Aztecs

1. Topic - Chapter 25 Aztecs: Life In
Tenochtitlan
EQ: What was daily life like in this
city?

2. Marriage
• Marriage marked an
Aztec child’s entry into
adulthood.
• The marriage was
arranged, and the
process often included a
matchmaker
• In order to have the
marriage work out, the
bride’s family set a dowry
– A gift of money or goods
presented to a man or
woman upon marriage

3. Polygamy
• Aztec men were
permitted practice
polygamy
– Marriage in which a man
has more than one wife
• Divorce did exist among
Aztecs
-Aztec society supported
divorced women to
remarry

4. Family Life
• Men had higher status
than women
• Married women could
own property, sell
goods
• Men built homes and
fought wars
• Women bore and cared
for children
• Parents taught children
skills like fishing,
weaving, canoeing, and
cooking

5. Aztec Markets
• Each city within the empire
had its own market
• Different markets sold
different goods
– Armor, feathers, food, even
slaves
• Aztecs did not use money,
they used a system of
bartering (trade)
• Guards watched over
Aztec markets to be sure
transactions were honest.
Any problems were
reported to judges who sat
in the markets

6. Religious Practices
• Aztecs believed that
humans needed the gods
to survive.
• Gods could send good
harvests if pleased, or
they could send
earthquakes/floods if they
were unhappy
• People presented gods
with flowers, clothes,
corn, wood

7. The Power of Blood
• The Sun God
(Huitzilopochtli) was most
important
• Believed he was nourished
best with blood
• Every morning, hundreds of
birds were sacrificed
• People even pierced their
own skin to give their blood
to the Sun God
• They sacrificed human
warriors captured in battle
• Priests would pin a victim
down while another would
cut out the heart
• Cut off heads of women to
please goddesses

8. Analyzing the Spanish Conquest
of the Aztecs
• Montezuma ruled
Aztecs in Tenochtitlan
from 1502-1519
• He and Aztecs were
waiting for bearded
white god
Quetzalcoatl who was
believed to destroy
empire

9. Hernando Cortes: Spanish Explorer
• 1519: Cortes set out
to find and capture
city if Tenochtitlan for
GOLD
• He landed in
Veracruz, east coast
of Mexico
–Same year as the
Aztecs predicted
Quetzalcoatl would
return!

10. Journey to Tenochtitlan
• It took Cortes and men
3 months to travel from
Veracruz to Tenochtitlan
(200 miles)
– Attacked by Aztec
allies
– Other Indians who
were conquered by
Aztecs joined
Spanish to seek
revenge!

11. Cortes arrives in Tenochtitlan
• Once Cortes arrived,
Montezuma invited him in
as an honored guest
– Believed Cortes’s
victories over Aztec
allies was proof that he
was a GOD
• Cortes worried his true
identity would be
discovered! He took
Montezuma hostage for 6
months.

12. Suddenly, Cortes called to Veracruz
to settle dispute
• While gone, Aztec
priests had religious
ceremony
• Remaining Spanish
soldiers thought they
might be sacrificed!
• They attacked
unarmed priests
• Aztecs surrounded
Spaniards

13. • Cortez returned, Aztecs
attacked, Spaniards fled
city
– Montezuma killed in
battle
• 5 months later, Cortes
gathers army of 1000s
and returns to attack
• Aztecs weakened by
smallpox, still held off
army

14. • Cortes and army defeated Aztecs.
Surrounded city and cut off supply of food
and water.
• Aztecs surrendered August 21, 1521, city
was in ruins 