Mr. Dorrough’s History Class

As amazing as it may sound, the Aztecs built a city in the middle of a lake. This city was called Tenochtitlan. Over time they developed a complex city with floating farms and causeways connecting the city to the main land.

The story of the founding of Tenochtitlan has has significant meaning to Mexico today. The Aztecs were a divided group of wandering tribes in the mid fourteenth century. They believed that the god Huitzilopochtli commanded that the tribes would wander without a home until they saw an eagle eating a snake while perched on a cactus. When they saw this sign they were to build a great city. The Aztecs saw the egal on a small island in lake Texcoco.

The city itself was founded in 1325. At first it wasn’t very impressive, but by 1428 the Aztec empire had become powerful, and Tenochtitlan was the most important city in all of Mesoamerica. During the reign of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world, with over 200,000 inhabitants. It was bigger than most cities in Europe.

When the Spanish come to Mexico they were surprised by the magnificence of Tenochtitlan. Unlike the cities of Europe, it was clean and “fresh.” The Aztecs washed and swept the streets daily. They used an aqueduct to bring in fresh water from the mountains so that they would not have to use the lake water for drinking. One account gives us a an insight into what Europeans thought about the city.

“And when we saw all those towns and villages built in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. These great towns . . . and buildings rising from the water, all made of stone, seemed like an enchanted vision. . . . Indeed some of our soldiers asked whether it was not all a dream . . . It was all so wonderful that I do not know how to describe this first glimpse of things never heard of, seen, or dreamed of before.”

—Written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo in The Conquest of New Spain

In class today we reviewed the Standard guide for chapter 25.

We completed the Pre Reading questions for Chapter 25 as classwork.

For homework I assigned essential question #1.

Downloads for class today:

Chapter Twenty Five Standards Guide: Daily Life in Tenochtitlan

Vocabulary Map

Picture Dictionary

Budget Vocabulary Matrix

Historians do not always have the whole story. Not everyone has written down their histories in an accurate and factual way. Sometimes we have to piece together the story through images and other sources. In class we use a mix of “Primary” sources and “Secondary” sources to get the Whole story.

This is sixteenth century drawling of Tenochtitlan that comes from a book in Mexico. It is considered a primary source because it was made close to the time of Montezuma I. It is not an accurate depiction of the city, but it gives us clues as to how people lived in Tenochtitlan at it’s height.

This is an image that comes from a Mural in Mexico City. It depicts the story of the founding of Tenochtitlan. This is a secondary source because it was made centuries after the fact. We can still use it to study history, but it is not a main source of information.

This picture is an artists rendering of Tenochtitlan. This is a modern painting that someone has made in order to give use a glimpse of what the city might have looked like.

slideshare id=337850&doc=aztec2-1207414530221206-9&w=425

The founding of Tenochtitlan lays a central role in Mexican history. The egal on the flag depicts the story the Aztecs fulfilling a prophecy to build a great city.

In class today we read 24.1 as a warm up.

After that we explored the connections between the Mexican flag and the Aztecs.

For Home Work I assigned Essential Question #3

The history of Modern Mexico can be dated back to the fourteenth century with the founding of Tenochtitlan, and the rise of the Aztec empire. The story goes like this, the Aztecs were looking for a sign from their gods to find a good place to settle. When they saw this sign they began to build their city. It became a huge city in the center of the Aztec empire. Modern day Mexico City is built around the area where Tenochtitlan was built.

In class today we read 24.1 for warm up.

We then used the Chapter Twenty Four Standards Guide to work on key terms. We used the Picture Dictionary and Budget Vocabulary Matrix to study the key terms.

For Home Work I assigned essential question # 1:

Where was the Aztec Empire located? Describe the Landscape of this region.

I am reading a book about the history of Latin America by Marshall C. Eakin.

In this book the author discusses the different phases of history that the area South of the US border.  This area is typically called “Latin America” because the Latin church, or Catholic Church, is the predominate religion.  The Spanish and Portuguese brought Catholicism with them when they invaded in the sixteenth century.   This area includes Mexico, Brazil, ,  Elsalvador, Cuba, and Chile and 20 other countries.

What are you reading?  Click over to our Class Forums and let me know.

Well, I have counted the weeks that we have left in the school year and have decided that we will not have the symposium on the Crusades next week. It is unfortunate that we have run out of time. I think that some of you would really have enjoyed studying the Crusades. If you want more information about the Crusades check out the Wikipedia article. You should look up the Children’s Crusade in particular. This crusade was led by a Teenager and ended badly. We will begin Unit Six on Monday.

Unit Six covers the civilizations of The Americas. Basically we will be studying Mesoamerica. This unit will cover the civilizations that existed in Mexico and Central America before Columbus landed in the Americas. This includes the Incas, the Mayas, and the Aztecs.