Contributor: Suzanne Riordan. Lesson ID: 13978
They had an empire of over 5 million people. They gave us chocolate, avocados, and tomatoes. Who were the Aztecs, and what happened to them? Learn about this ancient civilization!
The Aztec people had an empire in what is now Mexico, from 1325 AD to 1521 AD.
Before learning more about the Aztecs, take a moment to recall some of the different ways that writers can structure the information they write about. Those ways of writing are called text structures.
Here are some examples of text structures.
Description is where the author gives details about something he or she wants you to know.
Sequence and order is where the author tells about things in the order in which they happen.
Compare and contrast is where an author tells the similarities and differences between two things.
Cause and effect is where an author tells how one event brings about another.
Problem and solution is where the author poses a problem or question and then explains the solution or answer.
The Founding of Tenochtitlan
The Aztec people were hunters and gatherers in the north of what is now Mexico. Around 1300 A.D., they began moving southward to the area of Lake Texcoco.
The legend is that when they arrived in this area, they saw an eagle, perched on a cactus, with a snake in its beak. This was considered a sign from their god that this was where they should settle.
The Aztecs built their capital city, Tenochtitlan, in this area in 1325. By 1440, they had become a large and powerful empire.
Now, read another paragraph, which uses a different structure.
Aztec Agriculture
With over 140,000 people living in Tenochtitlan, it was important to find ways to feed them. The Aztecs created a new way to garden.
They created chinampas, small man-made islands in the middle of lakes. They did this by putting stakes in the mud and filling in the spaces between the stakes with dirt until they had built up an island.
On these chinampas, they grew corn, squash, and beans.
Try to figure out the structure of this paragraph.
Aztec commerce
Not only was Tenochtitlan the capital of the Aztec Empire, but it was also a trading center with many people from other places.
The Aztecs created some of the largest markets in the world. They exist today and they are called tianguis. In a tianguis, people traded things like gold and greenstone as well as cotton, chili sauces, and even insects.
When the Spanish invaders came to Tenochtitlan, they were impressed by these markets and the variety of articles they offered.
The Ancient Aztec politics
The Aztec empire wasn't run like other empires you have studied. The Aztecs didn't directly rule their subjects in the same way a European empire like the Romans did.
Rather than direct control, the Aztecs conquered nearby city-states but left the local rulers in charge. They demanded regular tribute (taxes or payments).
The Spanish Conquest
The arrival of Spain's conquistadors in Mexico, led by Hernan Cortes, brought about the end of the Aztec Empire. The conquistadors took the emperor Moctezuma prisoner after arriving in Tenochtitlan.
The Spanish conquistadors were helped by other Mesoamerican tribes who were tired of the Aztec rulers. There were also many diseases that killed the Aztecs and led to the fall of their empire. They died from things like measles, mumps, and smallpox.
Much of Tenochtitlan was destroyed after the Aztecs surrendered.
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