The Aztecs Test Questions – Flashcards
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What did legends say as to how the Aztecs would find the location where they would settle and build a great city?
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Legends said that when they came upon an Eagle with outstretched wings perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak, Aztecs would know they had found a place where they would settle.
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What were the Aztecs originally known as?
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The Mexica
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Which 2 prior civilizations greatly influenced the Aztecs?
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Teotihuacans and Toltecs
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When did the Teotihuacans dominate the Valley of Mexico?
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100-650 C.E.
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How large was the Pyramid of the Sun?
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more than 200 feet high
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When did the Toltecs reach their height?
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in the 10th and 11th centuries
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Where was the Toltec capital?
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Tollan
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Why did the Toltec civilization collapse?
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Outside invaders took over
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Where was the Aztec legendary homeland?
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an island in a lake to the northwest of the Valley of Mexico called Aztlan
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When the Aztecs came to the valley of mexico they were viewed as barbarians. How did they gain acceptance?
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They were fierce warriors and they were employed as mercenaries
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What god from Teotihuacan did the Aztecs adopt as their own?
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Quetzalcoatl
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Who did the Aztecs start to claim as their ancestors?
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The Toltecs
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When the Aztecs came to the Valley of Mexico, what did they name the rocky hillside where they first tried to settle?
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Chapultepec
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When the Aztecs were forced from Chapultepec, who did they become mercenaries for?
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For the city-state of Colhuacan
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Why did they have to leave Colhuacan?
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The Aztecs sacrificed the daughter of the Colhua chief (not too smart to bite the hand that feeds you huh?)
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Where did the Aztecs finally settle for good?
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Lake Texcoco
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What was the name of the city that they built on Lake Texcoco?
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Tenochitlan
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When did the Aztecs start building Tenochitlan?
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1325 C.E.
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For the first 100 years after they started building Tenochitlan, who were the Aztecs mercenaries for?
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Tepanecs
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Who was Itzcoatl?
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He was the Aztec leader who formed the Triple Alliance to fight against the oppressive Tepanecs
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What are chinampas?
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floating gardens
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who was the chief god of the Aztecs?
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Huitzilopochtli
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what was a tzompantli?
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a skull rack
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Tkaloc was Aztec god of . . . . .?
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rain
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What stood at the heart of the plaza in Teonchitlan?
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the Great Temple (Tempolo Mayor) that was 150 feet tall and could be seen for miles
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Tenochitlans main marketplace was located where?
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in the northern section of Tlatelolco
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How big was Tenochitlan after it was fully expanded?
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over 5 square miles
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what is a causeway?
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a raised road built across water or low ground
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what is a dike
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a wall or dam built to hold back water and prevent flooding
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how many causeways linked Tenochitlan to the mainland?
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3
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Explain how the Aztec Empire stayed interconnected.
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Instead of forcing conquered peoples to adopt Aztec culture, they had a loose union of hundreds of city states that were forced to pay tribute to the Aztecs.
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In what way did city-states pay tribute to the Aztecs?
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In any form possible, food, gold, stone, precious stones, soldiers, etc
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How big was the Aztec empire in the 1500s?
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it stretched from
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When the Aztecs decided to declare war, how many days did an opposing city have to accept surrender before the Aztecs would attack?
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60
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After Aztecs conquered a city, what 3 conditions did they demand were met?
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1. pay tribute. 2. honor the god Huitziopochtli, 3. promise obedience to the Aztec ruler
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What did the Aztecs call their ball game?
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tlachtli
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what was the social structure in Aztec society from top to bottom?
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1. rulers and their families 2. noble class which included government officials, priests, and high ranking warriors/military leaders, 3. commoners 4. peasants 5. slaves
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explain the rulers role in Aztec society.
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was semi divine, maintained the empire and decided when to go to war
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Was the position as ruler in Aztec society hereditary? Explain?
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Yes and no. When the emperor died a high council would elect a new ruler from the emperors family. so the new emperor was not necessarily the emperors son.
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what does tlatoani mean?
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he who speaks
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What were the roles of government officials in Aztec society?
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council the emperor, work as judges, govern the coties four districts. others worked throughout the empire ruling cities, collected tribute and erected public buildings and roads
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Roles of priests in Aztec society included what?
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educating boys for government jobs and the priesthood, conducting all religious rites, served individual gods
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Who were commoners?
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The commoners class included various smaller classes. At the top were the professional traders (pochteca), followed by artisans, and then there were farmers, fishers, laborers and servants who made up the majority.
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what was unique about pochteca?
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Membership into their class was hereditary and they could send their kids to the nobles schools
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what were duties of the pochteca?
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trade to distant lands, spied for the emperor reporting what type of tribute a city could provide
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Describe the peasants in the Aztec world.
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30% of the total population, inferior to commoners so could no be loaned land, worked for nobles
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Describe the slaves in Aztec Society.
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bottom of society, usually were POWs, law breakers, or debtors. actually had rights-could own property, goods, or other slaves. slaves did not pass their status to their children. could gain their freedom upon paying their debt, completing term of punishment, or when masters died
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At what ages did Aztec men and women marry?
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20 and 16 respectively
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Could Aztec men practice polygamy?
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Yes if he could financially support all of his wives but only one wife was considered the Primary wife. Marriages to all others did not get the same ceremonies
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Were men and women allowed to divorce?
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Yes. Men could if his wife neglected her duties at home, had a poor temper, or could not bear children. Women could if husbands abused them, deserted her, or failed to support her and her children
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What were the roles of men (commoners) in Aztec society?
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Men had higher status than women. men built homes, worked as farmers or crafts person
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What were the roles of women (commoners) in Aztec society?
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could own property and sell goods, some older women had professions such as midwifery or matchmaker. women fixed meals, tended the garden, looked after livestock, made clothes, bare and care for children. Baring children was as honorable as a man going to war.
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What were childrens roles in society?
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All children of commoners helped around the house. Girls learned how to run a home and grind maize, by seven they were learning how to weave. Boys fetched water and wood, as they got older learned how to fish and handle a canoe, by six they attended school part time (telopochcalli) where they learned military training.
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Where did the sons of nobles go to school?
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calmecac-where they learned the skills of being priests, government officials, or military commanders.
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what was the mainstay of the Aztec diet?
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maize
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what did people use as currency in Aztec society?
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people would barter, usually trading one good for another.
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how did the Aztecs feel about human sacrifice?
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They practiced it more than any other Mesoamerican group. they felt that the gods were in charge of everything in their world so keeping them happy was central to their life. the best way to appease the gods was though blood sacrifice and human blood was best.
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When did the Aztecs found Tenochitlan?
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1325
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What does Tenochitlan mean?
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place of the cactus fruit
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Under which ruler did the Aztecs reach the height of their size and power?
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Moctezuma in the early 1500s
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How much land did the Aztecs control at the height of its power?
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most of what s today central mexico and part of the coast of Guatemala
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How many people were sacrificed per year in the Aztec empire?
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as many as 7,000
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How many districts was Tenochitlan divided into?
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4
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what did Aztec artisans specialize in?
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jewelry and mosaics
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what was one of the highest forms of Aztec art?
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feather work
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how much did the Aztec Calendar stone weigh?
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25 tons
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What is the name for the Aztec Language?
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Nahuatl
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Who conquered the Aztecs?
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Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortez
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When did the Spanish expedition reach the Aztecs?
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1519
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By when did Cortez conquer Tenochitlan?
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1521
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List 4 reason why the Spanish were able to defeat the Aztecs.
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1. better weaponry and armor 2. European disease devastated the Aztecs 3. the Spanish were able to recruit thousands of indigenous that were bitter towards the Aztecs for having to pay tribute. They also had Malinche 4. The Spanish were able to use geography to their advantage closing off causeways and waterways starving out the people of Tenochitlan
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Describe the initial interaction between Cortez and Moctezuma II.
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Moctezuma believed Cortez to be the God Quetzalcoatl who was supposed to come in the same year. Moctezuma welcomed Cortez into Tenochitlan where Cortez took him prisoner. The Aztecs were enraged by this chased out the Spanish during which time Moctezuma was killed.
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Who was Malinche?
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she was a guide and interpreter for Cortez who helped the Spanish create alliances against the Aztecs
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What is a calpulli?
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it was a community of families that shared land, schools and a temple.
