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The Aztecs: By Holly Boivin
Government The Aztec government was different from other government systems of that time period. It was kind of like a system of tribute, where conquered cities had to pay respect to the Aztec empire. They were better off economically in return. Also in return, the conquered cities paid money. This was how the Aztec government became so powerful. Most nobles and leaders lived in Tenochtitlan, the capital city. The most powerful leader was called the hueytlatloani, who still had to consult nobles before making decisions.
Religion Aztecs were polytheistic, meaning they worshipped many gods. A lot of their gods were nature gods. Some others represented ideas. They believed that there were 13 Heavens and 9 Hells, and you went to the best one for you once you died. The Aztecs believed that their gods needed to be given human hearts, so they sacrificed people by cutting their hearts out. It was considered an honor to be sacrificed.
Geography In its time period, the Aztec empire was one of the most powerful Mesoamerican empires. It went all the way from the Pacific Ocean to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The capital was Tenochtitlan. They had over fifteen million people living in 489 communities. They literally lived in the middle of a lake. Tenochtitlan became Mexico City, the capital of Mexico now.
Daily Life The daily life of the Aztecs was similar in some ways to life today. The husband was in charge of supporting the family, and some of the things they did during the day are farming and craftwork. Education was also very important in Aztec daily life. All of the children were taught, boys by their fathers until the age of ten, and girls sometimes went to school and sometimes stayed home and were taught by their mothers.
Housing & Shelter The Aztecs lived in houses with only a few rooms. Most commoners had just one. Only nobles had two-story homes, though. The roofs of the houses were always flat, and they could use it like and extra room in the hot weather. Adobe, a form of sun-dried brick, was used to build the houses. Stone, however, was used for pyramids and temples.
Culture The Aztecs’ culture was a combination of other cultures of their people. Pilli and macehualli were the names of the social classes. Pilli was the nobles and macehualli was the commoners. There were many other classes in their culture as well. The emperor came first, then the nobles and priests. Then there were commoners and slaves. Slaves could gain freedom by purchasing it or using another method.
Interesting Facts 1 Aztecs made hand-painted books called codices. The codices were kept in a large library in Tenochtitlan. Cortes and his army destroyed the whole library when they conquered the Aztec empire.
Interesting Facts 2 The Aztecs, to Cortes and his army’s surprise, bathed quite a lot. This startled them because Europeans didn’t bathe very often and sometimes went for days in the same clothes.
History The Aztecs’ ancestors started off on an island in Lake Texcoco. They arrived in either 1325 or 1345. According to legend, they chose a place where there was an eagle on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. This was a sign of good luck. When they named their city Tenochtitlan, they decided on that name because it meant place of the cactus.
Sources http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/southamerica/before1500/religion/aztec.htm http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-government.html http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/16-history/250-ancient-aztec.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_geography_like_on_the_Aztec_territory http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-daily-life.html
Sources (cont.) http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-homes.html http://nyupress.org/sisterstories/feathered.fir/aztec.houses.html http://www.localhistories.org/aztec.html http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-culture.html http://www.watertown.k12.ma.us/cunniff/americanhistorycentral/02indiansofnorthamerica/Interesting_Fa.html http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Aztec-Clothing
Thank you and have a nice day!~~~~~Everything else by Holly Boivin~~~~~ Design by Holly Boivin~~~~~Animations by Holly Boivin~~~~~Sound by Holly Boivin~~~~~Thank you for watchingThe Aztecs:By Holly Boivin
