Aztec’s and spanish A long Migration

The history of the aztecs The Aztec were a band of hunter-gatherers living on a small island is northwestern Mexico, when their God, Huitzilopochtli, told them to leave their homeland. “Go where the cactus grows, on which the eagle sits happily…”

They journeyed through deserts and over steep mountains.

The journey They were hungry and thirsty, hoping at every turn to see the promised sign: an eagle sitting on a prickly pear cactus, eating a snake. After 200 years of wondering, they found the eagle and a small, swampy island in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico.

Tenochtitlan They named their new home, Tenochtitlan – “Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus”. Tenochtitlan was the place where the Aztecs started to build a powerful empire. No one knows exactly why the Aztec came to the Valley of Mexico. Perhaps they were attracted to the valley’s climate and fertile soil. Its high altitude gives the valley a mild climate.

Building an empire So they settled on a soggy, uninhabited island in Lake Texcoco. The island was about 12 miles square in size. Because the land on their island was mostly swamp, they couldn’t grow crops such as corn for food or cotton for clothing. They learned to collect and eat algae from the lake.

Adapting to the land Another challenge for the Aztecs, was building shelter. The timber and stone they needed to build huts was scarce on the small island. But, the Aztec learned to use what was around them to their advantage. They used reeds and mud from the swamp to make huts. They caught and ate birds and fish that lived on the island or in the water around it.

Chinampas From the tribes around the area, the Aztec learned a method of farming that was suited to the swampy areas in which they lived: Chinampas “Floating Gardens” Chinampas are narrow strips of land about 300 ft. long and 15- 30 ft. wide, almost completely surrounded by canals. The Aztec built these around their central city. They used rows of canals to tend to the chinampas by boat.

chinampas They used the rows of canals to tend to the chinampas by boat. On these floating gardens, Aztec farmers were able to produce corn, squash, chili peppers, beans and tomatoes. The canals around the chinampas were used for travel via canoe to the city of Tenochtitlan Aztec also raised roads to the mainland so they could travel on foot. One CAUSEWAY (roadway raised above water) was over five miles long.