History of the Aztec Empire :: Pre-Columbian History Culture

muniment of the Aztec EmpireThe center of the Aztec civilization was the Valley of Mexico, ahuge, oval basin about 7,500 feet above sea level. The Aztecs were formedafter the Toltec civilization occurred when hundreds of civilians cametowards Lake Texcoco. In the swamplands there was only one piece of landto farm on and it was totally surrounded by more marshes. The Aztecfamilies almosthow converted these disadvantages to a mighty imperium known asthe Aztec Empire. People say the empire was partially formed by a deeplybelieved novel. As the legend went, it said that Aztec people would make water an empire in a cloudy place where they would see an eagle eating asnake, while perched on a cactus, which was growing out of a rock in theswamplands. This is what priests claimed they precept when entering the newland. By the year 1325 their capital city was finished. They called itTenochtitlan. In the capital city, aqueducts were constructed, bridgeswere built, and chinapas were made. Chinapas were little islands formed bypilled up mud. On these chinapas Aztecs grew their food. The Aztec Empireincluded some(prenominal) cities and towns, especially in the Valley of Mexico. The primordial settlers built log rafts, then covered them with mud and plantedseeds to create roots and develop more solid land for building homes inthis marshy land. Canals were also cut out through the marsh so that atypical Aztec home had its back to a canal with a canoe tied at the door.In the early 1400s, Tenochtitlan joined with Texcoco and Tlacopan, twainother major cities in the Valley of Mexico. Tenochtitlan became the mostpowerful outgrowth of the alliance. Montezuma I ruled from 1440 to 1469 andconquered large areas to the east and to the south. Montezumas successorsexpanded the empire until it extensive between what is now Guatemala andthe Mexican State of San Luis Potosi. Montezuma II became emperor in 1502when the Aztec Empire was at the height of its power. In 1519, the Span ishexplorer Hernando Cortes arrive on the East Coast of Mexico and marchedinland to Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards were joined by many of the Indianswho were conquered and forced to pay high taxes to the emperor. Montezumadid not oppose Cortes because he feeling that he was the God Quetzalcoatl.An Aztec legend said that Quetzalcoatl was driven away by another rivalgod and had sailed across the sea and would return some day. His returnwas predicted to come in the year Ce Acatl on the Aztec Calendar.