Mesoamerica in a Minute

Aztec World History Review

Geography: Your Own

Personal Map of Mexico!

• Maya: Thumb

• Aztec: Heart of your

Palm

Valley of Mexico, ca. 1519

• Tenochtitlan, the

capital of the

Aztec empire,

was build on an

island in Lake

Texcoco in the

Valley of Mexico

Aztec Capital: Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan

• Over time the

Aztec developed

Tenochtitlan into

a complex city

with floating

farms and

causeways

connecting the

city to the main

land

Codex Mendosa

Tenochtitlan• The city itself was

founded in 1325

• At first it wasn’t very impressive, but by 1428 the Aztec empire had become powerful, and Tenochtitlan was the most important city in all of Mesoamerica

• During the reign of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world, with over 200,000 inhabitants

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor

• Built in the center of Tenochtitlan in an open

public square, Templo Mayor served as a

temple to both Huitzilopotchli and Tlaloc

Tenochtitlan - Templo Mayor

The nested remains of successive phases of construction, Templo Mayor, Aztec Empire, Mexico City, Mexico

Aztec Sacrifice

• Like many other

Mesoamerican

cultures, the Aztec

practiced blood and

human sacrifice

• Here the Aztec are

shown offering a

human heart to the

sun god

Human sacrifice to honor the sun, Aztec codex, 16th century.

Human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano

Aztec Sacrifice

Aztec Calendar

Aztec Calendar

The Spanish Encounter

the Aztecs

World History

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Native American Groups Pre-Conquest

Video Clip

http://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=1674

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Spanish Conquistador Video Clip

http://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=474

Terms• colonies - lands controlled by another

nation

• Conquistadors - explorer-conquerors who sought wealth and land in the Americas for Spain

• Hernando Cortes - led Spanish conquest of the Aztec

• Montezuma II - Aztec emperor during Spanish conquest

Tenochtitlan, 1519

• It was a time of uncertainty in the Aztec

calendar. The 52-year calendar cycle was

ending which signaled an unsure time. It

had long been Aztec legend that their god

Quetzalcoatl would appear from the east at

the end of the calendar cycle and come and

destroy their empire.

Tenochtitlan, 1519

• The legend goes that a Toltec king was a priest of Quetzalcoatl and became known by the god's name. This king, described as fair-skinned and bearded, was exiled by his enemies, but he vows that he will return in the year 'One Reed' of the 52-year calendar cycle.

• In 1519, a 'One Reed' year, a fair-skinned stranger lands on the east coast. The Aztecs welcome him as Quetzalcoatl. He is the Spanish conquistador Cortes…

Arrival of Cortes

• When the Spanish, led by Cortes, arrived on the eastern coast of Mexico in 1519, they heard of the wealth and gold of the Aztecs. Cortes and his men soon made their way to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

• The Aztecs, led by Montezuma II, were apprehensive about the arrival of the Spanish, and many bad omens surrounded the arrival of these foreigners…

Bad Omens

1. a strange appearance in the eastern sky

2. fire consuming the temple of

Huitzilopochtli

3. a lightning bolt destroying the straw

temple of Xiuhtecuhtli

4. the appearance of streaking fire across the

sky

Bad Omens

5. the “boiling,” and later flooding, of a lake

nearby Tenochtitlan

6. a woman weeping in the middle of night

7. the capturing of an unknown creature with

a fishing net

8. the sightings of strange monsters having

two heads and only one body throughout

the city

What does all of this

mean for the Aztecs???

• Read “Historymakers: Montezuma II” to

find out!

Cultures Clash!

• In 1521 the Spanish arrive in

Mesoamerica under the command of

Conquistador Hernan Cortes

• Bring with them horses, superior

weapons, and DISEASES!

• Within a year, the Aztec empire has

fallen and millions are dead

• Spain creates an Empire, spreads

Christianity, and destroys the

Mesoamerican cultural past

Aztec ruins of the former island city-state of Tlatelolco (foreground) and the church of Santiago de Tlatelolco on the

Plaza of the Three Cultures, Mexico City. Tlatelolco was subsumed by Tenochtitlán in the late 15th century.

View of the ruins of the main temple of the Templo Mayor complex. The main city cathedral is visible just behind the ruins.

Diseases Brought to the New

World from the Old World

Smallpox

Smallpox is a contagious disease

caused by a virus. Smallpox virus

has been eradicated worldwide

through successful vaccination and

treatment programs, and now exists

only as a stored virus in a few

research centers. Symptoms include

a severe rash (which leaves scars),

fever, headache, vomiting and

diarrhea.

Smallpox case from Illinois, 1912

Progression of Smallpox – Days 3, 5, 7