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Rise And Fall Of The Aztec Empire

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Long before the Aztecs there were people known as the Toltecs who lived and flourished in the Valley of Mexico. They used geological advantages such as large shallow lakes at its center, accessible resources, and fertile soil to develop advanced civilizations that controlled much of the area. The Toltecs built and impressive empire with Tollán as the capital, ultimately passing on that heritage to the Aztecs who considered the Toltecs as a successful civilization. The Aztecs even claimed that they are descendent from this once powerful civilization.

Aztec Rulers and the Rise and Fall of the Empire:
The founder of the Aztec and first ruler was Acamapichtli. Acamapichtli means Handful of Reeds or Handful of Arrows. He became ruler in 1376 …show more content…

Under Montezuma II the empire weakened. There was a period of rebellion against Montezuma II call for more tributes and sacrifices. Many provinces disagreed with his actions ensuing a period of rebellion that the military ultimately had to put down. Montezuma II tried to reduce pressure on the providences caused by the high demands for the tribute payment and many sacrifices by freezing and reducing the number of government officials, yet the resentment for Montezuma still grew. During this time domestic problems arose and another threat, the Spanish appeared. The spanish ultimately conquered and ransacked the …show more content…

The Aztecs used two calendars to calculate time. “Since gods ruled specific periods of time, it was important to know which gods controlled the day. During the time they ruled, offerings were made to them.” (World History Patterns of Interaction) It was extremely important to the Aztecs to offer to the gods at the right time, so they created a 260 day religious calendar. The second calendar that the Aztecs created was a 365 day solar calendar to keep track of the days. Once and every 52 years both cycles started on the same day. The Aztecs also created a sun stone at Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec’s empire. The Aztec calendar stone was 13 feet in diameter and weighs around 24 tons. In the center of the sun stone is a picture of the sun god. He is surrounded by symbols of movements and four words: Tiger, Water, Wind and Rain of Fire. There were 20 panels representing the 20 days that make up each of the 18 months of the Mesoamerican year. The Mesoamerican year was made up of 360 days and 5 more days that were seen as unlucky days. The Aztecs also used a valuable trade item called obsidian. Obsidian is a hard, glassy, green or black rock found in the Valley of Mexico. It was used to make razor sharp weapons. The Aztecs also used them to make knives for sacrifices. The obsidian knives were used to cut out the hearts of the sacrificed person. Another

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