1. The Aztecs:

2. According to Aztec legend, they were advised by their Gods to construct their home when they viewed an eagle perched on a cactus. When they finally viewed the Eagle on the Cactus, they found themselves in the middle of Lake Texcoco, where they founded the city of Tenochtitlan in 1325.

5. They built Great Pyramids there that rise 60 meters above the City.

7. With Tenochtitlan as its nucleus, the Aztecs expanded outward and solidified control over the Valley of Mexico.

8. The Aztec empire ruled over the people/territory it conquered in an indirect way. The Aztecs allowed local leaders remain in power, so long as they paid tribute to Tenochtitlan. Some people resented having to pay tribute, and Cortez would exploit this.

9. Cortez describe a thriving market-place culture in the New World. Over 60,000 people met and traded for Cocoa beans, Eggs, Turkeys, Rabbits, etc.

10. Roads were built throughout the empire for tribute, communication, and troop movements Rest areas were station approximately every 6 miles.

11. Veneration of Huitzilopochtli, the God of the Sun and of War, was central to the religious, social and political practices of the Aztecs. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice on a grand scale. For the Sun to keep moving they believed that the Gods needed a daily diet of human hearts and blood.

13. The Aztec are famous for their accurate calendars:

14. The Aztec staple foods included maize, beans and squash to which were often added chilies and tomatoes. All of these foods would be brought by the Spanish back to Europe.   The Exchange between the Americas and Europe is known as the “Columbian Exchange”.

15. As literally millions of the Native Americans died from diseases brought by the Spanish, the Europeans decided that to make their newly acquired plantations profitable, they needed to find a new workforce. This workforce would be found in West Africa. Thus the Slave Trade began. You have heard testimony in the trial about the horrors of the “Middle Passage”

16. The Triangle Trade