How Did The Aztecs Build A Strong Empire

When Spanish ships landed in Mexico in 1519 the tremendous Aztec empire was at the top of its power from their capital Tenochtitlan the Aztecs controlled much of America ruling 15 million people. Aztec Palaces were as big and elaborate as those in Europe and their temples rivaled the Egyptian pyramids but within just 2 years the Aztec empire perished. The center of the Aztec Empire was the Valley of Mexico, where the capital of the Aztec Triple Alliance was built upon raised islets in Lake Texcoco. The exact origins of the Aztec people are uncertain, but they are believed to have begun as a northern tribe of hunter-gatherers whose name came from that of their homeland, Aztlan.

The Aztecs began as a northern tribe whose name came from a valley known as Aztlan, which was the name of their homeland. They appeared in Mesoamerica, today known as the south central region of Mexico, in the 13th century. There, the Aztecs built their proud city, Tenochtitlan. It was the heart of the Aztec civilization. The Aztec emperor didn’t rule every city state.

The Aztecs’ main god was the sun or Huitzilopochtli. They believed that the sun needed constant replenishment so that it could move across the earth everyday and prevent the world from ending. However, the only way to keep this from happening, and provide mobility for the sun was to offer human sacrifices; he needed human flesh and blood. This accounts for the human sacrifices that the Aztecs had as well as the many festivals, which their ultimate goal to sacrifice humans for Huitzilopochtli and other gods as well. It is important to point that the Aztecs believed that they were living in the 5th and last era, but that they needed to keep the world from ending.

The Aztecs engaged in various items that were very unique and different from the rest of society. The Aztecs had an incredibly complex social structure system. They also believed strongly in education, family and the arts. Documents G, I and H focus directly on the horrifying human sacrifice rituals of the Aztecs.

In 1438 AD the Inca Empire started to flourish throughout South America. Over the next 50 years it spread to places that we now know as Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. Earlier, contemporary Andean traditions, in particular the Wari civilisation and ancient Tiwanaku civilisation, influenced the Inca religion immensely. But the Inca empire was very short lived as it only lasted from 1438 to 1532 AD, just short of 100 years.

Poster 1.0: the Aztecs believed that humans needed gods to survive. The gods could reward them, by bringing good crops for harvest, or punish them by sending earthquakes and floods. For these reasons, pleasing and honoring the gods was crucial in Aztec religion. 1.1: They adopted gods from other Mesoamerican groups such as Tlaloc, the rain god, and Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. However, the most important was Huitzilopochtli, the sun god and god of war.

The Aztec empire was very prosperous during the time Spanish ships set shore on their land. Multiple factors lead to the fall of what was to become one of the most powerful and advanced civilisations in the world. Most of these contributors are likely unknown by the modern world, but there are some that we are sure caused the defeat of the Aztecs. The conflict and fall of the Aztec empire was unavoidable. Things such as human sacrifice, religion, and disease all played a part in the Aztec empire’s loss.

The Aztecs were polytheistic which means they worshiped many gods. There main and most powerful god was Huitzilopochtli. Huitzilopochtli was the god of war, the sun and sacrifice. The sun was one of the most important things in Aztec culture they were called the people of the sun and believed that they needed to strengthen the sun's power through rituals and sacrifices. The priest in Aztec culture were in charge of making sure the gods were happy.

In Central America following the Conquest, the Aztecs were forced to transition into Christianity and did so fairly better than expected. It can be argued that the success of Christianity is attributed to the striking similarities Catholicism and Aztec beliefs both held. The symbol of the cross for example and maternal figures extended to both cultures. When the indigenous were indoctrinated to Mother Mary they saw her a different version of Tonantzin, their own goddess of fertility. It was in this way that they could keep some semblance of their previous beliefs in contention with a forced once that was now their reality.

Did Latin American tribes successfully adapt their environment to build civilizations? The Latin American tribes had to learn to survive in harsh conditions. Some lived in swampy, wet, marshy land, and some lived in dry, harsh, desert land. Resources were few, and conditions weren’t very good.

Aztecs had a wide majority of power over Southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Yucatan. Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1519, and wanted to take advantage of the massive amount of silver, the mines produced in the Aztec’s land. In South America, ingitis labor was cheaper, so it was beneficial to the Spanish to use these people to work in the mines to earn them high valued items that they can take back to the Old

Achievements of the Aztec Empire The European discovery of the Americas placed them in contact with a variety of Empires, but more specifically the Aztec Empire. Before the entry of European explorers, the Aztec Empire was a very strong territory that had accomplished a great deal of things. The Aztecs made several advancements in fields such as technology, engineering, science, medicine, and education. Many of these advancements we still see worldwide in the present day.