1325-1520. 1200: built tenochitlan - on lake texcoco - founders saw an eagle standing on a cactus -...

1325-1520

1200: Built Tenochitlan

- On Lake Texcoco

- Founders saw an eagle standing on a cactus

- Saw it as a “sign” = The Promised Land

Originally, they were called the “Mexica” people

Largest cities: Tenochitlan & Tlaxcala

1428, Triple Alliance = Aztecs merged with Texcoco & Tlacopan

By the early 1500’s, their empire covered 80,000 miles from central Mexico to the Pacific Ocean

38 provinces paid tribute to the Aztec ruler

Population estimate = 5-15 million

• Centralized government

• Semi-independent territories

• Ruler had divine right to reign

• Mercenaries

Emperor

Priests, Nobles and Council of Advisors

Warriors

PeasantsMerchants

Slaves

Women

• not equal

• own property

• enter into contracts

Warriors

• Rigid class system

• Patriarchy

Ancient Aztecs tending to chinampas

• Most Aztecs were Farmers

• Chinampas = “Floating farm plots” = built on the marshy fringes of the lake

Received Tribute from its provinces

Thriving Trade

• Polytheistic

• Good vs. Evil

• Huitzilopochtli = Sun god of War

• Practiced human sacrifices to appease Huitzilopochtli

• Quetzalcoatl = Feathered Serpent

What are they doing?

God of rain & fertility God of chocolate

Aztec Sunstone

13 feet in diameter

Located in Tenochitlan’s ceremonial plaza

Contains information about Aztec days, months, and gods

Each month is divided into 20 days

Each day had its own symbol

The god Tonatiuh is in the center

4 squares = 4 eras that preceded the Aztec Age:

Tiger, Water, Wind, & Rain

Artist rendition of the Sunstone’s inner circle

1. Strong military, complex society

2. Vast empire: Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific

3. Huge trade network

4. Pyramids, temples, apartments, chinampas

5. Writing = pictographic

6. Astronomy = calendar

7. Mathematics

8. Medicine

9. Human sacrifice on a massive scale

Pictographic – images represented things on the calendar

1519 – Hernan Cortes landed at Veracruz

Allied with the Tlaxcala & other tribes tired of paying tribute

Cortes

ignored King Montezuma’s welcome

Took Montezuma hostage

pillaged Tenochitlan

Enslaved the Aztecs

Diego Rivera, 1951, Palacio Nacional in Ciudad de Mexico

Legend said that Quetzalcoatl would return

Montezuma, believed Cortez was Quetzalcoatl

Showered him with gold

Gave him a palace

•Aztecs revolted

•Many Spanish killed

•Cortes was reinforced by tributary allies

•80% Aztecs died of smallpox & disease – no immunity

The Aztec, with bronze and copper shields, stone knives, and woven-cloth armor, were no match for them

Rulers were descended from Inti = Sun god

Only men from 1 of 11 noble families could rule

“Land of the 4 Quarters”

Tributary states

Complex road system linked empire

Complex communications system

Single language = Quechua

Capital city = Cuzco

Public Works System

Vast road system with bridges, rest areas, & dams

Mita = government service

All citizens required to work for the state annually

Forced labor

Worked on bridges, walls, dams, roads, in the salt mines, in the warehouses

• Government warehouses

• Stored food for emergencies

• Chuno = freeze-dried potatoes

Postal Service

Chaski = messengers kept rulers informed

2,500 mile runner system

The stones are so close that a knife blade won’t fit between them

Government kept records on the Quipu

knotted strings

knot’s position = level of importance

colors represented information categories

Nobles

Coya = Queen

Council

Sapa =King

Warriors Peasants

• Rigid Class System

• Textile quality = social status

Ayllu

Extended family

Helped complete community public works projects

Planted common fields

Built dams, warehouses, canals, roads…

Maintained emergency food warehouses

School system

•No writing system

•Taught students how to use the quipu

•Memorized history and literature

Women

Cared for the home and family

Planted the crops, tended the fields

Wove clothing, fabrics

Mamakuna = young women who dedicated themselves to the community as teachers, weavers, or to religious duties

Men

Warriors, priests, record-keepers, and farmers

Yamacuna = young men who performed religious duties full-time

Quetchua flute player at the Inca ruins of Pisac

Inti = Sun god

Cuzco’s Temple of the Sun

• Most sacred temple

• Heavily decorated in gold

• Gold = “sweat of the sun”

The Spanish destroyed temples, artwork, and something the Inca held very sacred - the mummies of their previous rulers

Sacrificed llamas

The Spanish took control of the capital .The Inca gave Pizarro 24 tons of gold and silver as a ransom for Athualpa, but he was not released. The Spanish later tied him to a stake and strangled him.

Pizarro decided that only a quick, brutal attack would give his troops an advantage over the thousands of Inca warriors. With this plan in mind, he called for a meeting with Athualpa at Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. But Pizarro waited safely behind with his army and sent a Spanish monk in his place. The monk offered Athualpa a Bible and told the chief that he should give up his Inca beliefs. Athualpa was outraged and threw the Bible to the ground saying, "I will be no man's slave. I am greater than any prince upon the earth…. As for my faith, I will not change it."

When the monk reported that the Inca chief could not be converted, Pizarro and his troops came out of hiding , killing more than 5,000 Inca. Athualpa was taken prisoner.

But the Inca failed because most supplies had been used up in civil war. Manco Inca retreated with his army into the Andes Mountains. There they continued to fight the Spanish until 1572, when the Spanish finally defeated them.

Quipu record system

Vast empire, strong military

Meta forced labor requirement

Emergency food stockpiles

Complex public works: roads, bridges, pyramids

Communications network

Educational system

Astronomy, science

Medicine: mummies & surgery