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2.5 Inquiry-Aztecs Fact Sheet

The Aztec Empire, located in modern-day Mexico, thrived from the early 1300s until its fall in 1521, with a population of 18-20 million and a capital, Tenochtitlan, that was the largest city in the Americas before European contact. The Aztecs practiced a polytheistic religion that included human sacrifice and believed they were in the final stage of life, awaiting the return of their death god, Quetzalcoatl. The arrival of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes in 1519 initiated a series of events that culminated in the empire's collapse due to warfare and devastating diseases brought by the Europeans.

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22 views1 page

2.5 Inquiry-Aztecs Fact Sheet

The Aztec Empire, located in modern-day Mexico, thrived from the early 1300s until its fall in 1521, with a population of 18-20 million and a capital, Tenochtitlan, that was the largest city in the Americas before European contact. The Aztecs practiced a polytheistic religion that included human sacrifice and believed they were in the final stage of life, awaiting the return of their death god, Quetzalcoatl. The arrival of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes in 1519 initiated a series of events that culminated in the empire's collapse due to warfare and devastating diseases brought by the Europeans.

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Background

● The Aztec Empire is located in modern day Mexico, while in the 14th century, it spread across MesoAmerica.
● The Aztec civilization ruled that area of the world from the early 1300s to 1521.
● The empire used its military to conquer neighboring states until their population was between 18-20 million people (including
conquered territories).
● The capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan (Ten-NOTCH-tit-lawn), where about 200,000 people lived.
● This was the largest city the Americas before European exploration.
● The civilization had a strictly divided caste system divided into 4 groups: rulers; nobles including government, priests, and military
warriors; commoners of farmers and tradesmen; and serfs/slaves.

Religion
● Their religion was polytheistic, and they worshipped gods of farming, rain, death,
etc.
● The Aztecs could honor the gods in many ways, through festivals, parades, praying,
but most of all, human sacrifice or bloodletting.
● The gods demanded human sacrifice, which was done by cutting out heart,
beheading, or staging fights to the death between warriors.
● They thought their society had 5 stages of life, as shown by the different stages of the
sun. They believed they were in the fifth and final stage, the red or setting sun.
● In this stage, the gods would come back and destroy the world at any time.
● Their death god was named Quetzalcoatl (KET-zuh-KWAH-tull), and according to
legend, he was supposed to visit the empire and appear shining like the sun with a
long beard. Later, the legend was fulfilled (from the Aztec perspective) in the
European conquistador arrival of Cortes because of his shiny steel armor.
● Since the Aztecs thought Cortes was a god, they tried to appease him by giving him
gold and honor him in many ways.

Military
● While every male child wanted to become a warrior (which much schooling focused
on military traditions), the most elite warriors were the Eagle warriors and Jaguar
warriors.
● Their most common weapon was a wooden sword with sharp black obsidian stones
carved into each edge. (It’s kind of a cross between a baseball bat and a saw).
● They also used bows, arrows, and shields in battle.
● At its height, the military had 1 million elite warriors composed of both jaguar and
eagle forces. However, all male children (except slaves) had some military training.
Those in the noble class were the elites, while commoners were foot soldiers.

European Exploration, Disease, and Conquest


● In 1519, Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortes, arrived in present day Mexico
and made their way into the country’s interior toward the Aztec capital.
● Originally, relations between the two groups were peaceful due to the prophecy of the legend of Quetzalcoatl (see above). The
Aztecs worshipped and appeased Cortes as much as possible.
● A second group of Spanish arrived in 1520, and things changed.
● During a festival ritual of human sacrifice, Spanish soldiers attacked the temple, destroying their idols of their gods.
● Then, the Spanish seized the chief Montezuma and used him as a hostage. Montezuma was killed in a crossfire and the Aztecs
attacked the Spanish.
● It was raining the night of the battle of La Noche Triste (the sad night) and the Spanish guns jammed because of the gunpowder
getting wet. This, and the Spanish attempt to take as much Aztec gold as possible made it difficult for the Spanish to flee.
● There were originally 600 Spanish soldiers, but the Aztecs killed two thirds of Spanish soldiers, leaving 200 of them and forcing
them to leave Tenochtitlan. Cortes was severely wounded in the battle.
● One of the prisoners of war was a negro slave of the Spanish, who had contracted smallpox. Smallpox began to rapidly spread
throughout the capital and empire, killing between 80-90% of people.
● Aztecs died of the disease because they had no immunity to European or African disease; they had not encountered them before.
● Ten months later, in summer of 1521, Cortes came back with more soldiers and allies from tribes that had been conquered.
● The population had already declined, and the remaining 20,000 in Tenochtitlan were weakened. The Spanish surrounded
Tenochtitlan, laying siege for 3 months while even more died. The Aztecs surrendered August 1521.
● The Spanish destroyed Tenochtitlan and made the Aztec Empire a colony called New Spain.

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