Aztec Culture, Society and Downfall of the Civilization

The Aztecs were a gathering of individuals searching for their sign from their God. The sign they were searching for was an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake. They were the first huge development to settle in Mexico. The Aztecs spoke Nahuatl. They traveled for about a hundred years attempting to locate the sign.

Aztec Society

Some of the things the children learned about at school

All the Aztec youngsters went to class to learn out about government, religion, and history. Young men went to class until the point they were seventeen years of age and turned out to be either warriors or agriculturists. Young ladies went to class for couple of years, at that point remained home to figure out how to sew, cook, and look after children. Young men were either warriors, ranchers, pioneers, ministers, or seekers. Young ladies progressed toward becoming spouses and moms.

Aztec Culture

The Aztecs thought they needed to give their gods things like such jewels, attire, and rare things to keep them happy. They even sacrificed individuals. The Aztecs were experts who manufactured incredible stone temples or pyramids to the gods, yet common people lived in simple homes made of adobe, clay with straw rooftops and soil floors.

The Aztec people made two calendars. Aztec individuals figured out how to make chinampas or coasting gardens which produced necessary food. The Aztecs had no money, so they would barter with natural products, vegetables, bird feathers, cocoa beans, gold, silver, turquoise, jade stones, and obsidian.

Human Sacrifices The Calendar

Jade Stones An Aztec Temple

Religion

The Aztec people were polytheistic which means they worshiped more than one God. They believed that the Gods protected them. They also believed that the Gods made their crops grow. They practiced human sacrifice.

Expansion

The Expansion

The Aztec empire grew rapidly. The Aztecs entered the Valley of Mexico around 1259 CE and established their island capital, Tenochtitlan. Within the following two centuries, the Aztecs came to dominate a civilization that covered the Valley of Mexico and stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. They had a combination of politics, an expert military, and a system of ruling and tax collection. Aztec rulers were intelligent and formed alliances between rulers. Aztec warriors were fierce and were very successful in taking over different tribes in battle. They did not always kill their enemy because they understood that conquered tribes would pay tribute, or tax, to the Aztec individuals.

Downfall

Hernando Cortes The battle between the Aztecs and Hernando Cortes

In 1519, a Spanish traveler Hernando Cortes arrived on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Cortes had heard nice stories regarding the Aztec individuals. When Hernando Cortes arrived with five hundred men, the Aztec people thought that he was a light skinned god named Quetzalcoatl they began to worship him, however before long they realized that Cortes was not a god. Cortes got the neighboring tribes who despised Aztecs to fight with him and together they overthrew the Aztec nation. The Spaniards also brought diseases, like smallpox, with them to the Americas, therefore it didn't take long before seventy percent of the population died of ill health.

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