Tenochtitlan

Where It All Went Wrong?

Population

• Hernán Cortés 1519
• Montezuma met Hernán Cortés 1,000 soldiers.
• Had to leave Tenochtitlan due to poor conditions.

• 200,000 people
• 8 x 4 Miles
• Causeways
• Aqueduct
• Dike

Location

• Aztec City 1325-1521 A.D.
• Located in Lake Texcoco.
• Marshy Terrain.

What Did The Spaniards Leave Behind?

The Fall

• Rats, mice, pigs, sheep, and cattle.
• Weeds, grains, barley, and sugar cane
• Diseases.

• May 1521 Hernán Cortés returns.
• Tenochtitlan falls to the Spaniards.

Broken spears lie in the roads;

we have torn our hair in grief.

The houses are roofless now, and their walls

are red with blood.

We have pounded our hands in despair

against the adobe walls,

for our inheritance, our city, is lost and dead.

The shields of our warriors were its defense,

but they could not save it.

Chinampas

Tenochtitlan

Discussion

Even though Tenochtitlan was a Taker culture, would the city be considered sustainable?

Even without the Spaniards coming to the Americas, would Tenochtitlan still fall as rapidly?