The Aztecs:

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The Aztecs
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• According to Aztec legend, they were advised by
  their Gods to construct their home when they
  viewed an eagle perched on a cactus.
• When they finally viewed the Eagle on the Cactus,
  they found themselves in the middle of Lake
  Texcoco, where they founded the city of
  Tenochtitlan in 1325.

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• They built Great Pyramids there that rise 60
  meters above the City.

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• With Tenochtitlan as its nucleus, the Aztecs
  expanded outward and solidified control over the
  Valley of Mexico.

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• The Aztec empire ruled over the people/territory
  it conquered in an indirect way. The Aztecs
  allowed local leaders remain in power, so long as
  they paid tribute to Tenochtitlan.
• Some people resented having to pay tribute, and
  Cortez would exploit this.

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• Cortez describe a thriving market-place culture
  in the New World. Over 60,000 people met and
  traded for Cocoa beans, Eggs, Turkeys, Rabbits,
  etc.

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• Roads were built throughout the empire for
  tribute, communication, and troop movements
• Rest areas were station approximately every 6
  miles.

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• Veneration of Huitzilopochtli, the God of the
  Sun and of War, was central to the religious,
  social and political practices of the Aztecs.
• The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice on a grand
  scale.
• For the Sun to keep moving they believed that the
  Gods needed a daily diet of human hearts and
  blood.

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• The Aztec are famous for their accurate calendars

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• The Aztec staple foods included maize, beans and
  squash to which were often added chilies and
  tomatoes. All of these foods would be brought by
  the Spanish back to Europe.
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• The Exchange between the Americas and Europe is
  known as the Columbian Exchange.

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• As literally millions of the Native Americans
  died from diseases brought by the Spanish, the
  Europeans decided that to make their newly
  acquired plantations profitable, they needed to
  find a new workforce.
• This workforce would be found in West Africa.
• Thus the Slave Trade began.
• You have heard testimony in the trial about the
  horrors of the Middle Passage

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The Triangle Trade