aztecs.pdf

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PART 2: AZTECS

THEME: THE PURPOSE OF WARFARE IN

SOCIETY

Lesson 27



ID & SIG:

• Aztecs, Aztec warriors, Cortes, Huitzilopochtli, Mexica,

Tenochtitlan, sacrificial bloodletting, tribute



The Mexica

• The Mexica are what the people we know as the Aztecs

first called themselves

• They migrated to central Mexico from the northwest in the

middle of the 13th Century

• They had a reputation for kidnapping women and seizing

land cultivated by others



The Mexica

• For centuries theymigrated aroundcentral Mexico

• In about 1345 they

settled on an island ina marshy region of Lake Texcoco andfounded their capitalcity of Tenochtitlan

• The Spanishconquistadors later builtMexico City on top of Tenochtitlan

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsname=Wikipedia+Images&dekey=Tenoch2A.jpg&gwp=8



Tenochtitlan

• Living on the island had

military advantages

• The lake served as a

natural defensive barrier • Water protected

Tenochtitlan on all sides

• Mexica warriors patrolled

the three causeways thateventually linked the

capital to the surrounding

mainland

http://college.hmco.com/history/west/mosaic/chapter9/image118_large.html



The Beginnings of Empire

• By the early 15th Century, the Mexicawere powerful enough toovercome their immediate neighbors

and demand tribute fromtheir new subjects

• Under the rule of “theObsidian Serpent”Itzcoatl (1428-1440) and

Motecuzoma I(Montezuma) (1440-1469) they conqueredOaxaca in southwestMexico

Itzcoatl, the Obsidian

Serpent



Tribute

• The main objective of thetriple alliance was to exacttribute from subject people

• The annual tribute owed by

the state of Tochtepec onthe Gulf coast included

• 9,600 cloaks

• 1,600 women’s garments

• 200 loads of cacao• 16,000 rubber balls

Tribute of precious stones in

jade, serpentine, and

turquoise paid by Tochtepec



The Aztec Army

• The Aztecs had no

permanent, standing army

and they did not maintain

military garrisonsthroughout their empire

• They simply assembled

forces as needed

whenever they launched

campaigns of expansion or

punitive expeditions

Pendent in the shape of

an Aztec warrior

http://www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/aztec_L6_enl.php



Maintenance of the Empire

• The Aztec had no elaborate bureaucracy or administration

• They simply conquered their subjects and

assessed tribute, leaving local governance andthe collection of the tribute in the hands of theconquered people themselves

• The Aztecs reputation for military prowess was

usually enough to keep subject people in line dueto fear of reprisals• Contrast this technique with the other means of

maintaining order and population control



War in Aztec Society

• War benefited all segmentsof Aztec society but thereligious component was anespecially importantbeneficiary because war

produced victims for ritualsacrifice

• The Mexica believed their gods had set the world inmotion through acts of

individual sacrifice• By letting their blood flow, the

gods had given the earth themoisture it needed to bear maizeand other crops




• To propitiate the gods and

ensure the continuation of the

world, the Mexica honored

their deities through sacrificial

bloodletting

• Mexica priests regularly

performed acts of self-

sacrifice such as piercing

their earlobes or peniseswith cactus spines in honor

of the primeval acts of their

gods Aztec sacrificial knife




• Mexica warriors tookHuitzilopochtli as their patrondeity in the early 14th Century asthey subjected neighboring

peoples to their rule

• They felt that their militarysuccesses showed thatHuitzilopochtli especially favored

the Mexica and the priests of Huitzilopochtli’s cult demandedsacrificial victims to keep the war god appeased

Huitzilopochtli




• Many of the people conqueredby the Aztec warriors ended upbecoming human sacrifices toHuitzilopochtli

• The Mexica honoredHuitzilopochtli in a large templein the center of Tenochtitlan

• When the Spanishconquistadors arrived theyfound racks holding the skulls of hundreds of thousands of sacrificial victims in templesdedicated to Huitzilopochtlithroughout the Aztec empire Tzompantli Altar decorated with 240

human skulls made of stone




• After an enemy was captured, he was incapacitated witha wooden collar and taken back to Tenochtitlan for formal

presentation.




• For the Aztecs, human sacrifice was not a gruesomeform of entertainment, but a ritual essential for theworld’s survival



Aztec Warriors

• All males were consideredpotential warriors and individualsof common birth could distinguish

themselves in battle andtherefore raise their socialstanding

• For the most part, though, militaryelites came from the Mexica

aristocracy• Men of noble birth received

intensive training in militaryaffairs Clay statue of an elite

Aztec eagle warrior

http://www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/aztec_L2_enl.php



Aztec Warriors

• In the rigidly hierarchical Aztec social structure,most public honors andawards went to the militaryelite

• Accomplished warriorsreceived extensive landgrants as well as tributesfrom commoners for their support

• The most successful

warriors formed a councilwhose members selectedthe ruler, discussed publicissues, and filledgovernment positions Illustration depicting six different

levels of military achievement



Aztec Warriors

• Elite warriors ate thebest foods Aztec societyhad to offer-- turkey,pheasant, duck, deer,

boar, and rabbit-- andenjoyed luxuries such asvanilla and cacao

• Warriors were allowed towear brightly colored

cotton clothes whilecommoners had to wear coarse, burlap-likegarments

Aztec emperor personally

awarding warriors with ritual dress

and gifts taken in tribute from

foreign states



Aztec Warfare

• The Aztecs mainly fought during the dry season between

December and April

• Marching was easiest

• Post-harvest supplies were at their height

• Farm laborers were available for service

• The Aztecs marched about 12 miles a day with each army

departing on separate days or traveling by parallel routes

• There was one human porter for every two soldiers and

the Aztecs carried a total of eight days’ supply of food



Aztec Warfare

• Usually battles were fought in theopen and began at dawn with aslingshot and arrow barrage at arange of about 60 yards

• Under this cover, soldiers armedwith stone-bladed broadswordsand spears advanced

• All soldiers carried shields and

those who had earned it hadcotton quilted armor



Aztec Warfare

• As the two sidesclosed, combatbecame hand to hand

•In most cases, the Aztecs’ primaryobjective was theenemies’ submission,not their destruction,so tribute andsacrificial victims couldbe obtained

The preferred

Aztec weapon

was the

macuahuitl.

The obsidian

blades were

razor sharp

and intended

to disable an

enemy so hecould be

captured.



Aztecs Meet Their Match

• In 1519, HernanCortes led about 450soldiers to Mexicoand Tenochtitlan

• After an initialrepulse, Cortes built asmall fleet of ships,placed Tenochtitlanunder siege, and in

1521 starved the cityinto surrender

Montezuma II

Hernan

Cortes



Cortes’ Advantages

• Population density,

• Large animal domestication,

• Agriculture,

• Resistance to diseases passed

from animals and plants tohumans,

• Technological inventiveness,

• Acceptance of change and

improvement,• Literacy, and

• Centralized government• Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and

Steel



Next

• Final Exam Review

aztecs.pdf

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