Download Key Aspects of the Aztec Empire

Key Aspects of the Aztec
Empire
1450-1750 Lesson 3
Power Shift in Mesoamerica
• Review decline of
Maya
• New powers in the
Valley of Mexico
– Maya cultural
satellites
– Ringed by
volcanoes
• fertility
• geologic instability
– Lake system &
chinampas
Post-Classical Militarist Societies
• Key groups:
Teotihuacan civ., Toltec,
Aztec
• Characterized by
imperial powers, greater
urbanization, frequent
warfare (war gods)
• Trade networks more
centralized & extensive
– links to Mississippian &
Anasazi tribes
The Aztecs & Mesoamerican Culture
• Linked to Maya learning,
religion, cosmology
• Tlacaelel and the Aztec
social contract
• Rising gods
– Huitzilopochtli (Sun)
– Quetzalcoatl (Learning &
Civilization)
– Both also linked to
WAR—massive amounts
of sacrifice
Aztec Origins
• The Mexica
– Chichimecs to
mercenaries
– Controlling the
Valley of Mexico
– Tenochtitlán
– Extent of the
empire
Aztec Political Policy
• State Terror
– Tribute
requirements
• “Flower Wars”
– bad public
relations
– changes style of
warfare
• what is the goal?
• the sacrifice issue
Aztec Economy & Society
• Trade is one
dimensional; goods
redistributed by
govt.
– food products
– birds & feathers,
cacao, jade
– obsidian, slaves
• Ag. Regionalization
based on clan-groups
Aztec Economy & Society
• Social authority
– The Calpulli
• rights &
responsibilities
– The Pipiltin
• lesser nobles—
bureaucrats
• Growing disparities
& the rise of the
pipiltin
On the Eve of Cortés
• Capital’s
consumption
straining resources
• Gap between rich &
poor widening
• Tribute & Flower
Wars creating dissent
• Moctezuma II &
Cult of Quetzalcoatl
The Aztec Empire