Rise & Fall of Aztec Empire

Intro

After the Aztec empire rose to its peek it soon fell under the assault of Cortes and his allies, the Indians. There

own ideas were the cause of the Aztec’s destruction.

Blood and sacrifice

Training since youth the warrior fought, but alas he could fight no more. He was beaten senseless and dragged off the battle field by an Aztec noble from Tenochtitlan. The warrior beaten and defeated feared the worse would happen to him.

The warrior feared execution but instead was brought back to Tenochtitlan. He was confused and did not know what strange or crude things they planed. When they arrived to the warrior’s surprise he was dressed in very expensive clothing and the people worshiped him as if he were a god.

Blood and Sacrifice

The warrior feared execution but instead was brought back to Tenochtitlan. He was confused and did not know what strange or crude things they planed. When they arrived to the warrior’s surprise he was dressed in very expensive clothing and the people worshiped him as if he were a god.

While they treated there new prisoner as a god they prepared for their true intentions. It would take months to prepare the  sacred ritual. The priests would take the warrior to the great temple. At the top of the stairs the warriors greatest honor awaits. His hole life prepared him for this moment, he will finally meet the sun god Tonatiuh.

Blood and Sacrifice

The chief of the priests raises his arms and then swiftly plunges a knife deeply into the warriors chest. Then with swift, studied, and practiced motions he grabs the warrior gods heart and pulls it from his chest. Then he must offer the still beating heart to Tonatiuh, the sun god. This story represents what happened to many people in Aztec ruled times.

The Mexica

Aztecs were latercomers to the valley of Mexico. They were a fierce Nahuatl-speaking people from Chichimec culture. They came from the north, a place called Atzlan in 1200 A.D. They found most of the land now already occupied by the sophisticated agriculture based culture found in most well-developed cities.

The city dwelling agrarians shunned the Mexica as snake eating barbarians. The Mexica foolishly ended up sacrificing the daughter of the Culhua king. For years they were forced to wonder in the wilderness. Then the Mexica found and drained a swamp to start an urban center we would soon come to know as Tenochtitlan.

Itzcoatl

The Aztecs were given the responsibility of keeping the world and gods alive with the constant supply of human blood. They did this for many years but soon that changed with Itzhcotal. he spent the rest of his days trying to capture other Aztec city states in the valley of Mexico.

Aztecs fought to kill and usually fought one on one because they believed if they died in battle they would soon be with the gods. After the defeat of a city state they would install a noble as its new king. Because the emperor ruled so loosely there was usually almost no change in the concord city states.

How the Empire Worked

Some revolts took place caused by the resentment held to the tribute system. Newly concord city states usually had to pay tribute to the Aztecs. They also had to supply the Aztecs with feathers, cocoa beans, and copper which were used as money. The Aztec leader would also put some of the people from the new city states to work on public projects.

Many children were getting educated about the Aztec religion because of the new leader Moctezuma. Depending on there class boys would prepare to be a priest, government office holder, craftsmen, merchants, and farmers. Girls education was limited to singing, dance, and how to be an Aztec warriors mother.

Expansion and collapse

This religion started to fade and during the end the Aztecs developed Aztec peace. Now people needed something new to do so they went to trade, the trade and market system then flourished. The standard of living started to increase due to trade as far away as the Central Americas. Under Ahuitzotl the Aztec empire was at its peak.

In the great temple there was a staircase that lead to the top of each pyramid, for Hitzilopotchli and Tlaloc. More than 10,000 people were sacrificed in this temple for a ceremony that lasted 4 days. Human sacrifices had taken on many new purposes like keeping other city states in line. The empire was beginning to weaken when Moctezuma the 2nd, the 6th and final leader took over. The commoners and city states started to revolt on the government and the nobles.

Expansion and Collapse

 The Aztecs grew fast and did great things but all great things come to an end. All of the fighting, wars, and human sacrifice reduced the Aztecs population greatly. Spaniard Hernando Cortes was amazed when he found an island city witch was 5 times as large as London at the time. He quickly found their weakness, finding alliances with people who have grown apart from the Aztec government.

After a year of deal making and warfare Cortes assembled an army great enough to take down the Aztec empire. He allied people around the island city so they could not receive necessary supplies. The Aztecs fought for 85 days through the streets and canals of Tenochtitan. The Aztecs lost an estimated amount of over 1000,000 soldiers. Today you can see how the buildings and streets of Mexico have engulfed the once great Aztec empire.