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Once upon a time in the valley of Mexico where there was still undiscovered territory filled with land waiting to be conquered there came a group of people on the depths of starvation who stumbled by this valley and decided to lay rest there little did they know that this would be the beginning of something unique and wonderful that would be talked about for generations to come. -
during this time the early Aztecs got settled into the valley of Mexico and began to work in order to make the place feel like home although it took more than a century the fruits of labor soon payed off in later years
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During year 1325 CE was when the Aztecs starting to pick up the pace of things as they founded their first ever city known as Tenochtitlan they also began to build a temple inside the city surrounding it. The city was built on an island in what was then Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. Tenochtitlan was the name brought to honor from the priest leader tenoch. -
After Tenochtitlan is built the Aztecs make more advancements to help the city function such as causeways canals collection of goods as well as crafting of better weapons this time period is where we really can see a rise to the technology of the Aztecs showing how their years of labor is starting to kick in for the greater good.
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The Aztecs who were in desperation of food as they could not satisfy the needs of so many people began to act fast and create what is known as floating gardens. The Aztecs did not invent floating gardens but rather were the first to develop it to a large scale cultivation. Floating gardens are artificial islands that were created by interweaving reeds with stakes beneath the lake's surface, creating underwater fences.
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The leader and priest of the Aztecs known as Tenoch died of old age and the Aztecs were in desperate need of an actual leader to govern and guide the untamed city Tenochtitlan. As they were also conquered by a sister civilization known as Tepanecs who were enemies of the Aztecs putting a halt to the progress of the Aztecs, the Tepanecs also stole and benefited off the life the Aztecs created. -
On the death of Tenoch, the elders of the Mexica calpultin decided to elect a tlatoani who could secure the fledgling city's position through ties to powerful groups in the region. But soon the hopes of the empires would be answered as Acamapichtli (“handful of arrows”) was appointed to be the ruler of the Aztecs in the early 1380’s he became leader and helped make many advances for the Aztecs. -
After Acamapichtli becomes emperor the Aztecs begin to find it in their heart to rebel against the sister civilization and fully take control over the vast valley of Mexico opening up new possibilities and projects to build off of in the future of the Aztecs.
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Shortly after Acamapichtli dies there came a new emperor known as Moctezuma I who was best known for his expansion of the empire and for his building projects, including the dike across Lake Texcoco and the temple to the god Huitzilopochtli. -
The great city Tenochtitlan was flooded and destroyed leaving the Aztecs to have to spend years to repair it however it also brought a new leader in control of the empire who is known as Ahuitzotl who helped build the greatest era of the Aztecs better even before it was destroyed.
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Montezuma II succeeds his uncle Ahuitzotl becoming the 9th ruler of the Aztec empire and the Aztecs started to go out and conquer land to build up their power and army they also developed many unique cultured food and technology creating many favored dishes in Mexico that people even outside of Mexico come and visit in order to try and eat one of their unique dishes is known as maize which involved mixing corn beans and spices. -
As Aztecs started to adopt new cultures and religious beliefs they started to believe in a sun god who helped them to live .According to Aztec cosmology, the sun god Huitzilopochtli was waging a constant war against darkness, and if the darkness won, the world would end. The keep the sun moving across the sky and preserve their very lives, the Aztecs had to feed Huitzilopochtli with human hearts and blood. It was reported that in 4 days the Aztecs made 86,000 sacrifices for the sun god. -
Spanish conquistador Cortes who was ordered to take over Mexico came to invade the Aztecs. Moctezuma II did not try to defeat him as he thought Cortes was one of the gods quetzalcoatal who they offered human sacrifices for and ordered his men not to stop Cortes. Cortes received the help of a Mayan woman known as Malinzin to form alliances in order to take down the Aztec empire. -
Cortes and his men ordered the Aztecs to stop human sacrifices but after they refused Cortes orders his men to kill them as the Aztecs retaliate Moctezuma is killed in battle with the help of the alliances Cortes formed they managed to kill quite a bit of the Aztecs however the real killer of the Aztecs were a deadly disease known as smallpox. Which decimated the densely populated city of Tenochtitlan in 1520, reducing its population by 40 percent in a single year. -
The hardships and evolution the Aztecs went to soon crumbled as they were defeated by the combined effort of disease and Cortes forces however future descendants of the Aztecs carried out advancements into building the city of Mexico Cortes also died at around 1547 almost 20 years after the Aztecs crumbled and laid waste. If the Aztecs did not die however there would be no one spared from the human sacrifices they made which clouded their judgment for room to grow.