A Travel Guide to the Aztecs

A Travel Guide to the Aztecs

______________________

Honor Code

1st March 2002

Submitted to: Mr. Kitch

Submitted by: Nadir Monnoo

Grade 9

Period 1

This is the 13th century and this is Nadir, from the History channel 13. This guide will show to you how fun and amazing a trip to the Aztec civilization can be, so if you ever want to visit the Aztec civilization this paper should be your travel guide. I have lived almost all my life learning about the Aztecs and working for the History channel 13. I will guide you through the Aztec civilization, how they live, their economy, food, geography, government, language, people and religion.

The Aztec empire was discovered was discovered and conquered by a conquistador known as Cortes. Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519 and at arriving he burnt all his ships, so that no one could go back. Cortes kidnapped Montezuma 1, and bribed the whole Aztec tribe. Montezuma 1 ended up dyeing and Cortes escaped. But Cortes came back and by 1527 totally finished the Aztec empire.

During the 1100s and1200s, the Aztec people were searching for a new home. "They decided to settle close to the ruins of the old city, Tula. One of the Aztec gods had told the Aztec people that there would be a sign which would show were the Aztec people should settle, and this sign was an eagle carrying a serpent."* After traveling for about two-hundred years they saw this sign. This sign was actually an eagle sitting on top of a cactus, but as they had been searching for a long time they took this as the sign. But this new place had a lot of hostile inhabitants and they were not happy with the Aztecs coming to their land. They made the Aztecs pay taxes to their king, and they treated them very badly. They ended up killing the Aztec king to gain full authority. The new king of the Aztecs joined up with the Texcoco and overcame the Tepanec Empire. After this war, the Aztecs got their first king Montezuma 1st. The Aztecs also defeated the city of Tlateclolco, which ended after a long time. In 1519, when Cortes arrived, Tenochitlian was a place where merchants and soldiers controlled a substantial amount of Meso America. The Aztec Empire started falling in 1521 when the Spaniards and their leader Cortes captured their king Montezuma and cut down their food supplies.

A person who was an Aztec needed to follow eight rules, to lead what is called an "exemplary life"*. The first was, to much sleeping can make you a dreamer so do not sleep too much. The Second rule was to be careful during traveling. Stay calm and do not keep running around because then people will call you a fool. Third was, speak normally, not too fast and not too slow, otherwise people will call you a groaner. Fourth was, do not look into another persons face. Fifth was, do not talk about the things you do not know about, do not gossip. Sixth was, when somebody calls you do not give him a chance to call you more than once otherwise you will be called lazy. Seventh was, dress nicely. Eight was, drink and eat according to your bodies need.

There were also Aztec warriors. Warriors showed the power and strength of the Aztec Empire. "These warriors were ferocious in battle and thought that war was necessary in order to keep your land intact." The warriors training started when they were young. They were taught how to use shields and spears and then they were sent to military school while still in school. The Aztec army ranking system was much different then the others. "*A warrior after capturing four enemy soldiers was increased to military societies which were either an eagle or a jaguar. The class of the warrior did not matter even a peasant could become a warrior."*

The Aztecs were polytheists. They held a lot of festivals and ceremonies which included sacrifices for their Gods. Most of these rituals and festivals were held according to their seasons. They had different ceremonies, rituals and festivals