Three Great Meso-American Empires

They worshipped their god blindly which would eventually lead to their destruction. They depended on human sacrifice to ensure their salvation. Every fifty-one years, their priest and/or priestess would capture a man from neighboring tribes and tear out his heart as a ritual, If the ritual was done poorly, their civilization would crumble and the “stars would fall on them.” The Aztecs had many gods that represented their everyday life such as, human activities, the aspects of nature, and agriculture. The well-known god was Quetzalcoatl, the god of civilization, order, the wind, and the culture hero. It was said that Quetzalcoatl would return one day and offer peace to the world. The priest at that time described Quetzalcoatl as being pale faced and bearded that much resembled Hernὀn Cortes when the Spanish arrived in 1519. They praised him and offer him gold and more gold because they thought he was god. This in turn, made the Aztecs vulnerable to the Spanish ammunition, smallpox, trained dogs, horses and cannons. In my opinion, the Aztecs were too strict in their religion for capturing their enemies instead of killing them because it backfired on

The Aztec empire was located in central Mexico. In approximately 1200 A.D. is when the civilization was started. Their capital was the city called Tenochtitlan. Their economy wasn’t very good in the beginning. The Aztecs weren’t able to support themselves since their village was so small. The Aztecs did their farming in a method of agriculture called chinampa. This was a method of agriculture used throughout all of Mesoamerica. Soon their population grew began to grow. Their economy depended on the areas that were surrounding them because they still couldn’t fully support themselves. Most of the Aztec’s population were farmers and another good part of their economy depended on the extensive trade of important luxury items. Their

Religion was the center of the Aztec’s life. The Aztecs worshiped many gods, which were actually the forces of nature, such as rain or sunshine, represented in a human form. In the Aztec religion there was over 1,000 gods and goddesses. Each god had many different names and meanings. The Aztecs had many gods that were focused on agriculture, since most of their culture was based on this. The main god of the Aztec people was Huitzilopochtli this is the god that told them to build the city of Tenochtitlan this is also the first temple built after finding the capital. Now Tlaloc had a big impact on the people as well being the rain god. The people thought he fertilized the crops and the way the people sacrificed to him was by killing 6 year olds or younger to make them cry before sacrifice. They thought the tears would help with the process, if the children did not cry enough they had to make them cry more before killing them. The sun god that helped Tlaloc in the process of growing the crops was Tonatiuh he provided the warmth and comfort for the people. He also needed a blood sacrifice to preform his duties. People that died a violent death went to the god of Tlaloc for their afterlife. Now the god of night was Tezcatlipoca his name means, Smoking Mirror, he had connections with the all parts of the world. Tezcatlipoca was brothers to Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent,

At the time the Spaniards first arrived in Mexico, Aztec civilization was thriving. They controlled a broad empire that stretched from central Mexico to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and into Oaxaca in the south. The population at the time was between 5 million and 15 million people. Tenochitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire, had a population of between 200,000 and 400,000 people. The Aztecs established their rule on military conquest and on tributes gained from the people they conquered. Tributes could be paid in the form of gold, cotton, jade, cacao beans, maize, and other products. The Aztecs responded viciously to local rulers who did not pay tribute or resisted it. They would then destroy the rebellious villages and slaughter or

One example of how the Europeans shaped life in the Americas is by conquering the Aztec Empire. In 1519, Spaniard Hernando Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico along with 508 conquistadors and dreams of riches. Cortés knew that it would be fairly easy to conquer the Aztecs since the empire consisted of several hundred groups that had been forced to follow the Aztec rule and despised their conquerors. As the conquistadors continued to the capital, they made alliances with these groups of unhappy natives. Out of fear that Cortés was an Aztec god, sent to take over his position, Montezuma II, the Aztec emperor, sent the conquistadors valuable gifts to persuade him to leave but only managed to increase their cravings for riches. Within months,

Aztec was a rich empire in central Mexico . Aztec claimed their vast territory just century ago they were not supported by the people as they demanded forced labor , huge tributes and large scale human sacrifices from their subjects.Hernan Cortes a young ruthless noble man lead a expedition from Cuba a Spanish colony in 1519 with 600 men to conquer the Aztec empire. Soon he was joined by Tlaxcalans a native tribe as allies. Emperor Moctezuma II tried diplomacy to stop the Spanish forces and allies but Cortes pushed forces towards their capital with fire arms, cavalry and steel swords. Emperor offered a hand of friendship and invited them to his palace.

Before their meeting with the Spanish, they went to other tribes and fought, when they won they took warriors, money, and food. The Aztecs are also very smart people. Since the Aztecs had no homeland, they just walked the earth, until they saw what they believed to be a

Though, the origin of the Aztecs people is uncertain. On the other hand, the Aztecs originated from northern Mexico. Aztlan was their homeland. For example, the Aztecs were also called Tenochca or the Mexica. In fact, the Aztecs arrived in Mesoamerica in the 13th century. Also, there was a three way alliance it was the Texocans, Tocubans, and the Aztecs. Besides, they were against the Tepanec. By the way, they spoke Nahuatl. Of course, the Aztecs were the dominant force in Central Mexico. A sign the Aztecs saw that made them build their settlement was an eagle perched on a cactus near the southwest border of Lake

When two explorers, Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, both from Spain, arrived in the New World, they encountered the native inhabitants of the land, the Aztecs for Cortes, and the Incas for Pizarro. Both men did not hesitate to gain control largely by wiping out the indigenous population. They also spread Christianity, new diseases, and terror. Because of their inferior technology, vulnerability to disease, and lack of strategy to defend themselves from the Europeans, the native inhabitants were not able to resist the Spaniards. The result was the development of a diverse and mixed culture where daily lives changed and opportunities varied based on race and

The Aztec empire covered all of western mexico and consisted of several tribal groups. Priest used prisoners taken from these tribes and used were greatly feared. 22 April 1519 the Totanic indians explained the riches to be found in the city near mexico. Montezuma was to get along with them. The aztec’s agreed to be led by Cortez. Cortez continued the route and although they were loved they caused massacre's. Nevertheless all sides were closely on guard and trapped all the men in the city. June 30th 1520 is when they managed to escape from him. The city was taken and destroyed. Afterwards the Spanish took the empire and systematically conquered all of Mexico leading to a standard increase of people and cultural teachings.

The Aztec was a great empire and was a place to go to. The city of Tenochtitlan is a man made island in the middle of Texcoco, where the Aztec empire is. It is also located in Mexico (central mexico). It was around the 1440’s when the Aztec was at its highest and conquering other nations. It is also the time when the Spanish was exploring the Americas and looking for new land. When the spanish arrived with the spanish captain Hernán Cortés. The mission they were provided was to go to the Americas and trade with the Natives there. Cortes just wanted the gold from The Aztec people. So they manipulated the current king Montezuma II which is one of the reasons the Aztec fell, so then they could get free passage into the empire. Soon the Aztec started

Did you know that Mexico City is built on top of Tenochtitlan? The Aztecs originated in the northern part of Mexico in 1100 C.E, they finally settled in the valley of Mexico around 1250 C.E. They learned how to work with the land and became very skilled farmers. They used a 365-day calendar like we use today. They worshiped many gods and built temples and palaces in their honor. There were roads, canals, and markets built from Aztecs, boats bring people and goods from one city to another.

The Aztec civilisation was one of the greatest, largest and most advanced in the Americas during 14th to the 16th century. The Aztec people arrived in what is now Mexico in the late 1100’s. It was found by a wandering tribe of hunters and gatherers on islands in Lake Texcoco, near the present site of Mexico City. The Aztecs had started building their new city Tenochtitlan in 1325. In only one century, this civilization grew into the Aztec empire, largely because of its progressive and advanced system of agriculture.

In the beginning of aztec history they settled around 1325 A.D. on an island in the center of Lake Texcoco (Agriculture and Exchange”). On this island they built a magnificent city called Tenochtitlan. Since they made the decision

Hernan Cortez arrived in Veracruz in April of 1519 with the goal of finding New Spain. When Cortez found the Aztecs, his goal switched to defeating the Aztec Nation and stealing all of their gold. Moctezuma II believed that Cortez and his men were the light skinned messengers of one of their gods. Moctezuma was captured and eventually died as a hostage while his empire tried to overtake the Spanish. (interKnowledge Corp., 2015) Cortez and his men got away. Four more months of war were still to come before the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, fell to the conquistadors. The Aztecs had no gold, but what they did have was corn and beans. The Spanish took all of the food and enslaved most of the native people.