Transcript The Aztecs - Kent City School District

The warriors
Location

The Aztec tribe lived in ancient
Mexico for about 400 years.

For the first 200 years, the Aztecs
were constantly on the move. No
one wanted the Aztecs as neighbors.
The Aztecs practiced human
sacrifice.
Location
The Aztecs were a nomadic tribe.
 Their god had commanded them to find an eagle
devouring a snake, perched atop a cactus.
 After two hundred years of wandering, they
found the promised sign on a small island in the
swampy Lake Texcoco.
 It was there they founded their new capital,
Tenochtitlan (Which is modern day Mexico City)

Mexico’s Coat of Arms
By the early 1500’s, the city of Tenochtitlan had a
population of 200,000 and over 1 million in the Basin
of Mexico (5 times larger than London at the time)
Over the
years
Tenochititlan
grew into a
great city
with open
plazas and
market
places.
Government
The Aztec Courts and Judges had to be completely fair
and never take bribes. Lying to the court was like lying
to the gods. The penalty was death.
 Anyone could go to court but nobles got much harsher
punishments because they should know better.
 The laws covered every aspect of Aztec life including
the work people were allowed to do, the clothes they
wore, and even what they ate.

Government

There was a pattern; the 1st time they did
something bad their house was knocked down,
the 2nd time they did something bad, it was
death. Sometimes, instead of death, if they were
lucky, they might get sent into slavery. You
could also get sent into slavery if you could not
pay your debts.
The Aztecs where ruled by a single emperor
called “The Great Speaker” and was located in
the capitol city of Tenochtitlan
 There was also a ruling counsel comprised of
the wisest and most powerful leaders

Montezuma was
their fiercest and
greatest emperor
Social Structure
The Aztec society was divided into three socal
classes: the peasantry, the merchants and traders,
and the nobility
 Slaves consisted as a large part of the Aztec
society
 Though people were born into a certain class it
was possible to move up the ranks within a life
time

School for everyone!

To build the city they wanted, they knew that
they would need many engineers, builders, and
traders. This required an educated population.

To solve this problem, the Aztecs set up a
system of public schools. Attendance was
mandatory for all Aztec children, even girls and
slaves.

The Aztecs were the only people up to that time
in history to have free schools that every child
had to attend.
School for Girls

There were three different
schools: one for girls, and two
for boys.

Girls learned about religion and
were trained to be good wives
and mothers. They learned how
to cook, sew, and how to care
for their children. They also
learned how to make beautiful
woven textiles.
School for Upper Class
Sons of the upper class went to the
nobles’ school. Sons of wealthy traders
and merchants also went to this
school.
 They studied law, writing
(hieroglyphics), medicine,
engineering and building,
interpretation of dreams and omens
 They also learned about their history
and religious beliefs.
 It was a tough school. The boys were
humiliated and tormented to toughen
them up.

Sons of Commoners and Slaves

The other boys’ school was for
sons of commoners. Its main
goal was to train warriors and
farmers. Boys had to sleep
under skimpy blankets. They
were given hard bread to eat.

The commoners’ school also
taught history, religion,
manners, correct behavior, and
important rituals, along with
singing and dancing.
Religion

The Aztecs believed that the
sun god needed daily
"nourishment" - that is,
human blood and hearts and that they, as the "people
of the sun," were required
to provide the sun god with
his victims.

It was believed that after
their death the warriors first
formed part of the sun's
brilliance; then, after four
years, they went to live
forever in the bodies of
hummingbirds.
Religion

Sacrifice was
very gruesome,
there was blood
and gore
everywhere! To
be an Aztec
sacrifice you had
to have good
hair, teeth, skin,
and health; you
had to be perfect.
Sacrifices fasted
for four days.
Aztec tzompantli
This was used to display
the heads of human
sacrifices
Sacrifices
•
Aztec historians recorded that in 1487, at the great pyramid of
Tenochitilan, executioners sacrificed four lines of prisoners, each
two miles long. But before they were ritualistically killed, the
victims were forced to climb up the pyramid's two hundred and
thirty seven steps. At the top were two killing rooms, with priests
wielding sacrificial knives.
•
Sacrifices were necessary to satisfy their hungry sun-god who
demanded blood as payment for creating the world. The limbs of a
victim would be given as a reward to the victim’s captor to be
eaten.
•
According to Aztec beliefs, the sacrifices were necessary to satisfy
their hungry sun-god who demanded blood as payment for
creating the world. If his gory fee were not paid, the sun would go
out.
First, the priest of the
God would cut out the
victims
heart and then they ate
the victims arms and
legs.
After that they put the
victims skull on a skull
rack and sometimes
they used the victims
skin as capes.
Aztec Temple
Wars





1400's - The Aztecs conquered neighboring
peoples, becoming an empire.
By 1500, the Aztecs ruled millions of people.
People revolted against high taxes and human
sacrifices, only to lose to the powerful Aztec army.
The main items that they used in war were a
camana, which is a paddle spiked with obsidian, a
spear spiked with obsidian, an ax, a bow and a
shield.
Their armor was made of animal skin because the
Aztecs thought it would give the warrior the power of
the animal.
Story of an Aztec
war
Agriculture

As the Aztec population grew, more
food was needed. To solve this
problem, Aztec engineers created
“floating” gardens. They built a series
of rafts, which they anchored to the
lake bed. They piled on dirt and grew
crops. They made walkways out of
mud and reeds to connect the floating
rafts.

The gardens were quite successful.
The Aztecs grew chili peppers,
squash, corn, tomatoes, and beans.
Agriculture
In Aztec times they didn’t have very appetizing
meats. Regular Aztecs often couldn’t afford
meat, so they ate corn ground into flour and
cooked as porridge, tortillas, or tamales (stuffed
as dumplings).
 Meat and fish were only served on special
occasions; there were not any cows. This meant
that there was no cheese or milk!
 Aztecs didn’t know that sheep and horses
existed. Aztecs got their meat from wild animals
like rabbits and deer and domesticated animals
like dogs.

Inventions

They invented a very sophisticated calendar
for their time. It consisted of 360 days a year,
over 18 months, excluding five days for
sacrifice. It is approximated that this calendar
was used 100 year before the Gregorian
calendar, which is the calendar we use
today.
Inventions
Floating Gardens
 First to show Europe about popcorn. The
Spanish saw it on their headdresses to honor
their god of maize
 Chocolate has been around, but they were
the first to make it into a drink, Hot Chocolate
 Invented the chewing gum from the sap of
the sapodilla tree

Contributions
Mandatory and universal education
 One of the most useful contributions of
the Aztecs is a system of communication
using roads. Roads were traveled on
foot, and were maintained using tribute.
Along the road, there were places where
travelers can rest and go to the
bathroom.

Explorer - Cortez

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
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
In 1519 a Spanish explorer by the name of Hernan Cortez left in
order to explore Mexico. Cortez was convinced that he could obtain
more riches in Mexico.
Cortez and over 500 men arrived in Mexico, and began traveling
towards the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Aztec Empire was
wealthy, and in many ways more advanced than any European
nation. However, they did not have horses, nor did they have guns.
This game the Spaniards a huge advantage.
In addition, many of the peoples who had been conquered by the
Aztecs were unhappy about the way the had been treated by them.
The Aztecs were brutal, and often sacrificed the people they
conquered to their gods. As a result, many of these people were
ready to join forces with Cortez and his men to overthrow the Aztec
Empire.
At first the Aztecs did not fight back. They thought that the
Europeans were the fulfillment of an ancient legend that spoke of
white bearded gods.
After seeing the wealth of their empire Cortez setout to take control
of it. Within just a few years, he and his small army were able to
defeat one of the most advanced civilizations of the era, setting
Cortez as the ruler of Mexico, in behalf of Spain
Cortez conquest route
Cortez being welcomed and
honored by the Aztecs