How Did the Aztecs Build a Powerful Empire?

In the 1400’s, the Aztecs began to expand their empire greatly. The Aztec empire did not rule directly over conquered people. Aztecs made alliances with nearby city-states conquered others. According to document 1, the rule of the Aztec empire differs from other empires by, demanding tribute payments in form of food and clothing, precious stones, furs, fine woods, and slaves. Conquered people didn’t refuse to pay tributes to the Aztecs, because trade and tribute held the Aztec empire together. As the population grew, the Aztecs received even more tribute because of Spaniards. According to document 2, in this painting from the Aztec Empire Aztec ritual human sacrifice portrayed in the page of the Codex Magliabechiano. Heart-extraction was viewed as a means of liberating the istli and reuniting it with the Sun, as depicted in Codex Magliabechiano, Folio 70, wherein a victim's transformed heart flies Sunward on a trail of blood. This was created in the 16th century. Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Human sacrifices would prevent the end of the world that could happen on each cycle of 52 years. In the 1487 re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan (Pyramid of the Moon) some estimate that 80,400 prisoners were sacrificed though numbers are difficult to quantify as all obtainable Aztec texts were destroyed by Christian missionaries during the period 1528–1548. This ceremony effects on the conquered people who wanted to rebel against The Aztecs by fear, because who knows they can be next in the Human Sacrifice. Aztec society was organized much in the same as The Mayans. However, there was a key difference. According to document 3, Aztec society had advantages over Mesoamerican civilizations; all children went to school. Children learned things that would’ve helped them in their future. Other than the geographic location, an intriguing difference between the Mayans and Aztecs is their