Aztec Empire

HistoryMigrate from North America in 1168 to Mexico Valley where they built the capital of Tenochtitlan near Lake Texcoco. This marks the site where they had seen a sign in the form of an eagle perched on a cactus. In 1521 the Aztecs fell to Hernan Cortes, the Spanish and their allies

Territory

Home, religion and school• Houses were built of stone or brick (rich),

the poor mostly lived in huts• Babies were celebrated for the new life

in the world • All children had mandatory attendance in

school to learn behavior, engineering, building, and trade

• Ate corn, beans, squashes, potatoes, tomatoes, avocadoes, fish, rabbits, armadillos, snakes, coyotes and wild turkey

• Their religious practices were similar to that of the Mayans

Appearance• Upper class – decorated with fans and

feathers• Commoners – dressed more plan,

killed if had a fan or feather

Social Structure• Nobles had slaves• In free time:• Wrote poetry about love, war and religion • Played a ball game similar to basketball

• 20 year old men married women about age 14-15• Could marry as many as they could afford• Used matchmakers

Government• In 1428 they formed an alliance with

Texcocans and the Tacubans• They were ruled by an Emperor,

usually with military power• At its height the

empire had up to 6 million people