The Aztec Empire

Objective SWBAT explain how the Aztecs controlled their empire

Growth Tenochtitlan began as simply the Aztecs’ home city After the Aztecs and their allies defeated the Tepanecs in 1428 CE, the city became the capital of a growing empire Under Montezuma I in the mid 1400s, the Aztecs extended their empire to faraway regions By the early 1500s, the Aztec Empire stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean At its height, the empire included more than 5 million people

Checks for Understanding What did Tenochtitlan first start out as? The Aztecs’ home city What did it become after 1428? The capital of a growing empire Where did the empire stretch by the early 1500s? From the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean How many people did the empire include at its height? 5 million

The Aztec Empire Unlike other empire builders, the Aztecs did not start colonies They also did not force conquered peoples to adopt their ways Instead, the Aztec Empire was a loose union of hundreds of city-states that were forced to pay tribute to the Aztecs The Aztec Empire was different than all empires we have discussed, they just wanted money and gifts!

Checks for Understanding What did the Aztecs not do with their empire? Start colonies What did they not make the people they conquered do? Adopt the Aztec ways What was the empire? A loose union of hundreds of city-states that were forced to pay tribute to the Aztecs

Tribute Collecting tribute was the empire’s most important business The Aztecs relied on tribute to support Tenochtitlan’s huge population Tribute took the form of whatever valuable items a city could provide Cities might pay in food, cacao, gems and stones, cotton, cloth, animals etc. Tax collectors stationed around the empire made sure that cities paid regularly

Checks for Understanding What was the empire’s most important business? Collecting tribute What did they rely on tribute for? To support Tenochtitlan’s huge population What was the tribute? Valuable items a city could provide How did they make sure city-states paid regularly? Tax collectors were staged all around the empire

Warfare The demands of the empire made war the center of Aztec life Successful battles allow the Aztecs to increase their sources of tribute They also gained more territory, laborers, and sacrificial victims They took as many prisoners as possible to use in sacrifices to please Huitzilopochtli, the god of war

Checks for Understanding Why was war the center of Aztec life? Because of the demands of the empire (feeding the population) What allowed the Aztecs to gain more tributes? Successful battles What else did the Aztecs gain? More territory, laborers, and sacrificial victims Why did they take as many prisoners as possible? To sacrifice them

Battle Every male Aztec was trained to be a soldier First, the Aztecs asked a city to join the empire as an ally The city had 60 days to agree, if the ruler refused, the Aztecs declared war The battle began when thousands of Aztec warriors descended upon the city As the armies faced each other, a general gave the signal to attack

Checks for Understanding What did every male Aztec have to be? A soldier What was the first step of the battle? The Aztecs asked a city to join them as an ally What happened after 60 days and the city did not accept the offer? The Aztecs declared war When did the battle begin? When 1000s of warriors descended upon the city

Aftermath Aztec warriors excelled at hand-to-hand fighting and most wars ended after one battle, usually with an Aztec victory After the city had fallen, the Aztecs brought their captives to Tenochtitlan Some became slaves, but most were sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli The Aztecs would then make a few demands on the defeated city

Checks for Understanding Why did most wars end after one battle? Because the Aztecs were awesome warriors What did the Aztecs do with their warriors after the battle? They brought them to Tenochtitlan What happened to them? Some became slaves, but most were sacrificed

Defeated Cities and People The defeated people had to pay tribute and honor Huitzilpochtli, and promise obedience to the Aztec ruler Otherwise, conquered cities remained independent (kept religion, customs, and languages) These lenient conditions made it easy for the Aztecs to rule However, most conquered people didn’t view themselves as Aztecs, and there was never a sense of unity in the Aztec Empire

Checks for Understanding What happened to the defeated people? They had to pay tribute and honor Huitzilpochtli and promise obedience to the Aztec ruler How did conquered cities remain independent? They kept their religion, customs, and languages What did this allow for? Easy rule by the Aztecs What problem arose? The empire wasn’t truly unified