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Aztec: Aztec Empire
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The Aztec had no wheeled vehicles or draft animals, so trading goods were carried by canoe or on the backs of porters, who marched in long caravans led by merchants. In dangerous areas, Aztec warriors would protect the caravans. Merchants would often act as spies for the empire when trading in towns that had not been conquered by the Aztec.
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The cities of the Aztec empire were always wanting to make their sacrificial temple better than any other cities. They decided not to destroy the old temple, but to build over it! They made temples larger, more extravagant, and more pleasing to the eye with each new layer. In addition, the temples had more steps, more decorations, and a larger sacrificial area. (These temples look a lot like the great Egyptian pyramids except they do not have a pointed top. Instead, they have a flat top with two small compartments where the sacrifices were held) In a rare find, archaeologists found a temple which was built over six times!
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Archaeological excavations in the Aztec-ruled provinces show that incorporation into the empire had both costs and benefits for provincial peoples. On the positive side, the empire promoted commerce and trade, and exotic goods from obsidian to bronze managed to reach the houses of both commoners and nobles. Trade partners included the enemy Tarascan, a source of bronze tools and jewelry. On the negative side, imperial tribute imposed a burden on commoner households, who had to increase their work to pay their share of tribute. Nobles, on the other hand, often made out well under imperial rule because of the indirect nature of imperial organization. The empire had to rely on local kings and nobles and offered them privileges for their help in maintaining order and keeping the tribute flowing.[12]
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In the Aztec empire, some manufactured goods were produced for the ruler or sold in the local markets. These included pottery, tools, jewelry, figurines, baskets, and cloth. Other goods, especially prized luxury items such as lake salt, gold ornaments, and rich garments, were carried by traveling traders to distant peoples in the lowlands along the Gulf coast and south toward what is now Guatemala. There they were exchanged for luxury items native to those regions, such as tropical-bird feathers, jaguar skins, cotton, rubber, and cacao beans for chocolate. The Aztec had no metal coins. They used cacao beans, cotton cloth, and salt as a form of money.
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Despite the decline of the Aztec empire, most of the Mesoamerican cultures were intact after the fall of Tenochtitlan. Indeed, the freedom from Aztec domination may have been considered a positive development by most of the other cultures. The upper classes of the Aztec empire were considered noblemen by the Spaniards and generally treated as such initially. All this changed rapidly and the native population were soon forbidden to study by law, and had the status of minors
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The group that eventually founded the Aztec Empire, the Mexica, migrated to the Valley of Mexico in the middle of the 13th century. As late arrivals, the Mexica, a hunter-gatherer people, were forced by other groups in the valley to take refuge on two islands near the western shore of Lake Texcoco (one of the five lakes in the area). The Mexica believed in a certain legend, which held that they would establish a great civilization in a marshy area, where they would first see a cactus growing out of a rock with an eagle perched on the cactus. After the Mexica arrived at the swampy site on the shore of Lake Texcoco, their priests proclaimed that they had seen the promised omen. The site turned out to be a strategic location, with abundant food supplies and waterways for transportation.
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Aztec Empire