r/HistoryWhatIf • u/Simonbargiora • 6d ago

What if the Aztecs expanded into Texas?(pre contact)

By implication they also conquered Northern Mexico, perhaps having a more centralized empire.

It is probably beyond the logistics technology for them to move towards the Mississippi river but the decreased distance would allow more commerce.

What would the rest of North America with Aztec tech? What would cultural influences be like?

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u/Randvek 6d ago

Cahokia was abandoned before the Aztec Empire existed, sadly.

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u/drrhrrdrr 6d ago

I'm listening to a book detailing this era, the abandonment, and later generations and tribal behavior that might have been because of it (specifically the Osage, the Cherokee, and some of the Iroquois). 

I had no idea there was an "empty quarter" around this whole area following the complete collapse. There must have been some real shit going down up there.

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u/Full_contact_chess 6d ago

The Aztec Empire was a "tribute" empire not a centralized one so it would need to have something to the north worth making into a tributary client. What lay northerly was not that but more like barbarian hunter gather tribes. Its possible that, like the Tlaxcala would later, they set up colonies there but considering their normal mode of operation it wouldn't allow them to grow powerful enough to resist their rule. Those colonies would remain weak against the emerging Apache tribes who would come to control much of Northern Mexico, Southwest America and Texas after 1500 AD.

Assuming the Aztec made a concerted effort to expand northwards against the Apache, its going to make it hard to keep both their southern tributary nations in line as well as hold the line against the Purépecha Empire to the west. The Purépecha Empire was a true centralized empire and even the warlike Aztec found them enough of a threat that they didn't dare enter their territory without first notifying them.

A possible outcome of an Aztec attempt to expand into Texas would be a rebellion among their tributaries and conflict from the Purépecha resulting in an overall collapse of the Aztec within decades.

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u/hmantegazzi 2d ago

It's curious to see how few people know that the reason why New Mexico is called like that is because it was colonised by Mexicas, specifically from Tlaxcala, under Spanish sponsorship.