The Aztecs, who probably originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica around the beginning of the 13th century. The Aztecs were also known as the Tenochca from which the name for their capital city, Tenochtitlan, was derived or the Mexica the origin of the name of the city that would replace Tenochtitlan, as well as the name for the entire country.
The Aztecs appeared in Mesoamerica—as the south-central region of pre-Columbian Mexico is known—in the early 13th century. Their arrival came just after, or perhaps helped bring about, the fall of the previously dominant Mesoamerican civilization, the Toltecs. When the Aztecs saw an eagle perched on a cactus on the marshy land near the southwest border of Lake Texcoco, they took it as a sign to build their settlement there. Typical Aztec crops included maize corn , along with beans, squashes, potatoes, tomatoes and avocados; they also supported themselves through fishing and hunting local animals such as rabbits, armadillos, snakes, coyotes and wild turkey.
Their relatively sophisticated system of agriculture including intensive cultivation of land and irrigation methods and a powerful military tradition would enable the Aztecs to build a successful state, and later an empire. In , under their leader Itzcoatl, the Aztecs formed a three-way alliance with the Texcocans and the Tacubans to defeat their most powerful rivals for influence in the region, the Tepanec, and conquer their capital of Azcapotzalco.
By the early 16th century, the Aztecs had come to rule over up to small states, and some 5 to 6 million people, either by conquest or commerce. The Aztec civilization was also highly developed socially, intellectually and artistically. It was a highly structured society with a strict caste system; at the top were nobles, while at the bottom were serfs, indentured servants and enslaved workers. The Aztec faith shared many aspects with other Mesoamerican religions, like that of the Maya , notably including the rite of human sacrifice.
The Aztec calendar, common in much of Mesoamerica, was based on a solar cycle of days and a ritual cycle of days; the calendar played a central role in the religion and rituals of Aztec society. This caused the commoners, who supported the nobility with payments of tribute and military service, to lose faith in their rulers.
The Aztecs had accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time. In less than a century, they built a city, extended existing trade routes, and devised an elaborate market system.
They fed, clothed, housed, and educated millions of citizens. But finally, the empire simply began to bleed to death. Aztec wars and sacrifices to the gods had reduced the numbers of farmers, craftsmen, and other producers necessary to keep the empire thriving. When Spaniard Hernando Cortes reached Tenochtitlan in , he was amazed to find an island-city of , people with stone temples, royal palaces, and great houses all dwarfed by the sacred pyramid.
The capital of the Aztec Empire was five times the size of London at that time. Yet, this impressive Mexica city only briefly hid the weaknesses of the empire from the Spanish. Cortes soon discovered that he could enlist the aid of other resentful Aztec city-states to defeat the "people of the sun. It took a year of deal-making, intrigue, and warfare for Cortes to assemble an army large enough to assault the Aztec capital.
In , Cortes and his allied forces surrounded the island city. The more we repeated this, the less faintheartedness they showed. For 85 days, the Aztec warriors fought the Spaniards and their Indian allies through the streets and canals of Tenochtitlan.
Cortes estimated that the Aztecs lost over , soldiers. The fighting ended only after the last defenders were cut down. Today, the streets and buildings of Mexico City have engulfed the former capital of the Aztec empire. Conrad, Geoffrey W. London: Cambridge University Press, Smith, Michael E. The Aztecs. Malden, Mass. Imagine that you are an advisor to Moctezuma II on the eve of the Spanish conquest.
Write a letter to the emperor describing 1 the problems the Aztec Empire is facing, 2 the consequences of these problems, and 3 what should be done about them. Alumni Volunteers The Boardroom Alumni. Curriculum Materials. Make a list of what these authors agree upon. Note where they disagree with each other.
How do the primary sources included here on-line help you to decide which interpretation you think is best? Make a note of which interpretation you think is best before starting the project. Do you still agree with what you thought after reading the primary sources? Spanish interest soon shifted from the Caribbean to the American mainland, where settlers hoped to find more resources to exploit. These conquests laid the foundations for colonial regimes that would transform the Americas. The conquest of Mexico began with an expedition to search for gold on the American mainland.
They seized the emperor Motecuzoma II, who died in during a skirmish between Spanish forces and residents of Tenochtitlan. Native allies also provided Spanish forces with logistical support and secure bases in friendly territory.
New York: Longman, , — In Mexico the Spaniards profited from internal problems within the Aztec Empire. In the early s unrest ran rampant among many recently subdued tribes, who were forced to pay tribute and furnish sacrificial victims for their Aztec overlords.
Before marching against the Aztec capital, he destroyed his ships to prevent his men from turning back. In a few battles the Spanish horses, firearms, steel armor, and tactics produced decisive victories. Malinche then informed Montezuma, as if in confidence, that he must cooperate or die. The bold scheme worked temporarily, but soon the Aztecs rebelled, renounced their emperor as a traitor, stoned and killed him when he tried to pacify them, and ultimately drove a battered band of terrified Spaniards from the city in the narrowest of escapes.
Finally, after fearful slaughter, some 60, exhausted and half-starved defenders surrendered. By the s, they had not only survived, but managed to prevail, and they were taking no chances of being forced to go backwards. They used their brains and their brawn to defeat their neighbors — first the other ethnic groups in the central basic of Mexico, and then much farther afield.
To make sure they remained on top, they used the threat of human sacrifice to keep others in line. But on the whole, like most humans, they preferred to laugh and dance and do the decent thing. They knew that all peoples had something special to offer, and the markets of their great city were stocked with proof of this—the products of the widest possible reach, created by talented artisans from across the land. Later, in the s, s and s, some of their descendants now mixed with Spaniards returned north and settled the area from California to Texas.
This migration only stopped when the United States invaded their country in the s and defeated them in war, suddenly claiming the region as their own. Likewise, the people of Central America, who once existed on the edges of the Aztec empire, find themselves facing poverty and violence and look to the north with hope.
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