Aztec GovernmentBy Soha, Adeeba, April and Patricia

The Aztec government was different to other systems of government back then. Actually, it was more of a system of tribute in which all conquered cities paid respect to the Aztec empire.

What was the government about?

There were two sectors to Aztec economy: the political sector and the commercial sector. The political sector focused on control over land and slaves by nobles and royalty.

Servants and commoners got access to the land and cultivated it. As payment for using some of the land and getting some food, most of it went to the noble who owned the land.

These payments supplied the lavish lifestyle the nobles lived.

The Political Economy

Aztec government was the calpulli. Families didn't individually own land, the land was owned by a group of families, which was the calpulli. This structure of local government existed long before the Aztec empire. The leadership in the calpulli would be responsible for the basic needs of the group.

How Was It Formed

In the commercial economy there several types of money in use.

Most vendors in markets weren’t professional, they were farmers selling produce, or weavers selling clothes. There were also professional vendors that travelled from market to market, trading and travelling.

Some forms of money were quachtli, beans and cacao.

The commercial economy

Tribute is a type of tax in which you pay some of your goods to your enemies when you lose a battle.

The goods they supplied, which included not only luxuries such as feathers, adorned suits, and greenstone beads, but more practical goods such as cloth, firewood, and food. Tribute was usually paid twice or four times a year at differing times.

Tribute

The most likely reason for this phenomenon was because the Aztec rulers had better forms of communication and roads built in the areas they conquered, similar to those found in Tenochtitlan. This, in turn, helped these areas increase their ability to trade goods.

Trade

System of communications and roads were the main contribution of the Aztec rule. The roads were mainly designed for travel on foot. For the Aztecs to be informed of the events, couriers were constantly travelling along these ways. The roads were usually maintained through tribute.

Transportation

Aztec technology had already advanced through the familiarization of the wheel. The Aztecs did not have horses, mules or other beasts of burden. To travel to bodies of water and be able to transport themselves, they developed dugout canoes. These were mainly used in lakes, canals, and waterways found in the Valley of Mexico.

Transportation (con.)

"Aztec Government." Aztec Indians | Culture, Religion, Civilization, Daily Life, Art, Gods of the Aztecs. Web. 08 Nov. 2010. <http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-government.html>.

"Ancient Aztec Government." Aztec History. Web. 08 Nov. 2010. <http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-government.html>.

Bibliography

"Aztec." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec#Tribute_and_trade>.

Bilbiography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec#Aztec_empire

http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-technology.html

Bibliography

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