Aztec Government

Aztecs had some small city states each with a leader to speak for them. Those rulers were called tlatani which translated to “The Great Speaker”. What some people didn’t know about the Aztecs was that they were greedy people. All they cared about was power and soon they raged out to conquer other lands. Aztecs forced people from the conquered lands to pay them taxes for the foods provided to them. All the taxes that were paid were collected by the tax collectors. They were called the calpixque.

The rulers were not passed by family heritage, but instead they were to get chosen or elected by the nobles, priests, and warriors after each ruler’s death. The king had to be careful because most often wars happened during these periods of time. The second person in charge was a person named “woman snake”, who was actually a male. He was the person who controlled the law and order.

There were also four council men who were really rich. They were the people who divided the entire land. The people were divided into three social classes. Those classes were the nobles, merchants, peasants, and craftsmen. Slavery was a part of the Aztec way of life. Slaves had a great opportunity to buy themselves their freedom. Also, those children who were born from the slaves were declared free. Avery Aztec was a member of a calpulli, which is a group of related people. Within their clan, they would have their own government and public services.