Chapter 7: The People of the Sun
Name:
In what ways do a group’s
beliefs
and
contribute to shaping a
unique identity?
The people that we call the Aztecs originally
lived in the
of
. In 1168,
Huitzilopochtli, the
of the
commanded people to go south looking for an
perched on a
. Once they found it, they should build a
great
there. The Aztecs traveled for more
than
years looking for this location. In
1325 they arrived in the
which was a
land, plentiful
of Mexico,
plain with
and a mild
. Because thousands of
people already lived there, the only land that the Aztecs could find to build
their city was a
at the end of a broad
It was at this location that they saw a screaming
sitting on a
. The Aztecs called their new home
next
.
and over the
years they transformed this island into one of the greatest
ever to have been built.
THE PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE How might
a society’s worldview influence its ability
to
to its physical
?
For the Aztecs a mountain was more than
just a
site. They also saw it as a
or
one that, through its
, brought people closer to the
The world consisted of
landscapes for the Aztecs, both the
site,
.
and the
which were closely connected to each
other. Aztec temples, built to worship their gods, were
shape of
in the
. Because their god
led them to
this site, they were determined to survive there even though it was not the
location.
1.
What effect do you think that the experience of hardship and wandering
might have had on the Aztec sense of identity?
The Power of Mountains - The Aztecs were
from invaders
because the mountains provided a sense of
. Although the
mountains provided much needed protection, they also caused
.
Because the mountains were so
, there was constant danger of
flash
. In 1500, a flood
when there was a
Tenochtitlan. Because the Aztecs did not want this to happen again, their
built an earthen
the water
across the
which controlled
around the island. Another serious issue caused by the
mountains was that they
out the clouds and this caused a lack of
. The Aztecs built an aqueduct to ensure that they would have
plenty of
water even during a
brought fresh water from underground
. The
outside of the
.
An Island Home - The mountains weren’t the only thing that gave
from their
. Lake
also provided protection. The Aztecs
built three
that linked the island to the mainland.
on them could be destroyed on purpose to help further
from
. Within
the island
hundred years the Aztecs grew from a few
people to a society of several
thousand.
Through
and hard work they became the most productive
plant
of their time. The
of food that they could grow
allowed the Aztecs to support a growing
and powerful
.
Changing the Geography - The Aztecs were very good farmers. They built
or floating
which increased the amount of
that they could use to grow
. Tenochtitlan was an
on Lake Texcoco which was only
lake in a series of
different
lakes. These lakes did not have a way for water to leave them other than
through
. This resulted in the water
becoming
or brackish and therefore
useless for
. The barrier that was built to protect
from flooding also kept the waters
around the island
and potable.
Vocabulary – Define the following terms in the space provided:
Aztec
Dike
Aqueduct
Chinampa
Artifacts
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
1.
What belief led the Aztecs to decide to settle in Tenochtitlan?
2.
Use the graphic organizer below to show how the Aztecs adapted the
physical geography found in the area of Tenochtitlan?
Geographic
Challenge
What was the Aztec Response to the Geographic
Challenge?
Mountains
Swamp
Island
3.
How has Lethbridge adapted to its physical geography? Include in your
answer how Lethbridge fulfills its transportation, agricultural and
industrial needs because of its physical geography. (3 marks)
The Sacred Landscape - How did religious
affect the
worldview of the
?
According to
, the Aztec decision about where they should
live was based on a
from their god
.
1. How Important is religion in the decisions that you make? (2 marks)
2. Name three things that have influence on the ways that teenagers make
decisions? (3marks)
1.
2.
3.
3. Do these factors influence your decisions, and how? (2marks)
Aztec Gods – The Aztecs believed that the
of their world and they looked to the gods for
Although the Aztecs had
controlled every aspect
on how to live.
gods, they believed some were
than others. By looking at how important these gods were to the Aztecs we
can
about their values and
. The Aztecs kept large
libraries of
or
about their
. Codices are important
can use to help
Spanish
in which they recorded
sources that we
what the Aztec culture
almost all of the Aztec
in. The
when they
the Aztecs. Later on there were codices made by Aztec codex-makers but
under the
of the
.
1. Which codices do you think would have more reliable information – those
created before or after the Spanish invasion? Explain why you think so
using the terms primary and secondary sources. (2 marks)
The Aztec calendar
the close
and
and
between the
as well as the connection between the
landscapes. The Aztecs had
calendar, and a
kinds of calendars: a
calendar. The sacred calendar was
days long and took exactly
years to catch up to the
calendar. The great stone calendar, which was carved in the midwas dedicated to
how it will
and shows how the world
. The Aztecs believed that there were
present one and that each had been
the
eras before the
. The first was destroyed by
, the second by
and the fourth by a
and
, the third by
. According to legend,
,
will destroy
sun. The name of the god of the fifth sun who is shown in the
centre of the calendar is
. He has his
and this means that he wants to be fed
sticking out
.
Human Sacrifice – Why did the Aztecs believe it was necessary to give the
gods human blood?(1 mark)
Killing another person as a sacrifice had a deeply
significance. It was the strongest
of their
to the gods,
since they believed that the victim’s blood
actually
gods would get
the gods. Without it the
and
and the world would come to an
Most of the people that were used for
were captured during
event called the
were
.
that
. Every fifty two years an important religious
ceremony took place.
2. What was the significance of the new fire ceremony?(1 mark)
Gods or Devils? There was a culture clash between the
Spanish because these two cultures
and the
the world very
.
3. What were the two main issues that caused the Spanish to object to the
Aztec cultural ways?(2 marks)
Tenochititlan: The Centre of the World - Aztec
philosophers believed that the Earth was a
disk divided into
middle was
,
sections. In the
the capital city of the Aztec
empire. The Aztecs believed that the
them a special place in the
. The city was also
into four
four
had given
and they symbolized the
. A square with a number of
was in the
of the city. Mountains were considered to be
because they were much closer to the
gods. It was also believed that the
and physical world came
places inside the city, temples were
or
places
of the
of a mountain was where the
. To create
in the shape of a
which represented the shape of a sacred mountain. The Great Temple was
located in the
of the square and this was considered the most
of all of the temples.
4. Why do people in our society celebrate the new year?(1 mark)
5. What activities do you or your parents participate in, to observe the arrival
of the New Year?(1 mark)
Expanding the Empire - As the Aztecs were
they had many
for their homeland
with other peoples. This resulted in them becoming
a very disciplined,
and
affected their
people. This worldview
in Tenochtitlan and how they
to other
peoples around them.
Expanding through Trade: Not only did they
their neighbors
but they also formed trading and
Aztecs took great pride in
traits were the
alliances with them. The
aspects of their character: these two
and the
.
6. If the Aztecs were so good at farming, why did they still need to trade with
the other societies?(1 mark)
7. What kinds of goods did the Aztecs still want to acquire?(6marks)
8. What two roles did the merchants have?(2 marks)
Expanding Through War – Huitzilopochtli said “
in the
shall conquer all the
. I will make you
in the
and kings of every
.” After Tenochtitlan became a
city, the Aztecs wanted to build a great
that the
arrived in
and
. By the time
the Aztecs were in control of an empire
that was larger than any other in
.
9. How were the Aztecs able to accomplish this?
A Warrior Society – As soon as a Aztec boy was
were placed in his
, a tiny shield and
. This symbolized his commitment to
the Aztec
had to
was a
in the
. The law required that every young man
. The worst thing you could call someone
.
Tribute – Explain how the Aztecs profited from the wars they fought with the
neighboring people by the practice of collecting Tribute? (2 marks)
10. Instead of money what did the Aztecs use for currency and why?(2marks)
11. Do you think that the citizens of a society should sometimes be expected
to make sacrifices to put the good of society as a whole above the needs of
an individual? Why or why not?(2 marks)
12. What kinds of sacrifices would be considered reasonable? (1 mark)
Vocabulary – Define the following terms in the space provided:
Codices / Codex
Solar Calendar
Sacred Calendar
Didactic
Compulsory
Tribute
In the space provided below fill out the information on the Aztec gods from
page 159 of the textbook
Name of God
Information
Image of God