Unit 3

Lesson 2
Government
and society
empire
a group of lands and people under the control of one
government
 monarchy

● - a system of government in which one primary

person reigns or rules, usually a king or queen

primary

● of great importance; first

 Emperor
● ruler or king
● He was considered to be
Divine

Divine
● God like, or seen as a god
tribute -

● a tax that was paid in

goods or services
(included food, clothing,
precious stones,
feathers, or people)
 Government
● Aztecs maintained a unified
empire

● Aztec government was similar to

a monarchy
○ Where emperor was thought
to be like the gods

● One of the strongest empires in

the world at the time
● Aztecs had a fairly sophisticated
code of law

● Laws against stealing and property

damage

● Held court where they appointed

judges to decide if people were
guilty or not
 Activity #1
Use the following video to identify
- 4 laws that were meant to maintain
public order
- 4 punishments
- 1 way to avoid being punished
 Cities
● The Aztec Empire was made up of
city-states
● At the center of each city-state was a large
city that ruled the area
● Tenochtitlan was the capital and was built on
a lake
● Aztecs built floating islands, called chinampas,
by piling rich earth from the bottom of the
lake onto rafts made of wood
● Some of the islands were the size of football fields
● Aztecs expanded their empire and began conquering the
other people in the region
● They forced people to pay them tribute (with food,
cotton, gold, or slaves)
 Activity #2
What made the Aztec city-states
unique?
● The Aztec Emperor did not interfere
with the ruling of the city-states

● He required each city-state pay him

tribute

● As long as the tribute was paid, the

city-state remained somewhat independent
of Aztec rule
 Activity #3
The Emperor required all
people/city-states within the empire to
pay him tribute

Create a T-chart that shows the pros

and the cons of this law. Make sure to
think about it from both sides
 Activity #4
Explain why the Aztec Empire was so
strong.
 Activity #5
Compare and contrast the Maya and the Aztecs.
( Must have similarities and differences)

You must cover the following topics

1. Religion
2. Government
3. Farming
4. Cities (how were they set up?)
5. Location
6. Social Hierarchy