Aztec Empire

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Aztec Empire

• Created by Allana Quaday

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Table of Contents

• Map pg.3
• Introduction pg. 4
• Important Facts About the Aztecs pg.5-7
• Region and Culture pg.8
• 5 Highlights of the Aztec Period pg. 9
• 3 Important Individuals pg. 10-13
• Conclusion pg.14
• Glossary pg. 15

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The Aztec Empire, 1519

• Capital City, Tenochtitlan

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Introduction

• This presentation will tell about the Aztecs, an
  indian tribe of people who lived in southern
  Mexico from 1427 1520. The Aztecs were a highly
  developed and complex culture. They had a highly
  organized society, a solar calendar, and systems
  for writing , counting, governing and keeping
  track of time. They raised crops and built
  beautiful cities, religious temples and pyramids.
  They raised crops and traded with neighboring
  cultures. They were a spiritual people and
  worshipped many gods. They were also fierce
  warriors and used their fighting skills to expand
  the Aztec Empire. Their culture was destroyed by
  the invading Spanish mostly because the Europeans
  had better weapons and because the Aztecs had no
  immunity to the diseases brought by the
  Conquistadors.

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Aztec Facts

• The Aztec Empire dominated Mesoamerica,
  Guatemala, Salvador Honduras
• The Aztec people in the Empire worked as
  craftsmen, merchants, farmers, and fishermen
• They worshipped over 200 gods, including the sun
  and moon gods

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Aztec Facts

• The Aztecs began their reign in 1427
• The Aztecs were closely tied in with the
  calendathal system that was based on the cosmos
  and its energy
• The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice in their
  religious ceremonies

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Aztec Facts

• The Aztecs had a 2-class society of aristocrats
  and commoners
• They were a warrior culture
• The Aztecs practiced agriculture
• The Aztecs were good at working metal like gold
  and silver
• They also made jewelry out of precious stones
• The Aztec traded goods with cacao beans, cotton
  cloaks and quills filled with gold dust
• The Aztecs traded with neighboring cultures
• 
  ,
• The arrival of the Spaniard Cortes destroyed the
  Aztec culture

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• The Aztecs began heir reign in 1427

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Region and Culture

• The Aztec culture dominated the area of what is
  now southern Mexico and northern Central America
• Their capital city was Tenochtitlan which became
  the present day Mexico city
• Aztec rulers were both religious, political and
  military and ruled for life
• You could tell the importance of the nobles
  because they wore brightly colored cloaks
• The Aztecs developed a system of writing using
  picture symbols called glyphs
• Aztec religion centered around the idea of
  teotl or sacred energy
• They worshipped many gods of things they observed
  in nature like the sun, moon, rain, and many
  different animals
• The Aztecs were an agricultural society
• They learned how to cultivate corn, beans,
  tomatoes, onions, squash and chilli peppers
• They created a complex system of irrigation
  canals to water their crops
• The Aztecs were fierce fighters who encouraged a
  warrior mentality all Aztec young men were
  trained in fighting
• The main reason for fighting was to control the
  people and land around them and to earn tribute
  and take captives from their enemies. The
  captives were often later used as human sacrifice

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Five Highlights

• The Aztec Empire started in 1427 when an Aztec
  tribe, the Mexica, founded the city of
  Tenochtitlan on the site that is now Mexico City
• In 1427, the Mexica made alliances with their
  tribal neighbors, the Texcoco and the Tlacopan to
  form the Aztec empire
• In 1503, Montezuma II becomes Aztec ruler, a
  position he holds until his death in 1520, during
  the Spanish occupation
• In 1519, Hernan Cortez arrives in Mexico and
  subdues the entire Aztec civilization by 1525
• After the Aztecs were defeated Cortez demolished
  Tenochtitlan and rebuilt the city in the Spanish
  style, renaming it Mexico City

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Three Important People in the History of the
Aztec Empire

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Montezuma II

• Montezuma was the leader of the Aztecs when the
  Spaniards came in 1519
• Montezuma was baffled by Cortez and the Spaniards
  because they were so different from what he had
  ever seen
• The Spaniards cannons, guns, metal armor, and
  horses confused Montezuma and prevented him from
  taking action against him
• Montezuma even thought that Cortez and the
  Spaniards might be gods
• Montezuma did not know what to do to defend the
  Aztecs against Cortez which made it very easy for
  Cortez to defeat the Aztecs
• Montezuma was taken prisoner by Cortez and died
  in Spanish captivity in 1520

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Hernan Cortez

• He arrived Mesoamerica in 1519
• After 2 years, Cortez had destroyed the Aztec
  Empire
• Cortez used the Aztec Empires weakness to
  destroy it.
• He exploited these weaknesses small communities
  of people ruled by the Aztecs that werent loyal
  to them, no natural immunity to European
  diseases, and the Mesoamericans fear of these
  strange new people

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Dona Marina

• Marina was an Aztec girl, the daughter of a
  priest who was sold into slavery
• The Mexica traders sold Marina to the Mayan
  Indians
• The Mayans gave Marina to Cortez right after he
  arrived in Mexico
• Because Marina had traveled around a lot she
  learned to speak Mayan plus her own language
• She learned to speak Spanish when she was given
  to Cortez
• Because she could speak two Indian languages
  besides Spanish, Marina became very important to
  Cortez in his dealings with the Aztecs
• Marina was very respected by Cortez and his men
  because of her bravery and intelligence

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Conclusion

• Despite the Aztecs advanced culture and
  warrior skills, they still could not fend off the
  invading Spanish. The Conquistadors defeated them
  with superior armor and weapons, overwhelming the
  Aztec army with its stone weapons and cotton
  cloaks. The Europeans brought many new and useful
  tools and ideas to the New World, but they also
  brought diseases that the indigenous people had
  no immunity to. The Spaniards came in search of
  gold and riches, not to become friends and allies
  with the native people of Mesoamerica. The Aztec
  culture was unable to react quickly enough to the
  invading Spaniards, and were easily defeated
  through war and disease.

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Aztec Glossary

• Huitzilpochtli the legendary god who led the
  Aztecs to their homeland
• Pochteca wealthy merchant commoners
• Tenochtitlan The Aztec capitol city
• Teotihuacan huge city of the early people who
  lived in Mesoamerica before the Aztecs it was
  in ruins when the Aztecs came into power
• Tlamama common laborers who carried trade goods
  for the pochteca
• Tlamatinime wise men or priests
• Tlatelolco the largest market on the outskirts
  of Tenochtitlan
• Tlatoque Aztec supreme ruler (tlatoani plural)