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The Aztecs
World History/Napp
“The Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico around A.D. 1200. The valley contained a
number of small city-states that had survived the collapse of Toltec rule. The Aztecs, who
were then called the Mexica, were a poor, nomadic people from the harsh deserts of
northern Mexico. Fierce and ambitious, they soon adapted to local ways, finding work as
soldiers-for-hire to local rulers. According to one of the Aztec legends, the god of the sun
and warfare, Huitzilopochtli, told them to found a city of their own. He said to look for a
place where an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake in its mouth. They found such a
place on a small island in Lake Texcoco, at the center of the valley. There, in 1325, they
founded their city, which they named Tenochtitlán.
Over the years, the Aztecs gradually increased in strength and number. In 1428, they
joined with two other city-states – Texcoco and Tlacopan – to form the Triple Alliance.
This alliance became the leading power in the Valley of Mexico and soon gained control
over neighboring regions. By the early 1500s, the alliance controlled a vast empire that
covered some 80,000 square miles stretching from central Mexico to the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts and south into Oaxaca. This empire was divided into 38 provinces. It had an
estimated population of between 5 and 15 million people.
The Aztecs based their power on military conquest and the tribute they gained from their
conquered subjects. The Aztecs generally exercised loose control over the empire, often
letting local rulers govern their own regions. The Aztecs did demand tribute, however, in
the form of gold, maize, cacao beans, cotton, jade, and other products. If local rulers failed
to pay tribute, or offered any other kind of resistance, the Aztecs responded brutally. They
destroyed the rebellious villages and captured or slaughtered the inhabitants.”
~ World History
- Describe the Mexica.
- Who was Huitzilopochtli and what did he tell the Aztecs to do, according to Aztec legend?
- What was Tenochtitlán?
- What led to the Aztecs becoming a leading power in the Valley of Mexico?
- Identify the estimated population of the Aztec Empire.
- What was the basis for Aztec power?
- Prove that the Aztecs exercised loose control over their empire?
- Describe tribute paid to the Aztec rulers.
- What happened to local rulers who failed to pay the tribute?
P R I M A RY S O U R C E
When we saw all those cities and villages built in the water, and other great towns on dry
land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. These
great towns and cues [pyramids] and buildings rising from the water, all made of stone,
seemed like an enchanted vision. . . . Indeed, some of our soldiers asked whether it was not
all a dream.
~ BERNAL DÍAZ, The Conquest of New Spain
- Why were the Spaniards astonished when they arrived in central Mexico?
- How did Bernal Díaz view the Aztecs?
- Why did some of the soldiers from Spain wonder if it was a dream?
Society
- At the height of the Aztec
Empire, military leaders
held great power in Aztec
society
- Along with government
officials and priests, these
military leaders made up the
noble class
- Many nobles owned vast
estates, which they ruled
over like lords, living a life
of great wealth and luxury
- There were two other
broad classes in Aztec
society, commoners and
enslaved persons
- The emperor sat atop the
Aztec social pyramid
- His power was absolute
Tenochtitlán
- By the early 1500s,
Tenochtitlán had become an
extraordinary urban center
Religion
- At ceremonies, priests
made offerings to the gods
- The most important rituals
- With a population of
involved a sun god,
between 200,000 and 400,000 Huitzilopochtli
people, it was larger than
London or any other
- According to Aztec belief,
European capital of the time Huitzilopochtli made the sun
rise every day
- To connect the island to the
mainland, Aztec engineers
- When the sun set, he had to
built three raised roads,
battle the forces of evil to get
called causeways, over the
to the next day
water and marshland
- To make sure that he was
- A significant market was
strong enough for this
Tlatelolco
ordeal, he needed the
nourishment of human
- Visitors to the market also blood
found a great deal of local
agricultural produce on
- The sun would not rise, the
display
world would be plunged into
darkness, and all life would
- Most of the produce sold
perish
were grown on chinampas,
farm plots built on the
- For this reason, Aztec
marshy fringes of the lake
priests practiced human
sacrifice on a massive scale
- These plots were sometimes
called “floating gardens”
- Describe the social hierarchy of the Aztec.
- Describe the city of Tenochtitlán.
- Describe the market of Tlatelolco.
- What were chinampas and why were they important?
- Why did the Aztecs engage in human sacrifice?
- How was the tribute system both a strength and a weakness?
- How are the army and religious beliefs linked in the Aztec Empire?
- How did Hernando Cortés
describe the market at
Tlatelolco?
- Who was Cortés and how
did he change the lives of the
Aztecs?
The Aztec use of the calendar and the Maya
writing system both illustrate that preColumbian cultures in the Americas
1. traded extensively with Africa
2. flourished prior to European contact
3. declined because of invasion and
disease
4. converted others to Islam
A study of Aztec and Maya agricultural
systems would show that these civilizations
1. relied on mechanized agricultural
techniques
2. carried on extensive food trade with
each other
3. adapted to their environments with
creative farming techniques
4. relied on a single-crop economy
The archaeological evidence found at the
Mesoamerican sites of Tenochtitlan suggests
that these societies
1. consisted of hunters and gatherers
2. were highly developed and organized
cultures
3. practiced a monotheistic religion
4. followed a democratic system
The civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas, and
Mayas were similar in that all
1. spoke the same language
2. followed a monotheistic religion
3. developed cities and complex
governments
4. used a complex system of writing
In Latin America, the Maya and the Aztec
civilizations were similar in that they
1.showed little evidence of urbanization
2.lacked a strong central government
3.developed complex mathematical and
calendar systems
4.used military weapons superior to those of
Europeans
Base your answer to the question on the
passage below and on your knowledge of
social studies.
… At Tenochtitlán, the Aztecs perfected an
unusual method of farming. They built huge
rafts, covered them with earth, and floated
them on the lake. On these chinampas, or
“floating islands,” they grew enough maize
and vegetables to feed their expanding
population comfortably. Eventually, roots
from the tree rafts attached themselves to
the bottom of the shallow lake to become
permanent foundations for buildings.…
— Lois Athey
One similarity of the Aztec and Maya
empires is that they
1. developed in fertile river valleys
2. maintained democratic political
systems
3. coexisted peacefully with neighboring Which conclusion is best supported by the
empires
information in this passage?
4. created complex civilizations
1. The Aztecs terraced the land.
2. Large plantations provided food for
Aztec floating gardens are examples of
the markets.
1. the ability of civilizations to adapt to
3. The Aztecs were limited to
their region’s physical geography
subsistence farming.
2. slash-and-burn farming techniques
4. Environmental adaptation aided
3. Mesoamerican art forms symbolizing
economic development.
the importance of agriculture
4. colonial economic policies that
harmed Latin American civilizations