tlacopan, overthrew Maxtla.
The alliance of the three cultures took over thje entire valley forming what
became the Triple Alliance in 1427.
Moctezuma I became the first tlatoani (king) of the Aztecs in 1440. Moctezuma I
and Nezahualcoyotl controlled the valley, inheriting the Tepanec tribute system.
They divided the wealth with 2/5 going each to the Aztecs and Texcocans and 1/5
going to the Tlacopan. Texcoco was the most powerful part of the alliance at that
times because Nezahualcoyotl was a beloved statesman—he was trusted by
everyone in the valley.
The Aztec’s next step was to change their public image. They rewrote history by
painting themselves as a “chosen people. Aztec history now said they were the
lost tribe of Aztlán and brothers with every other culture in the valley. The were
the Mexica, but everyone was an Aztec—that is, someone from Aztlán.
The story was created by Tlacaelel, Moctezuma I’s half brother. Tlacaelel (1397 –
1487 – 90 years) was the classic “man behind the throne.” He was the actually
the person who created the Triple Alliance as an advisor to Tlacaelel and the next
three Aztec kings. Tlacaelel created a new code of laws. He also crerated new
codes of public behavior, particularly regarding nobles. Nobles were granted new
rights. He increased the Aztec’s military presence and the frequency of their
sacrifices. Tlacaelel also stabled new and more stringent tribute standards. Most
importantly, Tlacaelel rewrote history. He ordered all old history books burned—
especially books about tribute states. There was to be no memory of who the
Aztecs used to be. Tlacaelel set the stage for the other cultures of Mesoamerica to
accept the Aztecs as the divinely chosen leaders of the new empire. The Aztecs
had gone from raiders to rulers.
Now that the Triple Alliance had broken the yoke of Tepanec dominance, they
became the leader of Central Mexico. Tlacaelel visited cities throughout the
region to gain support for the Triple Alliance. He offered security and economic
prosperity in exchange for taxes and tribute. He strategy was first to be kind and
to offer gifts to encourage cities to join the Triple Alliance. If the offer was not
accepted, the city was attacked and ultimately was forced to pay higher taxes than
if they accepted Tlacaelel’s first offer. Those cities who sent tribute were left
alone and were allowed to conduct business as usual. One by one, the cities of the
valley were absorbed by the Triple Alliance.
A new system of tax collection was established. Territory boundaries were
reformed. This political strategy rest alliances by breaking up blocks of allies.
The Aztecs also set laws against adultery, theft, and drunkenness to create order
and prosperity in the valley.
Chalco, on the lakeshore, was the last, biggest, and most resistant city to the
Triple Alliance. Chalco suffered repeated attacks. In 1446, the valley faced a
terrible drought. Starving people began to leave the valley. Tlacaelel argued that
the drought came because the gods needed more sacrifices, so he inspired the
flowery wars, ritual wars created to capture warriors. The Aztecs fought most of
the wars against Chalco. After two decades of flowery war, Chalco fell to the
Aztecs in 1465, and Chalco was forced to pay higher taxes than anyone else in the
valley. Chalco had rich farmland so they could afford the tax, but the tax was
more about punishment and making an example of Chalco.
With war behind them, the valley was unified and economic prosperity took over.
Trade around the valley created economic prosperity.
The Aztecs then began to dominate foreign lands. They sent merchants to create
trading outposts. From those outposts, the Aztecs assessed the resources of an
area and learned about the local politics. The trading outposts often became
garrisons, and the newly contacted local leaders were invited to Tenochtitlan
where they would witness the sacrifice ceremonices and see the grandeur of the
city. They also saw the gigantic Aztec army. They were then invited to join the
empire. Some cultures resisted. When they did, Aztec forces attacked their city,
taking their warriors as sacrifices. They actually targeted rebel leaders as
sacrifices. The conquered community was then forced to pay higher taxes.
Aztec armies were well organized with a range of weapons. They had spears and
slings that could go a long distance. They hand hand-to-hand combat weapons
such as the Aztec sword: a wooden bat with obsidian blades running up either
side. Multiple Spanish accounts said those swords were so sharp that tey could
cut the head off a horse. The Aztec goal was not to kill, but to capture warriors to
be sacrificed. Tlacaelel’s sacrifice laws created an even greater need.
Moctezuma I subdued the cultures of the Veracruz gulf coast. These tropical
lands had important natural resources: cacao, rubber and seafood. Often the
Aztecs captured land with luxury items that became gifts for loyalty to other
dominated states. Moctezuma I also invaded land to the south. After a hard
fought battle,
The Aztecs continued expanding their boundaries throughout Moctezuma I’s
reign. As Tenochtitlan became larger, Aztec control of the Triple Alliance
increased. In time, Aztec land reached into Guatemala. There were over 450
tribute states within the empire. But the larger the empire the, the harder it was
to control. Moctezuma I died in 1469. Tlacaelel lived on to be the advisor to the
next three Aztec kings. He advised iron-fisted control and constant sacrifice of
captured warriors.
Moctezuma I had lived a long life. His grandson, Axayacatl, was the next Aztec
king. Axayacatl spent most of his twelve years in power putting down rebellions
in the empire. Cities made repeated attempts to break away. His brother, Tizoc,
was the next Aztec ruler. He ran into cultures the Aztecs could not capture. The
Tlaxcalans were east of the Aztecs. A small group, the Tlaxcalans refused to
submit. The Aztecs justified this by saying gthey wanted to keep a nearby enemy
with whom they could fight the flowery wars, so they did not defeat the
Tlaxcalans.
That this point there were tributary states and client states. Tributary states paid
their taxes. One capital was picked and the smaller cities delivered their goods to
the one capital. From the capital the goods were sent to Tenochtitlan. Client
states were set up on hostile borders. They did not have to pay taxes. Instead
they has to allow Aztec garrisons to stay there, and they had to provide the
warriors with housing and supplies. Client states were allies in the defense of
their borders, creating a buffer zone that protected the Aztec Empire.
Tributary states owed not just local goods, but they were also asked to provide
exotic goods not available within their borders. This Aztec strategy promoted
trade and commerce because the tributary states had to establish new
relationships. Those new relations set the stage for the next place for the Aztec
empire to expand.
Tribute was delivered to Tenochtitlan two to four times per year and distributed
in a number of contexts. It could be used for feasting days and religious rituals.
It could feed administrative and city workers. It could also be food for people
working on construction projects. A lot of it was for sale in the Aztec market.
Some tribute was gifts for nobles or citizens who did good deeds. The Codex
Mendoza lists all of the tribute states. It is the best document defining the
empire’s extent.
The empire continued to expand to the south and east. They ruled through fear,
which eventually led to their undoing. Moctezuma II was the king at Spanish
contact. Moctezuma II grew up being a general in one of the armies. Much of his
early life was spent in war. Moctezuma II conquered the Zapotec land
completely. The Tarascans remained a threat during his reign, so Moctezuma II
set up garrisons along their border.
The Aztecs were planning an assault against the Yucatan peninsula when the
Spanish arrived. Cortés leared of the Aztecs for Maya people. Cortés’s translator,
Malinche, knew Nahuatl from trade contact. Even cities in the Yucatan showed
signs of Aztec control. The Aztecs did not conquer Tlaxcala, an independent state
said to also be from Aztlán. Tlaxcala was surrounded on all sides, but they
refused to submit to the Aztecs, because the Tlaxcalans remembered the lowly
dogs the Aztecs were when the entered the Valley of Mexico. When Cortex first
landed in Veracrus, he met the Tlaxcalans. Cortés only had a couple of hundred
me, but the Tlaxcalans had tens of thousand of soldiers. Those soldiers were
ready and willing to destroy the Aztecs. Using the Tlaxcalans as his enemy,
Cortés brought down the city of Tenochtitlan in a matter of months.
Without the threat of Aztec punishment, the tribute states quickly brok away, and
Mesoamerica’s largest empire imploded.