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Aztecapedia U
Featuring:
Aztec Geography
Aztec History
Aztec Economy
Aztec Society and Culture
Azttec Technology
Editor in Chief:
Conor
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Aztec Geography
mountains of the Aztec Empire can be found at the
The Aztecs were a group of people who lived in Central Mexican Plateau. There are dozens of high
south-central Mexico from about 1325 to 1521 altitude peaked mountains that were found in the
CE. The land they lived on contained coastal Aztec Empire. Some
regions, deserts, mountains, fertile plains and
rainforests. Many Aztec cities were placed on the of the Aztec settlements could be found on one of
coastlines of South-Central Mexico. There were them. Mountains were a very big part of the Aztec
only two coastal bodies of water where the Aztecs empire.
could have placed some of their cities, the Gulf of Many of the Aztecs natural resources came
Mexico, and the North Pacific Ocean. The Aztecs from the capital city of Tenochtitlan. Some people
didn’t have many large settlements on their coastal think that this was a result of the amount of Chi-
territory. The Aztec Empire stretched all the way nampa farms, which encircled the city. Many of
from the Pacific Ocean all the way up to the Gulf the Aztecs resources came from the forests. Some
of Mexico. people would get some resources such as food, from
the forests and bring them back to the village. The
The Valley of Mexico was laid right inside the Aztecs were able to get a lot of water since wa-
Aztec Empire. The Valley is a highland plateau lo- ter bodies such as Lake Texcoco surrounded their
cated in Central Mexico. Mountains and volcanoes empire. These water bodies allowed the Aztecs to
surround this Valley and volcanoes The Valley retrieve water in order to live.
was the center of Aztec civilization. The Aztecs Due to the varied climate changes between
capital, Tenochtitlan was laid in this Valley. The the North and the South part of Mexico, there are
Aztecs used the term Basin of Mexico as another many jungles and rainforests in the south, but also
set of words for the great Valley of Mexico. many mountains and deserts in the Northern and
Central parts of Mexico. The Deserts were mostly
The Aztecs had a wide stretch of rainforests along located near the upper part of the Aztec empire due
their civilization. In these almost desolate rainfor- to climate change. Near these Deserts was Lake Tex-
ests lived a certain ant, which later became known coco, which held the capital city of Tenochtitlan.
as the Aztec ant. These ants lived in a certain tree, Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec
which holds many insects inside. During the rainy Empire and was located on Lake Texcoco. Lake
season, the rainforests would be covered in a mist, Texcoco was located inside of the Valley of Mexico.
which would make it very difficult for the people The city Tenochtitlan extended from North to South
to find their way through. Most of the Aztec em- during its time as the capital. Most of the city was
pire was covered with thick, and foggy rainforests. covered in swamps and muddy areas. The only
places that weren’t were the places that the Aztecs
The Aztecs had many mountains in their civiliza- had occupied. By the end of the Aztec Empire, they
tion; the highest one was named Pico de Orizaba. had fled and searched around many other parts of
This mountain is a stratvolcano, which is in be- North, and South America.
tween the states of Puebla and Veracruz. Many
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Aztec History
by making alliances with neighboring tribes called
The Aztec Empire thrived over 450 years ago the Texcoco and Tacuba. When they became strong
and was the greatest military power in the Ameri- enough the
cas. Their grander showed in their cities, in their Aztecs expanded by force taking over much of cen-
temples and in their large empire. Their city tral Mexico. By the 15th century the Aztec’s had built
of Tenochtitlan (later called Mexico City) was a strong and disciplined military and were able to ex-
impressive, even compared to the major cities pand their empire greatly. The Aztecs controlled cen-
of today. The Aztecs were most famous for their tral Mexico save for small areas of rebellious tribes.
vast surplus of gold which generated the wealth On any given day an Aztec herald could contact a
needed to sustain their massive empire for 200 neighboring tribe and tell them that they had three
years. days to join the empire or they would be attacked and
taken by force.
In c1200 the Aztecs were a small, unknown tribe
roaming the desert of central Mexico. The early The Spanish arrived in 1519 and saw a great civiliza-
Aztecs did not keep a written language and all tion with a lot of gold and they decided to conquer
information was passed down by word of mouth. it. Montezuma II the Aztec ruler at the time believed
Aztec legend states that they came from a small that Cortez, the Spanish conquistador, was a god. The
island called Aztlan or “white place”. The war legend predicted that the god Quetzalcoatl would re-
god Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec’s protector, turn in the exact year Cortez arrived. What this meant
and it is said that it was he who told the Aztecs to for the Aztecs was that their leader was easily fooled
go to the Valley of Mexico in search of the prom- and their empire was quickly defeated. The Aztecs
ised land. invited Cortes into Tenochtitlan but Cortez arrested
Montezuma II, stole some gold from the Aztecs and
The Aztecs came upon the valley of Mexico in ran out of the city. An all out war then followed, the
1100-1200 A.D. When the tribe found Lake Tex- Spanish made alliances with all of the Aztec’s en-
coco they spotted an eagle mounted on a cactus emies and started to take over the empire city by city.
and decided it was a sign from the gods that they Finally only Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco were still
were to settle on the lake. Today an eagle mount- under Aztec control.
ed on a cactus is on the flag of Mexico. The
Aztecs built the great city of Tenochtitlan on the The Spanish siege of Tenochtitlan lasted 8 months.
surface of the lake. At the beginning the civiliza- Cortez and his Native American allies starved out the
tion struggled because the land was so marshy Aztecs and waited for the small pox to take effect.
and hard to build on. Tenochtitlan grew to be so The last Aztec emperor Cuauhtemoc surrendered to
large that by the 16th century it was much larger the Spanish on August 13 of 1521. Tenochtitlan was
than London and Paris. destroyed and renamed Mexico City. This marked the
end of the Aztec Empire.
At first the Aztecs took control of Lake Texcoco
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Aztec Economy
did the same job lived in the same part of
the cities. The Aztecs had many different
The Aztec Economy had a big part in Az- jobs. They had farmers who grew the food
tec life because jobs were important to the which they sold to merchants then they
Aztecs people with the same jobs lived in took on canoes which were made by car-
a certain part of town. Depending on your penters to a different area were their porter
status in the economy changed how every carried their wares. They had weaver and
civilian in the Aztec empire lived. potters and many other different jobs. Az-
tec craftsmen specialized in one thing. The
The Aztec traders traveled by canoes or goldsmiths were usually the most impor-
by foot. Trader had some very expensive tant craft workers the jewel crafters were
items some that only noble people could also important.
buy. Every town no matter the size had a Almost all the Aztecs wore the same
market. style of clothing. Aztec women were re-
Aztecs had no currency but they bartered. sponsible for making the clothing. The
If you cheat or stole thing in the market higher your status the nicer the cloth used
you were punished bitterly. Not many to make your clothing was. If you were the
people cheated though. Farmer grew lots emperor the cloth used would be very soft
of different crops like maize squash chilies but if you were I regular town’s person
and many other foods. your cloth would be made out the every
day wool.
The Aztecs had two different domesticated
animals’ dogs and turkey. Only nobles ate As you can see the Aztec economy was
meat every meal. The women in the family important to them in many ways. It was
did all the cooking. The Aztecs invented a big part of there life style and it helped
chimapas or areas of fertile land in water hold the Aztec empire together. It changed
the planted trees in chimapas to hold them what they would wear. What they did for
together. a living and their job status. How much
money you made because of your job.
Aztec craftsman specialized in one job like
a pot maker or a carver. Craftsman who
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Aztec Society and
Culture The Aztecs believed that it was a great honor to be sacri-
The Aztec’s culture was one of the ficed, but they normally sacrificed prisoners of war.
most interesting of its time; there were large
brilliant temples and multiple gods. Their so- The Temples were the biggest and most decorated build-
ciety was brilliant; they were not war hungry, ings in the entire empire. The five directions of the
they only waged war so there could be human Aztecs were North, South, East, West, and Center. Center
sacrifices for the gods. They also had many was the direction where all of the worlds connected. The
incredible buildings and very smart people. temple was always in the center of the city because of
that reason. The temples had entrances in every direction.
The Aztecs had groups of families called In the temples it was thought that the gods could speak to
Calpulli. The leader of the Calpullis was you.
called the Tlatoani, he was chosen by a coun-
cil with people from every Calpulli. He made Aztec men married in their early twenties, and in the
many big decisions, but the heads of each usual circumstance to a younger girl. Woman who died
Calpulli ran the daily life of the people. in childbirth were honored and had a funeral like they
would give for a warrior that died in battle. The Aztec
As the Aztec empire grew they switched men’s duties were to work, and be ready to fight if there
powers from the Tlatoani to a Pyramid like are attackers. The Aztec woman’s duties were to care
power system. The higher you were on the for the home, and take care of the children. Young Aztec
pyramid the higher you were in society. The boys were supposed to learn their father’s trade skill, and
bottom of the pyramid is the slaves and work- young Aztec girls learned how to take care of the house,
ers. The next level up was the scribes, craft and to care for children.
workers, artisans, and regular priests. The
third level is merchants, governors, and high These Paragraphs show that the Aztec neighbor-
priests. The next level is nobles and war lead- hoods were incredibly important back in the early Aztec
ers, and the last level is the chief advisor, and days, but it was switched to there was an emperor and a
the emperor. few officials getting lower and lower in power. They also
show that the Aztecs were polytheistic, and were heard
The Aztecs were a polytheistic society. Their and seen in the temples. The last important subject is
gods had to be kept happy or they wouldn’t marriage which showed that men married in early twen-
give their gifts to them. They were kept ties to a younger girl and that younger girls learned to
happy with sacrifices of food, music, dancing care for the children and for the house, but the younger
and human blood. Normally people would boys learned their father’s trade and how to fight.
just put some of their blood in a bowl, but oc-
casionally the gods demanded an entire life.
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Aztec Technology
America is not that fertile the Aztecs
The Aztecs were the most ad- built these islands on the lake. They
vanced Native American civiliza- piled mud on the lake bed and planted
tion. They were founded in 1200ce crops on the surface. Because the man
on the lake of Texcoco. There made islands were on a lake it kept the
they built the city of Tenochtitlán ground fertile and moist.
on the many islands of the lake. The Aztecs built bridges on the
Soon the city was so big it merged lake Texcoco to connect each part of
with Tlatelolco, the other city on the city, Tenochtitlán, together. The
the lake. The Aztecs were great at bridges floated on the water, so when
pottery and mining and they even an enemy attacked the bridges would
had a written language. This essay just be pushed out of the way and the
is about the different ways that the enemies couldn’t get across the lake.
Aztecs excelled at their different As seen, the Aztecs were very ad-
skills. vanced while many of the other North
They had a great many herbal American Native groups were not as
medicines like quinine. They also much because they were mostly farm-
panned the rivers for gold. They ers and herders that didn’t really settle.
could mine and smelt minerals and Some of the North Americans settled
were experts at metal working. but did not build brick buildings. The
They were very advanced Aztec, like the Inca and the Maya,
at building and could build in were one of the most advanced native
many different climates and soil nations in early America.
qualities. They used this skill to
build their capital of Tenochtitlán
on Lake Texcoco. Since Central
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