Aztec Sacrifice was One of the Main Parts of their Religion

Aztec Struggles

There were many components to the decline of the Aztecs.
•Smallpox had killed up to seventy percent of the population
•Were unprepared
•It was harvest time so had a small army
•Takes up to two months to mobilize an army
•The Spanish weapons were better
•The death of their emperors
•No one to control them

Aztec Weapons

A type of Aztec weapon was the classic bow and arrow. It would be about five feet long, the bowstrings were made out of animal sinew or hide, and the arrows were made of obsidian. Also, there was the Aztec darts, which were thrown from an atlatl. The last Aztec weapon is the rock thrown from a sling. The Spanish had actually said that this weapon had given them the most trouble; even more than shock weapons. A shock weapon was the weapon Aztec used for close combat and was their most deadly weapon. Some shock weapons were a spear and a wooden sword with cutting edges made of flint or obsidian. Although, the Aztecs had good weapons the Spanish weapons were better

Aztec Strategies

• built chinampas (floating gardens)
• Extracted salt from salt water to make fresh
• built dikes that ran through city
  
• built canals that ran throught city
• raised land to make pathways
• connected islands to the mainland
  

How the Aztecs became a Striving Civilization

At first, there were a group of people called the Mexicas who had lived on a land called Aztlan. The Mexicas had gotten and order from their sun/war god Huitzilpotchli to leave their land. The Aztecs had traveled many miles until they had thought they had seen the sign from Huitzilpotcli. It was a sign on an island, the sign was a eagle perched on a rock with a snake in its mouth. Once the Mexicas saw this scene they new it was the place to stay. Since that moment on,they became one of the greatest Mesoamerican civilizations of all time.

Aztec Conquest

In 1517, the Hernando Cortes was on a mission in he Yucatan Peninsula and had heard of an amazing civilization and sought to find and conquer it! Cortes took 600 soldiers and was determined. When the Spanish arrived in Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs were stunned and thought they were gods. Unfortunately, the Aztecs were wrong and Cortes, being a very sneaky and clever man, was making allies with the Aztecs enemies while pretending to be friends with them. When the Aztecs figured out about what Cortes was really here to do, they had set up a revolt. The Spanish had fled but they came back even stronger, and the Aztecs were weaker due to disease. In the end, 5he Spanish had won due to the leadership of Cortes, the Spanish weapons, and Aztec struggles.