The Aztecs first lived in Aztlan, which was somewhere in northern Mexico. It was a paradise. Their god Huitzilopochtli instructed them to leave. They had to find an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake, and settle there. They traveled the desert barbarically for 200 years. They ate fly eggs, snakes, and lizards. They wore animal skin for clothing and were called dog people because of their barbaric ways. They finally found the eagle in 1325. The land there was fertile, soggy, and uninhabited.

They settled there, and for food they ate birds and fish. They farmed chinampas which are floating gardens. They are narrow strips of land that are 300 feet long by 15 to 30 feet wide. They are almost completely surrounded by canals, were built around the city, and were tended by boat. Chinampas produced corn, squash, chili peppers, beans, and tomatoes. The Aztecs also traded with nearby areas for food.

In 1428, the Aztecs formed an alliance with two other powerful tribes. This helped to build the empire that would one day would cover the southern third of Mexico.

There were some great leaders of the Aztec civilization. Ahuitzotl was one of theses great leaders. He lived from 1486 to 1502. He was a great war leader. He saw the completion of the pyramid of the Great Temple, which he dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. Montezuma, Ahuitzotl's nephew, was also a great leader. He too was a great war leader. Under his rule, the empire reached its greatest size of twenty-five million people.

The Aztecs had four different levels of social status. Capullis were large settlements. Nobles, commoners, serfs and slaves lived in each capulli.

Commoners made up most of the population. They farmed their land, but had to farm nobles' land as well. The men worked in the fields, and the women cooked, wove cloth, and cared for children. Boys were educated at age ten. They learned Aztec religion, history, and other things. The commoners had to pay tribute to the government. They could pay either by crops, handmade objects (such as jewelry or clothing), or they could work on state projects (such as temples, canals, and dams).

Serfs made up one third of the population. They worked on land but couldn't own it. Slaves were the lowest class. They were either captives of war, criminals, or people who hadn't repaid debts. Nobles were the smallest class. They controlled other classes. Nobles could be government officials, priests, or warriors. They lived off of tribute.

Merchants traveled to bring back goods. For the nobles, they brought back colored feathers, jade, and cocoa. Merchants sold their products in marketplaces.

Religion was a big part of Aztec life. They had more than one thousand gods. The Aztecs believed in human sacrifice. As many as ten thousand people would be killed at a time. The victims of the sacrifice were usually captives of war. Killing an enemy especially pleased the gods. The Aztecs used human sacrifice to frighten their enemies and to please the gods.

The Aztecs died out when the Spanish brought smallpox to Mexico.