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THE AZTECS
THEIR LOCATION
The Aztecs were a great nation of
nomadic warriors who traveled Mexico
about 700 years ago in search of a land to
call their own.
THE EAGLE AND THE SNAKE
The Aztec chief had a dream in which
their god appeared to him and
declared that the Aztecs would build a
great nation where the eagle with a
snake in its talons lands on a cactus.
THE ISLAND IN THE LAKE
The warriors searched for many days
and came upon a lake. They were
tired and hungry. They gazed out
upon the lake and saw a huge eagle
swoop down, grab a snake in its
talons and land on a cactus that was
on an island in the middle of the lake.
GREAT BUILDERS
The Aztecs began to build a great nation in
the middle of a huge lake. They named
their city, Tenochtitlan. It has been
compared to Venice because of its great
gardens and streams. They traveled by
boat much like in Venice. It was a city
built of gold.
THE AZTEC EDUCATION
The Aztecs were very well
educated. They were the
first to create an advanced
calendar that is more
accurate than our own. They
performed brain surgery.
They were great in
mathematics, architecture,
building, astronomy,
medicine, surgery, and
farming.
THE AZTEC RELIGION
The Aztecs were very
religious people. They
were polytheistic. They
had a god for almost
everything. The Aztecs
believed that the moon
and the sun were gods.
They thought that the
moon and the sun did
battle every night and
day.
THE AZTECS GODS
The Aztecs believed
that in order to give
the Sun power to
defeat the moon and
rise each morning
the Sun must have a
blood sacrifice. They
believed they must
sacrifice a beating
heart everyday.
THE AZTEC SACRAFICES
The Aztecs were forced to be at constant war
to obtain prisoners to sacrifice. They never
killed their enemies.
They captured them and held them for daily
sacrifice. They were placed on a bench and
their heart was cut out and placed in a stone
statue of Chac-mool.
THE AZTEC WARFARE
The Aztecs were
feared and hated
by all of the
other Indian
tribes of Mexico.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANISH
A man by the name of
Hernán Cortes had
heard of the infamous
Aztecs. The Spanish
were experiencing
gold fever and
Hernán Cortes agreed
to come to the
Americas and conquer
the Aztecs and steal
their gold.
THE CONQUEST OF THE
AZTECS
The Spanish conquistadors landed in
Mexico with approximately 300 men
and 40 horses. They traveled Mexico
and met with the Indians. Upon
hearing how fierce the Aztecs were,
Cortes’s men became scared and
wished to return to Spain. Cortes
became more greedy and burned his
ships. This forced his men to fight or
die.
THE AZTEC TRAITOR
Another Indian tribe
gave Cortes a woman
slave by the name of
Malintzin. She had
been captured as a
child by the Mayas.
She was an Aztec and
spoke many different
languages because
she had been traded
by many different
Indian tribes.
THE COMING OF THE AZTEC GOD
Malintzin became
infatuated with
Cortes because he
was the first person
to treat her nicely in
many years. She told
Cortes that the
Aztecs were awaiting
their god
Quetzalcoatl to
return this year.
THE MEETING
According to Aztec legend
a tall white man had
appeared and ruled and
left the Aztecs after
promising to return in
100 years to rule them
again. Hernán Cortes
was Spanish. He was a
tall white man and he
came to Tenochtitlan
that exact year.
MOCTEZUMA
Hernán Cortes
presented
himself to the
Aztec leader
Moctezuma and
claimed to be
their returning
God.
THE END OF THE AZTECS
Moctezuma gave the
Spaniards gifts of
gold and welcomed
them to his city. The
Aztecs had never
before seen horses
and guns and wept
with fear. They
believed Hernán
Cortes to be their
long lost god.
HERNAN CORTES
Hernan Cortes and his men killed
Moctezuma. The Aztecs were horrified.
They had given an enemy a key to the
city. As they debated on whether
Hernan was actually a god, disease
spread throughout Tenochtitlan. One
third of the Indians were stricken and
died of small pox. The great Indian
nation was weakened by disease and
without a leader.
THE GREAT BATTLE
The Aztecs decided to kill the Spaniards.
However, they were sick with disease
and without a leader. Still the Spaniards
were out numbered one thousand to
one. The Spanish then sent out
messages to the other Indian tribes who
hated the Aztecs, telling them that they
had conquered the city and killed the
leader. The other Indian tribes saw this
as an opportunity to be rid of the Aztecs
and came to help.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE GOLD?
The Aztecs quickly realized that they had
no leadership. They were becoming sick
with small pox and other Indian tribes
were coming to help the Spanish. While
some were fighting the Spaniards, the
Aztecs men, women, and children
worked and gathered up the gold
throughout the city and piled it into
boats. One by one they sunk those
boats into the lake.
MEXICO CITY
The bulk of the Aztec gold was lost to the
world. The great Aztec empire fell.
Mexico then built a great city on the site
which used to be Tenochtitlan. Mexico
City stands where the great Aztec city
once lay. The gold is underneath Mexico
City which is currently the 2nd largest city
in the world. The Aztec symbol is proudly
flown on the Mexican flag and today the
Mexican people view the Aztecs and not
Cortes as national heroes.