The Aztec Empire

The Aztec Empire Great Empires

The Valley of Mexico a

mountain basin 7,000 feet above sea level  several large, shallow lakes at its center, accessible resources, and fertile soil  supported a population between 5 and 15 million people

Aztecs Build an Empire  arrived

1200 A.D.  the Mexica - a poor, nomadic people from the harsh deserts of northern Mexico

Aztecs Build an Empire  arrived

1200 A.D.  the Mexica - a poor, nomadic people from the harsh deserts of northern Mexico  the sun god, Huitzilopochtli, told them to found a city of their own

Aztecs Build an Empire  “look

for a place where an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake in its mouth”

Aztecs Build an Empire

Lake Texcoco  1325

– founded Tenochtitlan on a small island in Lake Texcoco, at the center of the valley

Tenochtitlan: A Planned City by

early 1500s a large urban center population of 200,000 people larger than London or any other European capital of the time island connected to mainland by three raised roads (causeways) over the water and marshland

A Voice from the Past “When

we saw all those cities and villages built in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. These great towns and pyramids and buildings rising from the water, all made of stone, seemed like an enchanted vision. Indeed, some of our soldiers asked whether it was not all a dream.” BERNAL

DÍAZ, The Conquest of New Spain

7 Steps to Controlling an Empire 3. demand 2. base power on tribute from military conquest conquered people in the form of gold, maize, labor

4. Exercise loose control over much of the empire

5. let local rulers govern their own regions as long as they pay tribute

1. divide the empire into provinces

the early 1500s, the Aztecs controlled a vast Mesoamerican empire, which stretched from central Mexico to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

6. respond brutally to local rulers who fail to pay tribute

7. Destroy villages, capture or slaughter the inhabitants if they don’t pay

Problems in the Aztec Empire  1502

– Montezuma II, crowned emperor  demands for tribute and sacrificial victims from the provinces created unrest and rebellion  Montezuma attempted reforms with little success

Problems in the Aztec Empire  as

domestic problems worsened, the Spanish arrived  many believed the strangers from across the sea to be the return of the god Quetzalcoatl  this legend foretold the destruction of the Aztecs

The Arrival of Cortez

The Arrival of Cortez

The Arrival of Cortez

The Arrival of Cortez

Aztec Power and Decline