Aztecs: History of the
People
The Aztecs originated from the Nahua
peoples who began to migrate to Mesoamerica from northern México in the 6th
century. The Nahua peoples began
populating central México and established their beliefs and culture in that
area.
The true origin of the Méxicas, origin
of the Aztecs, is unknown to this day.
According to Aztec legends, the place of origin was Aztlán, somewhere to
the north of the Valley of México. Based
on these tales, historians seem to have located the place of settlement of the
Méxicas was in modern-day Chapultepec during the early 12th
century. According to the legend, the
Méxicas were conquered by the Tepanecs. The Tepanecs allowed them to resettle in the
barren lands of Tizapan. According
to Aztec legend, in 1323, the Mexicas were shown a vision of an eagle perched
on a prickly bear cactus, eating a snake. This vision indicated that this was
the location where they were to build their home. Eventually they got to a swampy land where
they found the eagle on the cactus and they built a city there, a city by the
name of Tenochtitlan. This is not a
fact, it is based on the tales told by the Aztecs and they are not very
reliable.
For
a fact we do know that the Aztecs expanded and thrived as an empire. Tenochtitlan,
Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed an alliance which would dominate the Valley of
Mexico for the next 100 years and extend its power to both the Gulf of México and the Pacific shore.
Over this period, Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the
alliance.
The
empire reached its height during Ahuitzol’s reign in 1486–1502. His successor, Motehcuzōma Xocoyotzin, better
known and Moctesuma II, had been Hueyi Tlatoani for 17 years when the
Spaniatds, led by Hernan Cortez, landed on the Gulf Coast in the spring of
1519. The Spaniards came to conquer the
Aztecs and drive them out of their land. The Spaniards and their allies were
not exactly welcomed in the city of the Aztecs and they had long been planning
to drive them out. In June 1520, hostilities broke out, all of which caused the
massacre in the Main temple and the death of Moctezuma II. The Spaniards fled
the town on July 1, a date known to the Spanish even to this day as “La Noche
Triste”, the sad night; this name was given because it represented the defeat
of the most powerful nation of the time.
In 1521, the Spaniards came back and sieged the city of
Tenochtitlan. The battle ended on August
13 as a result of the destruction of the city.
Despite the decline of the Aztec
empire, most of the Mesoamerican cultures were intact after the fall of Tenochtitlan,
which is surprising since it was the most important city in Mesoamerica.
In
the history of most ancient civilizations we see a pattern of events, which is
consistent with each civilization. We
see a beginning or declaration of the nation or empire, followed by a neutral
period, then its golden age, and it slowly falls from that point. The Aztec civilization is not an exception to
this pattern of events. Like most great
ancient civilizations, the Aztecs were defeated and the result is the end of
the culture itself, yet some people still carry Aztec blood.
This
picture shows how some parts of the Aztec civilization did not disappear, they
just evolved into Méxican culture.
This
is the geographic location of what was the Aztec empire; it was located on the
southern part of what is now known as México.
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