The Aztecs are the most well-know mesoamerican civilization. The Aztecs originated from a place called Aztlan located in either northern or northwestern Mexico. Then they " were a small nomadic Nahuatl-speaking aggregation of tribal peoples living on the margins of civilized Mesoamerica. " The Aztecs were greatly influenced by the Toltecs who came before them. They incorporated many of the toltecs customes into their own. They also referred to themselves as Toltecs, Mexicas or Tenochca. Sometime during the 12th century the Aztecs left the north and wandered. In the 13th century they settled in the central basin of Mexico. They found themselves repeatedly dislodged by the fighting city-states in that area. They were weak couldn't stand up for themselves. But they finally overcame the threat with the help of the powerful chief Itzcoatle and an alliance with a neighboring state. They settled in small islands in Lake Tex
In the aztec society, there are two social casts. The macehualles or "commoners" which are at the bottom and the pilli or "nobility" which are at the top. The social statuses aren't very strict since a macehualles could easily change.
The beginning of the Tenochca history is 1168. Their God Huitzilopochtli, commanded them on a journey that led them to the Valley of Mexico. They arrived therein 1228. Originally they were peaceful people, but their Chicimec ways revolted other peoples, who then banded together to crush them. In 1300 they became slaves o a town called Culhuacan. Some escaped to an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. There they founded Tenochtitlan, place of the Tenochcas. The remaining Tenchcas were driven to the island by the Culhuacan because they sacrificed one of the king's daughters. The Tenochcas slowly became a force to be reckoned with. They won their freedom under Itzacatl and began to build their city.
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