The Aztec Empire in Mexico

Present day Mexico finds itself in a state of shambles. All one ever hears on the news is about how all the corruption and violence has thrust Mexico into a state of chaos. Being of Mexican descent and having grandparents that still live in Mexico it is tough to see and hear that Mexico is barely a step above of being a third world country. What some people might forget is that present day Mexico was once home to one of the Americas greatest civilization. When the Aztec empire was at its peak their territory stretched from what today is Central Mexico to Southern Mexico. It is important to go back and look at what made the Aztec empire one of the worlds greatest. The Aztec Empire flourished because its people came together in aspects of everyday life.

Agriculture was very important for the Aztec empire to flourish. The Aztecs had a variety of methods of doing agriculture. One of the first methods of agriculture was known to be rainfall cultivation. Rainfall cultivation was a major factor to them in there early stage of the Empire. Rainfall helped the Aztecs to grow crops where ever they wanted and the quality of the dirt or terrain did not matter. Another method that led to the success of Aztec agriculture was the construction of canal systems. The canal systems and dams helped the Aztecs to harvest on regular basis. The canal systems helped them irrigate their large fields in the valley. The last method the Aztecs implemented was the chinampas. Chinampas were areas of the land raised and were made up of mud from the lake. The land had very rich soil that the Aztecs used to grow a lot of crops all throughout the year. The main crops the Aztecs grew were maize, fruits, beans, tomatoes, and avocados. Out of all the different cr...

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...ketplaces for people to do their daily shopping. Small cities set up market places every 5 days while big cities could set up market places everyday. Some merchants set up markets everyday seeking profits. While others were farmers that went to sell some of their goods. The city Tenochtitlan was visited by thousands of people daily to buy goods. The currency for the Aztecs was pretty much beans. If someone wanted to buy something they had to give up a portion of beans. That is how it worked in the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs traded with one another as well so everything stayed within the empire. All the trading with each other helped their economy flourish which meant a strong empire.

The Aztec Empire was one of the strongest if not the strongest civilizations in the Americas. It is a testament of how a strong foundation from the ground up can result in a grand thing.