Topic - Chapter 25 Aztecs: Life In Tenochtitlan

EQ: What was daily life like in this city?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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.

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

• 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

• Cortes and army defeated Aztecs. Surrounded city and cut off supply of food and water.

• Aztecs surrendered August 21, 1521, city was in ruins