Aztecs
             The story of the Aztecs is a remarkable one. The Aztecs managed to form an Empire from a simple hunter-gatherer group. They were fierce warriors pragmatic builders, the Aztecs ruthlessly created an empire in the fifteenth century, an empire that was only surpassed in size by the Incas in Peru. The sacrificial aspect of their religion with its sense of brutality and indifference in human life, appalled and angered the Spaniards that would later conqueror them. Modern archeology continues to show the Aztecs had many achievements. Their achievements include, the formation of a highly specialized and stratified society and imperial administration; the expanding of a trading network as well as a tribute system; the development of a sophisticated agricultural economy, carefully adjusted to the land; and the development of an intellectual and religious outlook that was in intimate contact with the earth, sky, and seasons. The year round ceremonies and their art architecture opens the door to a profound civilization.
             On February 10 1519, a Spanish expedition of many vessels sailed to the Gulf of Mexico. Hernan Cortez was following a chartered voyage set out earlier by his predecessors. Earlier explorers had come back with tales of fruits and riches. They said that their was gold beyond their wildest expectations. Cortez landed on the sandy dunes near were Veracruz in found. The Spaniards met with the Aztec emperor Motecuhzoma were they marched to the city of Tenochitlan. In the letters to Charles V vividly describes what he saw. The strange sites of Tenochitlan, built of on an island in a highland lake. There were pyramid temples, palaces and marketplaces. They also describe the spectacular ceremonies and fearsome sacrifices of an unknown alien religion. Later the accounts made by Cortez were of the leader Montecuhzoma's capture and death, the outbreak of ...