1. Aztecs
Chapter 16

2. Map

3. Geography Settled in a swampy area in the middle of Lake Texcoco
Built a magnificent capital, Tenochititilan Island
3 Major things that made them rise to power:
War: fierce fighters
Tribute: payment (from the people they conquered)
Trade: controlled a huge trade network
All of these gave them power, strength, and $$

4. Geography
Causeways: raised road that allowed them to go to and from the city.
Canals: crisscrossed the city
These two things helped travel and trade
Island

5. Farming
Floating gardens: chinampas
Soil on top of rafts and tied to trees in the water

6. Social Structure Emperor: highest, most important
Nobles: helped the emperor (tax collection; government officials)
Warriors/Priests: priest led religious events/ceremonies; priests kept the calendars; warriors respected privileges
Merchants/Artisans: traders; craftsmen
Farmers/Laborers: paid high tax; poor
Slaves: struggled to survive

7. Religion
Polytheistic (many Gods)
Human sacrifice

8. Achievements Stone pyramids Studied astronomy and calendar was made
Record keeping
Oral tradition: riddles

9. Additional Information
The Spanish soldiers that arrived in the Americas in the late 1400s were called conquistadors. They were led by a Spanish explorer named Hernan Cortes.
The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma II, was taken prisoner and later killed by the Spaniards.

10. Cortes defeats the Aztecs
Factors that helped Cortes and his men defeat the Aztecs:
Native American tribes who resented the Aztecs’ harsh rule allied with Cortes
Spanish had better weapons
Brought deadly diseases like smallpox