Transcript mesoamerica aztecs

Mesoamerica
Outcome: The Aztecs
Constructive Response Question
Who were the Aztecs and
what did they do?
What Will we learn?
 Environment
 Cities
 Language/Writing
 Economy
 Government
 Religion
 Achievements
Peak of Aztec Power
 Roughly 13251521
The Aztecs
The Aztecs
 Environment
 Valley of Mexico
 7,500 ft above sea level
 Fertile soil
 Several shallow lakes
 Lake Texcoco
The Aztecs
 Cities
Teotihuacan
(tay-oh-t-wa-kon)
Tenochtitlan
(tā-nȯch-tēt-ˈlän)
The Aztecs
 Language/Writing
Pictographs or glyphs
Not a complete writing system that can
communicate all things
The Aztecs
 Economy
 Demanded tribute from those they conquered
 Traded Obsidian
The Aztecs
 Gov’t
 Created Triple Alliance with:
 Texcoco
 Tlacopan (ta-lack-a-pan)
 Emperor at the top – absolute power
 Power weakens under Montezuma
The Aztecs
 Religion
 Polythestic – over 1,000 gods
 Offerings to the gods:
 Dramas
 Songs
 Dances
 Sacrifice to the Sun God- cut out human hearts
The Aztecs
 Achievements
 Calendars
 Planned city of Tenochtitlan
Causeways or bridges to city
Chinampas: floating gardens
Mandatory Education for Children
Herbal Medications
Chocolate, Popcorn, chewing gum!
Decline of the Aztecs
 Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando Cortes fought the
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Aztecs
Aztec leader Moctezuma II was killed (not sure if by Spanish or
his own people)
Spanish killed thousands
Mexico speaks Spanish today because of this
Modern day Mexico city was built right on top of Tenochtitlan
How do we know so much about the
Aztec?
 Bernal Díaz del Castillo
A Spanish conquistador, who
participated as a foot soldier in
the conquest of Mexico with Cortés.
He became the governor in Guatemala
where he wrote his memoirs called
“HistoriaVerdadera de la Conquista de la
Nueva Espana ”
"The True History of the Conquest of
New Spain".
Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote…..
 "We looked over toward the Great
Pyramids and watched as [the Aztecs]
... dragged [our comrades] up the
steps and prepared to sacrifice them,
After they danced, they placed our
comrades face up atop square,
narrow stones erected for the
sacrifices. Then, with obsidian knives,
they sawed their breasts open, pulled
out their still-beating hearts, and
offered these to their idols."
Historia general de las cosas de nueva
España
 (General history of the things of New
Spain) is an encyclopedic work about the
people and culture of central Mexico
compiled by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún
(1499–1590), a Franciscan missionary
who arrived in Mexico in 1529, eight
years after completion of the Spanish
conquest by Cortés. Commonly called
the Florentine Codex, the manuscript
came into the possession of the Medici
no later than 1588 and is now in the
Medicea Laurenziana Library in Florence
http://www.wdl.org/en/item/10096/
Constructive Response Question
Who were the Aztecs and
what did they do?