1325-1520. 1200: built tenochitlan - on lake texcoco - founders saw an eagle standing on a cactus -...
TRANSCRIPT
1325-1520
1200: Built Tenochitlan
- On Lake Texcoco
- Founders saw an eagle standing on a cactus
- Saw it as a “sign” = The Promised Land
Originally, they were called the “Mexica” people
Largest cities: Tenochitlan & Tlaxcala
1428, Triple Alliance = Aztecs merged with Texcoco & Tlacopan
By the early 1500’s, their empire covered 80,000 miles from central Mexico to the Pacific Ocean
38 provinces paid tribute to the Aztec ruler
Population estimate = 5-15 million
• Centralized government
• Semi-independent territories
• Ruler had divine right to reign
• Mercenaries
Emperor
Priests, Nobles and Council of Advisors
Warriors
PeasantsMerchants
Slaves
Women
• not equal
• own property
• enter into contracts
Warriors
• Rigid class system
• Patriarchy
Ancient Aztecs tending to chinampas
• Most Aztecs were Farmers
• Chinampas = “Floating farm plots” = built on the marshy fringes of the lake
Received Tribute from its provinces
Thriving Trade
• Polytheistic
• Good vs. Evil
• Huitzilopochtli = Sun god of War
• Practiced human sacrifices to appease Huitzilopochtli
• Quetzalcoatl = Feathered Serpent
What are they doing?
God of rain & fertility God of chocolate
Aztec Sunstone
13 feet in diameter
Located in Tenochitlan’s ceremonial plaza
Contains information about Aztec days, months, and gods
Each month is divided into 20 days
Each day had its own symbol
The god Tonatiuh is in the center
4 squares = 4 eras that preceded the Aztec Age:
Tiger, Water, Wind, & Rain
Artist rendition of the Sunstone’s inner circle
1. Strong military, complex society
2. Vast empire: Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific
3. Huge trade network
4. Pyramids, temples, apartments, chinampas
5. Writing = pictographic
6. Astronomy = calendar
7. Mathematics
8. Medicine
9. Human sacrifice on a massive scale
Pictographic – images represented things on the calendar
1519 – Hernan Cortes landed at Veracruz
Allied with the Tlaxcala & other tribes tired of paying tribute
Cortes
ignored King Montezuma’s welcome
Took Montezuma hostage
pillaged Tenochitlan
Enslaved the Aztecs
Diego Rivera, 1951, Palacio Nacional in Ciudad de Mexico
Legend said that Quetzalcoatl would return
Montezuma, believed Cortez was Quetzalcoatl
Showered him with gold
Gave him a palace
•Aztecs revolted
•Many Spanish killed
•Cortes was reinforced by tributary allies
•80% Aztecs died of smallpox & disease – no immunity
The Aztec, with bronze and copper shields, stone knives, and woven-cloth armor, were no match for them
Rulers were descended from Inti = Sun god
Only men from 1 of 11 noble families could rule
“Land of the 4 Quarters”
Tributary states
Complex road system linked empire
Complex communications system
Single language = Quechua
Capital city = Cuzco
Public Works System
Vast road system with bridges, rest areas, & dams
Mita = government service
All citizens required to work for the state annually
Forced labor
Worked on bridges, walls, dams, roads, in the salt mines, in the warehouses
• Government warehouses
• Stored food for emergencies
• Chuno = freeze-dried potatoes
Postal Service
Chaski = messengers kept rulers informed
2,500 mile runner system
The stones are so close that a knife blade won’t fit between them
Government kept records on the Quipu
knotted strings
knot’s position = level of importance
colors represented information categories
Nobles
Coya = Queen
Council
Sapa =King
Warriors Peasants
• Rigid Class System
• Textile quality = social status
Ayllu
Extended family
Helped complete community public works projects
Planted common fields
Built dams, warehouses, canals, roads…
Maintained emergency food warehouses
School system
•No writing system
•Taught students how to use the quipu
•Memorized history and literature
Women
Cared for the home and family
Planted the crops, tended the fields
Wove clothing, fabrics
Mamakuna = young women who dedicated themselves to the community as teachers, weavers, or to religious duties
Men
Warriors, priests, record-keepers, and farmers
Yamacuna = young men who performed religious duties full-time
Quetchua flute player at the Inca ruins of Pisac
Inti = Sun god
Cuzco’s Temple of the Sun
• Most sacred temple
• Heavily decorated in gold
• Gold = “sweat of the sun”
The Spanish destroyed temples, artwork, and something the Inca held very sacred - the mummies of their previous rulers
Sacrificed llamas
The Spanish took control of the capital .The Inca gave Pizarro 24 tons of gold and silver as a ransom for Athualpa, but he was not released. The Spanish later tied him to a stake and strangled him.
Pizarro decided that only a quick, brutal attack would give his troops an advantage over the thousands of Inca warriors. With this plan in mind, he called for a meeting with Athualpa at Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. But Pizarro waited safely behind with his army and sent a Spanish monk in his place. The monk offered Athualpa a Bible and told the chief that he should give up his Inca beliefs. Athualpa was outraged and threw the Bible to the ground saying, "I will be no man's slave. I am greater than any prince upon the earth…. As for my faith, I will not change it."
When the monk reported that the Inca chief could not be converted, Pizarro and his troops came out of hiding , killing more than 5,000 Inca. Athualpa was taken prisoner.
But the Inca failed because most supplies had been used up in civil war. Manco Inca retreated with his army into the Andes Mountains. There they continued to fight the Spanish until 1572, when the Spanish finally defeated them.
Quipu record system
Vast empire, strong military
Meta forced labor requirement
Emergency food stockpiles
Complex public works: roads, bridges, pyramids
Communications network
Educational system
Astronomy, science
Medicine: mummies & surgery