Aztecs
(Time Travel Agency
Grade 9 Social Studies – Ancient Civilizations)
Group 6: Jessica, Brittany, Breanne, Sage, and Stephanie
Assigned: March 15, 2010
Due: April 1, 2010
Period 2
The Aztecs were a large, technologically advanced society. They had a
democratic government, worshipped different gods and took part in different religions.
The Aztec people had a complicated and well managed culture. Some might even say
their society is greatly related to the ones most of us live in today.
The Aztecs worshipped close to 1,000 Gods, but the one god that they worshipped
the most was the Sun God. The Aztec people greatly respected all of their gods. They put
much effort into building beautiful, strong temples to please all of the gods that they
worshiped and respected.1
Aztec food could be described as tasting rich and spicy. Many of the ancient
dishes were flavoured with chili peppers and contained spicy ingredients. The primary
food of the Aztecs was the tlaxcalli, which was a kind of corn-meal like pancake, similar
to a tortilla. The Aztec commonly used this “pancake” to wrap around meat and
vegetables to create their version of what we call a taco. The base ingredients for most of
the dishes that they consumed were fruits and vegetables.2
Aztec clothing was generally made of imported cotton or aynte fibre, which came
from a cactus. The Aztec people were able to create a beautiful array of dyes to decorate
their clothing. These amazing colors can still be found in present day Mexico. There were
also rules in Aztec society regarding what type of clothing people were allowed to wear.
For example, Aztec slaves were not allowed to wear cotton. Instead, slaves were
expected to wear maguey clothes, which is similar to a loincloth, that barely covered their
bodies. Although they had beautiful clothing, the Aztec people preferred to wear very
little.3
Aztec society was divided into several classes. At the top was the Emperor, or
ruler, who was elected by the people. Below the emperor were the priests, and the people
who were considered from a higher-class, the nobles. Below them, were the sales people
and the slaves.4
The Aztec’s culture was an important component of society. Some main
components of the Aztec’s culture were art, language, music and dance. The language
Aztec’s primarily spoke was called N'ahuatl. The written part of their language was made
up of many different symbols. For the Aztec people, nouns were simple to draw. They
would draw a cat as a cat, or a fish as a fish. Other words that were combined with nouns
to make sentences were much more difficult to draw. These symbols would then join
together to create sentences. In addition to language, music and dance were a gigantic
component of their lifestyle. Everyone, including peasants, would take part in dances that
would usually be performed for their gods. The most common instruments that were
played when making music were rattles, whistles, trumpets, flutes, copper bells, and
shells. However, specific instruments were used depending upon the event and type of
music that was to be played,.5
The Aztec homeland was a place that they call Aatlan, but in the 12th century they
decided to set out in search of a new home land.6 Around the fourteenth century the
Aztecs settled into the Valley of Mexico. However, before the Aztecs came to the Valley
of Mexico they had already faced a history filled with war, the destruction of cities, and
the growth of their society that had all taken place in their old home land. After
experiencing conflict with other tribes the Aztec people officially settled into a city they
called Tenochtitlán. 7
The Aztec society began in the 6th century when the first N’ahuatl speaking
people began to travel and settle in Mexico.8 Around the year 1195, many different tribes
arrived in the Valley of Mexico and decided to make it their home.9 The Mexica were
one of the last tribes to settle around central Mexico.
After arriving in the valley, they captured the city of Chapuletpec around 1248
from the tribes Azcapotzalco, who ruled in the west, and Culhuacan, who ruled in the
south. Soon after this capture, the rulers of the Azcapotsalco tribe wished to remove the
Mexicas from Chapultepec, but the ruler of Culhuacan was generous and allowed them to
settle in a city named Tizapan. Later, in 1323, Aztec legend tells of the Mexica seeing a
vision causing them to move their city to a small island in Lake Texcoco. They built their
new home there which they called the city of Tenochtitlán. In addition, in 1376 the
Mexicas elected their first ruler (or Huey Tlatoani their word for king) Acamapichtli.10
After their move to the city of Tenochtitlán, Itzcoatl, the ruler of the Mexica in
1428 formed a triple alliance with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan to confront the city
of Azcaptzalco. The leaders of Azcaptzalco controlled most of the Aztec civilization.
Soon, this triple alliance defeated Azcapotzalco along with other cities such as
Culhuacan, and Huitzilopochco later that year. Following these conflicts were a string of
quick victories throughout the next couple years. Slowly this alliance evolved into an
empire, based mainly on the control of the Mexica tribe. Eventually, the Aztec empire, as
it was now referred to, came to control thirty-eight provinces or cities.11
The height of the Aztec empire was in 1502 when Montezuma II became their
new ruler.12 During this time Montezuma extended the area ruled over by the Aztec
Empire to most of south-central Mexico. It was also during the reign of Montezuma II in
1519 that the Spaniards, along with their leader Hernando Cortés, arrived in Mexico.13
The Aztec Empire was at its worst period during the time of the Spanish Conquest
in 1519. It was about two years preceding this event that bad omens, such as inexplicable
fires and floods, started to occur. In addition to the bad omens it was near this time that
the Spaniards first arrived in Mexico. Montezuma II, ruler of the Aztec, sent them costly
gifts of food, clothing, and regalia of a god named Quetzalcoalt who Montezuma
believed from old legends had come back to claim his land. During the same time that he
was honouring these new comers as gods, Montezuma made attempts to keep them away
from the capital city of Tenochtitlán. He also had sorcerers working to cast spells against
the Spaniards and even had them lead on a route that would have led them to their deaths.
Unfortunately for Montezuma, both of these attempts failed. In the meantime the
Spaniards began making allies with the local tribes, such as the Tlaxcalans who were
enemies of Montezuma. These tribes played an important part in the conquering of the
Aztec Empire by providing the Spanish with a base in friendly territory and keeping them
supplied with provisions and workmen. Soon, the invaders marched farther in land and
took the city of Cholula. After fighting an Aztec army, Montezuma had to allow the
Spanish into the capital. The troops ended up making lodge in the city and taking the
Aztec ruler Montezuma II as their hostage, which he permitted. The civilians permitted
these Spanish intruders in their city until one night when the Spanish leader Cortés
ordered his men to attack the Aztecs without warning. After this terrible massacre the
Aztecs realized the kind of people the Spanish were and rose against them. After four
days of fighting the Spaniards tried to escape the city but were ambushed by the Aztecs
and only one quarter of their army managed to escape. Sadly, Montezuma II was killed
during this conflict. Montezuma’s successors were Cuitlahuac who died of smallpox a
few months after succeeding Montezuma and then Cuauhtemoc who was a ruler of great
courage and led his people to the very end of their resistance. The Spanish returned, and
this time the fighting lasted a lot longer. Eventually after the last eighty days, about
240,000 people had died in the capital of Tenochtitlán, and the resistance, no matter how
heroic, had been defeated.14
The Aztec empire ended close to the year 1521 succeeding the Spanish Conquest.
The Spanish Conquest however, was not what destroyed Aztec culture and civilization.
Instead, the destruction of the Aztec civilization was caused by diseases carried by the
Spanish to the people living in Aztec cities. In sixty years 80% of the Aztec population
was gone, killed by either typhus or smallpox.15
Before the end of Aztec civilization, there were many important events that took
place. Religious beliefs were a major factor of their culture. “The Aztecs respected their
gods very much. They put their greatest efforts into making strong, beautiful temples to
please their gods”.16 They were very dedicated to their religion. This dedication was
displayed through human sacrifice during impressive ceremonies to the gods. In the
Aztec’s time, they had a very advanced civilization. They were able to manage through
tough times by using their religious beliefs, government involvement, and family. This is
the reason they lived such a productive full life.
In conclusion, the Aztecs were a people with an interesting history. They had
civilized governments,. Aztec society was made up of several social classes and their
culture had many unique characteristics.. Aztec people laid the foundation that our
society is based upon today.
1
“Religious Beliefs” [Online]. Available: http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/beliefs.html [2010, March].
2
“Aztec Food” [Online]. Available: http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-food.html [2010, March].
“Ancient Aztec Clothing” [Online]. Available: http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-clothing.html
[2010, March].
3
4
T. Lambert.. “The Aztecs” [Online]. Available: http://www.localhistories.org/aztec.html [2010, March].
5
“Culture” [Online]. Available: http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/culture.html [2010, March].
“WikiAnswers – Which country do Aztecs come from” [Online]. Available:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_country_do_Aztecs_come_from [2010, March].
6
“The History of the Aztecs” [Online]. Available: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/aztecs.html [2010,
March].
7
8
“Aztec Timeline” [Online]. Available: http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-timeline.html [2010, March].
9
“Aztec Timeline” [Online]. Available: http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/time.html [2010, March].
10
“Aztec History” [Online]. Available: http://www.aztec-history.net/ [2010, March].
“History of Mexico – Aztec Empire” [Online]. Available:
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/aztecs.html [2010, March].
11
12
“Aztec Timeline” http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/time.html.
13
Elizabeth M. Brumfiel, “Montezuma II,” in The World Book Encyclopedia, 63rd Ed., Vol. 13, 764-765.
14
Warwick Bray, Everyday Life of The Aztecs (United States: Dorset Press, 1987), 196-199.
15
“Aztec History” http://www.aztec-history.net/.
16
“Religious Beliefs” http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/beliefs.html.
Bibliography:
Bray, W. Everyday Life of The Aztecs. United States: Dorset Press, 1959.
Brumfiel, E. M. “Montezuma II.” In The World Book Encyclopedia, 63rd Ed., Vol. 13, 2010.
Lambert, T. “The Aztecs,” [Online]. http://www.localhistories.org/aztec.html. [2010 March].
Websites:
“Ancient Aztec Clothing,” [Online]. http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-clothing.html. [2010
March].
“Aztec Food,” [Online]. http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-food.html. [2010 March].
“Aztec History,” [Online]. http://www.aztec-history.net/. [2010 March].
“Aztec Timeline,” [Online]. http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/time.html. [2010 March].
“Aztec Timeline,” [Online]. http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-timeline.html. [2010 March].
“Culture,” [Online]. http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/culture.html. [2010 March].
“History of Mexico – Aztec Empire,” [Online]. http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/aztecs.html. [2010
March].
“The History of the Aztecs,” [Online]. http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/aztecs.html. [2010 March].
“Religious Beliefs,” [Online].
http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/beliefs.html. [2010 March].
“WikiAnswers – Which country do Aztecs come from,” [Online].
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_country_do_Aztecs_come_from. [2010 March].