ms. fuselier's 5th grade social studies aztec civilization presentation
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Ms. Fuselier's 5th Grade Social Studies Aztec Civilization Presentation. Ancient Civilizations. PowerPoint Presentation, Education, Social Studies, 5th GradeTRANSCRIPT
Aztecs
Aztecs• Lake Texcoco in Central
Mexico
• Tenochtitlan (capital) on a swampy island
• canals linking parts of the city
• surrounded by mountains (cool climate)
Aztec Architecture
• used grass and mud to build houses
• built roads called causeways
• built stone & brick sculptures, palaces, temples & government storehouses
Aztec Language• glyphs / pictograms
(pictures)
• codices (book with pages made from tree bark)
Aztec Leisure Activities• patolli (patole) a
board game
• art, writing, music and dancing
Aztec Scientific
Knowledge• chinampas (floating gardens)
• accurate calendar
• medicine based on spiritual & herbal healing
Aztec Religious Beliefs• priests offered human
sacrifices to make their crops grow and to save the universe
• most gods represented forces of nature (sun, corn, water, fire, mother, etc)
corn
water
rainsun
Aztec Government• emperor ruled (nobles and priests helped)
• Fierce warriors defended the empire and conquered and forced others to work as their slaves
• had to pay tribute (a kind of tax) to the government in goods or services
• war and tribute gained territory & economic power
Aztec Economic Activities• tribute to the government in goods
or services (jewelry, clothes, crops or working on projects)
• manufacturing and trade
• mostly based on agriculture
Harvesting wheat
Aztec market
A strong system of laws governed the economic operations of the Aztec Empire. The main sources of income for the empire were tribute and taxation. The conquered regions paid tribute to the emperor and the Aztec citizenry paid taxes (with the exception of priests, nobles, minors, orphans, invalids, and beggars). Merchants paid taxes on the goods that they sold, artisans paid taxes based on the value of their services, and barrios paid taxes through the crops that they produced. Failure to pay taxes was punishable through slavery or the confiscation of property.
Tribute System
The city of Tenochtitlan at the height of its glory and power
Aztec Downfall In 1519, a Spanish conquistador or explorer named Hernándo Cortés heard of the gold and great wealth of the Aztecs. He sailed with about 500 soldiers, some horses, and a few cannons to the area where they lived. Along with 10,000 Indian allies, Cortés attacked the Aztec capital. They took the last emperor, Montezuma, prisoner and later killed him. In the summer of 1521, the Aztecs were defeated.
What else did you learn about the Aztecs?