Compiled by Rosy
Dickinson: Hexham Middle School Project Work
Sources: BBC Knowledge – Conquisadors
Encarta
online 2000
The Aztec Empire
The Aztec Empire was a native American state that
ruled much of what is now Mexico from about 1427 until 1521, when
the empire was conquered by the Spaniards. The empire represented the highest
point in the development of the rich Aztec civilization that had begun more
than a century earlier
The Aztec built great cities and developed a complex
social, political, and religious structure. Their capital, Tenochtitlán, was located on the site of
present-day Mexico
City. An
elaborate metropolis built on islands and reclaimed marsh land, Tenochtitlán
was possibly the largest city in the world at the time of the Spanish conquest.
It featured a huge temple complex, a royal palace, and numerous canals.
After the Spanish conquest, the empire of the Aztec was
destroyed, but their civilization remained an important influence on the
development of Mexican culture. Many contemporary Mexicans are descended from
the Aztec, and more than 1 million Mexicans speak Nahuatl, the native Aztec
language, as their primary language. In Mexico City, excavations continue to
uncover temple foundations, statues, jewellery, and other artefacts of the
Aztec civilization.
Aztec refers both to the people who founded the empire, who
called themselves Mexica, or Tenochca, and, more generally, to all of the many
other Nahuatl-speaking ethnic groups that lived in the Valley of Mexico at the
time of the Spanish conquest. The name Aztec is derived from Aztlán, the
mythical homeland of the Mexica; according to tradition, Aztlán was located
northwest of the Valley of Mexico, possibly in west Mexico. The name Mexico is
derived from Mexica.
Origins and Growth of the
Aztec Empire
The group that
eventually founded the Aztec Empire, the Mexica, migrated to the Valley of
Mexico in the middle of the 13th century. As late arrivals, the Mexica, a
hunter-gatherer people, were forced by other groups in the valley to take
refuge on two islands near the western shore of Lake Texcoco (one of the five
lakes in the area).
The Mexica began farming for a living, and in 1325 they
founded the city of Tenochtitlán on one of the lake islands. For the next 100
years they paid tribute to stronger neighbouring groups, especially the Tepanec
of the city-state of Azcapotzalco, whom they served as mercenaries.
As the Mexica grew in number, they established superior
military and civil organizations. Gradually, they revolted against the Tepanec
and won control of some territory on the mainland. In about 1427 the Mexica of
Tenochtitlán formed a triple alliance with the city-states of Texcoco and
Tlacopan (now Tacuba). Under the Mexica ruler Itzcoatl, his successor Montezuma
I, and the Texcocan ruler Netzahualcóyotl, the three states began a series of
conquests. They eventually established an empire that extended from central
Mexico to the Guatemalan border and included many different states and ethnic
groups, who were forced to pay tribute to the alliance. Tenochtitlán became the
dominant power within the alliance.
Aztec Civilization
Aztec society was
highly structured, based on agriculture, and guided by a religion that pervaded
every aspect of life. The Aztec worshipped gods that represented natural forces
that were vital to their agricultural economy. Aztec cities were dominated by
giant stone pyramids topped by temples where human sacrifices were dedicated to
the gods. Aztec art was primarily an expression of religion, and even warfare,
which increased the empire's wealth and power, served the religious purpose of
providing captives to be sacrificed.
Social Organization
The basic unit of Aztec society was the calpulli,
sometimes, at least for early Aztec history, thought of as a clan, or group of
families who claimed descent from a common ancestor. Each calpulli regulated
its own affairs, electing a council and officers to keep order, lead in war,
dispense justice, and maintain records. Calpulli ran schools in which boys were
taught citizenship, warfare, history, crafts, and religion. Each calpulli also
had a temple, an armoury 
to hold weapons, and a storehouse for goods and tribute that were
distributed among its members. Within each calpulli, land was divided among the
heads of families according to their needs. Each family had a right to use the
land but owned only the goods that it produced.
In Tenochtitlán and other Aztec city-states, the most
capable leaders of each calpulli together composed a tribal council, which
elected four chief officials. One of these four officials was selected as the
tlatoani (ruler). After Tenochtitlán became the centre of Aztec civilization,
its ruler became the supreme leader of the empire, to whom lesser rulers paid
tribute. This ruler was considered semi divine, a descendant of the Aztec gods,
and served as both military leader and high priest. His title was huey
tlatoani, meaning “great lord” or “great speaker.”
The ruler was supported by a noble class of priests,
warriors, and administrators. Below these nobles were the common people,
including merchants, artisans, soldiers, peasant farmers, and labourers. Aztec
merchants formed a hereditary class, called pochteca. They lived in special
quarters in the cities, formed guilds, and had many privileges.
Although Aztec society had strict classes, a person's
status could change based on his or her contribution to society. Commoners
could improve their rank, especially by performing well in battle, and become
prosperous landowners. Young people of some classes could study to become
priests or warriors. Warriors who captured many prisoners gained prestige and
wealth and might be admitted into one of several elite military orders. A
person who committed a crime or did not pay his debts became a slave; however,
such slaves could eventually regain their freedom, and their children were born
free.
Trade
In the Aztec empire, some manufactured goods were produced
for the ruler or sold in the local markets. These included pottery, tools,
jewellery, figurines, baskets, and cloth. Other goods, especially prized luxury
items such as lake salt, gold ornaments, and rich garments, were carried by
travelling traders to distant peoples in the lowlands along the Gulf coast and
south toward what is now Guatemala. There they were exchanged for luxury items
native to those regions, such as tropical-bird feathers, jaguar skins, cotton,
rubber, and cacao beans for chocolate. The Aztec had no metal coins. They used
cacao beans, cotton cloth, and salt as a form of money.
The Aztec had no wheeled vehicles or draft animals, so
trading goods were carried by canoe or on the backs of porters, who marched in
long caravans led by merchants. In dangerous areas, Aztec warriors would
protect the caravans. Merchants would often act as spies for the empire when
trading in towns that had not been conquered by the Aztec.
Religion
As an agricultural people,
the Aztec depended heavily on the forces of nature and worshiped them as gods.
Most important was their patron deity, the sun god, Huitzilopochtli, who was also considered to be
the god of war. Other important gods were Tlaloc (the god of rain) and Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent (the god of
wind and learning, also associated with resurrection). The Aztec believed that
the benevolent gods must be kept strong to prevent the evil gods from
destroying the world. For this purpose they conducted human sacrifices. Victims
of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war, although Aztec warriors would
sometimes volunteer for the more important sacrificial rituals. The god Tlaloc
was believed to prefer children as sacrificial victims.
The sacrificial rituals were elaborate in form, calculated
according to the stars to please specific gods at specific times. A victim
would ascend the steps of the pyramid. At the top, a priest would stretch the
victim across a stone altar and cut out the victim's heart. The priest would
hold the heart aloft to the god being honoured and then fling it into a sacred
fire while it was still beating. Often many victims were killed at once. In
1487, according to legend, Aztec priests sacrificed more than 80,000 prisoners
of war at the dedication of the reconstructed temple of the sun god in
Tenochtitlán.
Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs
In 1519 Spanish
explorer Hernán Cortés and more than 500
Spaniards landed in eastern Mexico in search of land and gold. Advised by Malinche,
his Native American mistress, Cortés formed an alliance with one of the rivals
of the Aztec, the Tlaxcalans, and set out for Tenochtitlán. After wavering
about how to respond to the Spanish force, Aztec ruler Montezuma II allowed Cortés to enter
the city in order to learn more about him and his intentions.
Finding large amounts of gold and
other treasure, and fearful that the Aztec would attack his vastly outnumbered
Spanish force, Cortés seized Montezuma as a hostage. The Spaniards melted down
the intricate gold ornaments of the Aztec for shipment to Spain and forced
Montezuma to swear allegiance to the king of Spain. The Spaniards remained in
the city without opposition until about six months later, when, in Cortés's
absence, Spanish officer Pedro de Alvarado massacred 200
Aztec nobles who had gathered for a religious ceremony. After Cortés returned,
the Aztec rebelled, fighting to drive the Spaniards out of Tenochtitlán. The
Aztec warriors tore up the city's bridges and chased the Spaniards into the
canals, where three-fourths of them, weighted down with stolen gold, quickly
drowned. Montezuma was killed during the revolt. Montezuma's successor,
Cuitlahuac, ruled only a few months before dying of disease. Montezuma's nephew
Cuauhtémoc became the next Aztec
ruler.
Cortés
retreated to Tlaxcala and gathered more Native American allies for a siege of
Tenochtitlán. The Aztecs' crude weapons were no match for the iron, steel, and
gunpowder of the Spaniards, who also had the advantage of a large number of
indigenous allies. After three months of desperate and bloody fighting,
Cuauhtémoc surrendered in August 1521. Cortés tortured and hanged him while on
an expedition to Honduras in 1525. The Spaniards conquered the remaining Aztec
peoples and took over their lands, forcing them to work in gold mines and on
Spanish estates.
The fall of
Tenochtitlán marked the end of the Native American civilizations that had
existed in Mesoamerica since the first human settlement of the region. On the
ruins of Tenochtitlán, the Spaniards built Mexico City. The city's present-day
cathedral rises over the ruins of an Aztec temple, and the palace of the
Mexican president stands on the site of the palace of Montezuma.
