...130 Individual Research Paper The Aztecs and the role of Human Sacrifice The Aztec was a culture that dominated the Valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. All the Nahua-speaking peoples in the Valley of Mexico were Aztecs, while the culture that dominated the area was Tenochca. At the time of the European conquest, they called themselves either "Tenochca" or "Toltec," which was the name assumed by the bearers of the Classic Mesoamerican culture, stated in Manuel Aguilar-Moreno’s book, Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Sadly, many of the Aztec didn't survive after the arrival of the Europeans. But during the earlier years, the Aztec became one of the most advanced civilizations because of their religion, war, and agriculture. The Aztecs gained an infamous reputation for their bloodthirsty human sacrifices with explicit tales of the beating heart being ripped from the still-conscious victims, decapitation, skinning and dismemberment. All of these things did happen but it is important to remember that for the Aztecs the act of sacrifice was a strictly ritualized process that gave the highest possible honor to the gods and was regarded as a necessity to ensure mankind’s continued prosperity. The Aztecs were not the first civilization in Mesoamerica to practice human sacrifice; human sacrifice was practiced to some extent by many peoples in Mesoamerica and around the world for many centuries. But it was the Aztec empire that really took the ritual to...
Words: 4995 - Pages: 20
...Aztec Questions and Statements - 1 Statements 1) Positive – Statement - SS 2) Positive – Statement - SS The Aztecs ruled over 500 small states and their population was over 5 to 6 million people. They expanded by conquest or commerce. Conquest is when you take over people by force. Commerce is when you take over people by negotiation/deals. The city of Tenochtitlan at its peak had over 140 000 people and the city was the most populated city in Mesoamerica. The Aztecs, the Texcobans and the Tacubans formed an alliance to conquer the Tepanecs’ city, Azcapotzalco. Tepanec is later then taken over by the Spanish to form their new colony of Cuba. 3) Positive – Statement - SS The Aztecs had a legend. The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli,...
Words: 1332 - Pages: 6
...When one thinks of the conquests where indigenous people are the losers, most assume that they were silenced by their oppressors with their culture lost in the wind. On the contrary, in Miguel Leon-Portilla’s Broken Spears, the Aztecs’ account of the events and their culture is well documented through manuscripts, codices, and written records of eyewitness accounts. The conquest is usually depicted as the Spaniards’ fight for land and resources, but Broken Spears shows that it was the Aztecs fight for the survival of their culture and way of life. Broken Spears uses written records of verbal accounts as its source on the conquest of Mexico. In the foreword, Klor de Alva addresses the quality of these sources by saying, “Eyewitness accounts of the events and sentiments...
Words: 852 - Pages: 4
...The Indigenous goals were to pass down the pre- Hispanic history, before it was conquered. They used texts and arts to leave information to what had happen, and they weren’t hard to translate. Their goals were to leave what had happen. Despite the information that was left behind, contradiction was still in play. However, the method that the indigenous used were writing texts and arts with many of their writing documents some of which were readily easy like the Mayans calendar that was left behind. Another example, the indigenous wrote a text how the Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel gave land to the Aztec after the defeat. The Indigenous did the best that they can by leaving history about the pre-Hispanic history in the Americas and by doing that that they used writing arts to do that and will forever by synonymous for arts and pottery in the early years of the Hispanic history....
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...Negative statements Positive statements When the era of Aztecs first began, life for them was very miserable, as all the best land had already been claimed and they were forced to work as slaves for other, much bigger tribes. Q1) In the Aztec society there was a hierarchy. This included the emperor, which had all the power. In theory the emperor was chosen by the gods, but was actually chosen by a group of high ranking officials. Next came the warriors, state officials and the priests. The warriors were high ranking because fighting in a war was a very celebrated activity. The state officials controlled their chosen state and they were elected by the ruling emperor. The priests were considered very important, they would perform the ritual to rip out their sacrifices hearts and recorded all of the religious events. Below them were the merchants and craftsmen; the...
Words: 806 - Pages: 4
...Conquest The Aztec civilization during its peak was the strongest civilization in the western hemisphere. When the Spaniards first came to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, they could not believe that a civilization so undeveloped in their minds could have been so culturally developed and powerful. As said by the article (Clendinnen1991:79) “the city fell to the combined forces of Cortes and an assortment of Indian “allies”. Indians had tension with the Aztecs, which was learned by the Spaniards and was taken advantage of by full force provoking internal and already existing problems that existed within the two groups of. This exploration of understanding and examining people was what the Spaniards were best at. (Clendinnen1991:66) Those internal and existing are factors to blame for the downfall of the Aztec Empire. The exploration was focused on sources that came from the period such as that of Bernal Diaz Del Castillo and Bernardino de Sahagún, along with the most notable conquistador Cortes that also had a major role to the conquest of the Aztec empire. Although many believe that the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs due to their better weaponry or the epidemic of deadly diseases, there were a great amount of factors, primarily the alliance that Cortes made with the Tlaxcala, which the Spanish used to take advantage of the Aztec people. Many historians argue that the Tlaxcala were already on the verge of a war with the Aztec people and that the Spaniards were a catalyst to...
Words: 562 - Pages: 3
...Answer the following about the Aztecs and the Conquistadors. 1. Describe the life of the Aztecs. What is Tenochtitlan? How big was that city? 2. What was sold at the Aztec market? 3. What was the main staple of the Aztec diet? 4. What were some of the reasons that Cortez wanted to conquer the Aztecs? 5. What were some of the biggest advantages the Spanish had over the Aztecs? B. Write a short composition in English comparing and contrasting Mexico City today and Mexico City of long ago (Tenochtitlan). Be sure to include: • Population (number) • The government • The ruins • Modes of transportation • Lifestyle in general C. Use the articles indicated to respond to the following questions: From Aztec-History (Ancient Aztec Religion) 1. What are some of the evidences that show how the Aztec religious beliefs permeated all of their society? Name three. 2. Out of the many gods they believed in, which one was the most important? 3. Explain what they believed about the sun and darkness. 4. What does the Bible say about worshiping many gods? Use Isaiah 65:16, Exodus 3:14, Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 28:4, and Psalms 16:4. 5. What did the Aztecs believe about an afterlife? From Aztec-History (Mexican Flag) 1. Explain the symbolism found on the Mexican flag of an eagle devouring a serpent while perched on a cactus growing out of a rock. 2. It was here they built their capital city of Tenochtitlan. What is this today? ...
Words: 440 - Pages: 2
...The Aztecs, also known as Mexicas, dominated northern Mexico all the way to the early 16th century until Hernan Cortes invaded during a Spanish conquest. Legends reveal they originated in Aztlan, somewhere in northern Mexico. In the 12th century they extended their wandering to new boundaries and settled in the central basin of Mexico roughly a century later. Refuge was found in 1325 on the islands in Lake Texcoco where the major city Tenochtitlan was founded. What is now modern-day Mexico, this city quickly flourished and was inferior to only Paris and Constantinople in population size. The fall of the Aztec empire created ripples throughout history. What was once the most prominent and powerful empire, suddenly ceased to exist, in only two years time. The tactics of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, the religious affiliation with the invasion, cultural sacrifices, and the disease and natural disaster that was brought upon the Aztecs, contributed greatly to the rapid downfall of a major world superpower. Sacrifice It is widely believed that the religious rituals of sacrifice the Aztecs participated in contributed to the decline, in multiple ways. The killing of thousands of people is detrimental to society, never beneficial. The population took a drastic hit and the civilizations established around the Aztec empire never allied because of the violent measures they took. Tlaxcala is a prime example. Many of their people had been killed and they inevitably joined the...
Words: 781 - Pages: 4
...Early civilization summary: Aztecs The Aztec people were actually from the northern part of Mexico but they left their homeland in search of a better place. This took several centuries but they eventually found the Valley of Mexico. Today this valley is located in what is now known as central Mexico. They created a writing system called glyphs. Glyphs were made up of many different symbols. When the Aztecs finally found the Valley of Mexico they found that it was already ruled by a more powerful group and were forced to build their city on the water. The Aztecs thought it would be easy to attack them, since they were on the water. They were actually protected from many attacks and soon Tenochtitlán was the most powerful in the valley....
Words: 366 - Pages: 2
...Ahmad Nourzaie Hist 2b Response #1 Aztec Awe The Aztec Empire is regarded as the greatest Mesoamerican empire of all time. Their Empire stretched for more than 80,000 square miles through what is now central and southern Mexico. Tenochtitlán was the capital city of this great Empire; and the location of the eventual fall of the Empire. Hernán Cortés was the Spanish conquistador that conquered the Aztecs during the period of 1519-1521. One of Cortés’ foot soldiers was a man by the name of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who later wrote of his experience upon entering Tenochtitlán. Díaz wrote his account many years after the events he described; in order to create a much more honest description of the conquest in response to the contemporary reiteration of the historians of his day. In his account, Díaz seemed to be very taken aback by the Aztecs; in regards to their fighting, their city, and their rituals. Díaz who although was a very firm believer in Spain’s conquest of Aztecs; had a level of respect and admiration for the Aztec. Díaz was first and foremost a soldier; he never seemed to have any second thoughts in regards to his role as a soldier, he always fought, and believed he was fighting for the right cause. Throughout Díaz’s war account; he mentions God, which illuminates the fact that beyond the monetary goal of this conquest; there was a sense of doing God’s work. “In that small platform were many more diabolical objects, trumpets great and small...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...Inca, Maya, and Aztec all lived around the same place, Mesoamerica or Middle America. Meso-america Includes Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. All 3 tribes have harsh punishments, have very unique lifestyles, and many other similarities and differences. This essay will be about the similarities and differences of all 3 tribes. The differences are their treatment of humans, and the similarities are their Religion. The inca, aztec, and maya based everything on religion. The food they ate, the clothes they wore, how they celebrated, and even how they raised their children was all guided by what they believed in. All three tribes had similar beliefs, they all believed in many gods (Polytheism). They did not only have believe in 1 god, they believed in multiple gods. They all felt that human sacrifice was the best way to appease the god if something happened, If something happened at a festival or someone broke the rules, they would sacrifice random people or sacrifice the people who did the crime. A sacrifice was never about the blood, or the organs, it was always about the gods or the sacrifice, they never wanted to kill the people, but they needed to appease the gods. They all had gods of weather, They had the sun god, moon god, rain god, and many other gods. Those are the similarities between the 3 tribes...
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...The Aztecs where very interesting people. They came to Central Mexico around 1200 A.D. They believed that the gods would send signs to tell them where the new settlement would be. The sign would be an eagle with a serpent in its mouth sitting on a large cactus. Around 1332, the eagle was spotted in what is now known as Central Mexico. The Aztecs used different building Techniques from other cultures to build their buildings and temples. Some of the temples where built to represent the two most important gods, the sun god and the rain god. The City was built in the middle of a lake called Texcoco. The rest of the town was on five islands connected to the island by land or raised roads. Instead of building roads or streets they had creeks and...
Words: 381 - Pages: 2
...How and when did the Aztec and Inca empires fall? . The Aztec and Inca names do not necessarily refer to people who inhabited the Americas but they reference the empires themselves. The empires were made up of many groups. The Aztec Empire encompassed the ethnic groups of the Acolhua, the Tepanecs and the Mexicas. The Aztec Empire was ruled by the Mexicas. The Mexicas were warriors. They built their capitol in a city called Tenochtitlan. It was located where central Mexico is today (Chasteen 28). Hernan Cortes was a Spanish leader who had a lot of experience with the indigenous people by the time he came upon the Aztec empire. The Mexica had no clued what the Spanish wanted or their intentions. After the Mexica accepted the Spanish into their land, Cortes took their leader Moctezuma hostage. Next Cortes made allies with long time Mexica enemies (a common tactic by the Europeans) and waged war on the Mexica. The Mexica also suffered from a rapidly spreading sickness which worked to Cortes advantage to decimate the Aztec Empire. The Inca Empire was located in the areas of what today makes up Columbia, Peru and Chile. It was south of the Aztec Empire and its capitol was called Cuzco. It was made up of a federation of four governments. The Chinchay Suyu , Anti Suyu, Kunti Suyu, and Qulla Suyu (Wikipedia). A distant relative of Cortes by the name of Franscisco Pizarro used similar techniques to defeat the Inca Empire. Pizarro took the Incan leader hostage and eventually killed...
Words: 440 - Pages: 2
...Jose Beltan Beltran 1 Dr. Karanovich History 100 August 2007 Mesoamerica: The land that witnessed it all, the peoples, the culture, and the conquest. The land referred to as Mesoamerica runs west from a point on the Gulf coast of Mexico above what today is the port of Tampico, then expands south to the central desert of highland Mexico, meeting the Pacific coast. On the southeast, the land extends from northwestern Honduras on the Caribbean across to the Pacific shore in El Salvador. About half of Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador are included in Meso-America. This land has great history to it, it is the land that fostered great civilizations and cultures, it is the land where great artifacts were built, where agriculture flourished to support thousands of civilians, and where a brutal and macabre conquest took place. This land witnessed it all. It is important that we understand the history of this land, because if we do, we can understand who founded its cities, who dominated this region, and what Gods influenced its peoples, and who explored it, invaded and colonized this land. It is very uncertain when we speak about the Mexica (people of Mesoamerica) people, because we know very little about them. Much of the information that has been gathered about them comes from large scale excavations, and archeological endeavors that have found ancient ruins, sculptures, temples and the like. But, the things that we...
Words: 1466 - Pages: 6
...his son, Isaac, to him. To prove his faith, Abraham attempts to. God only stops him at the last moment, impressed by Abraham’s show of devotion. Religion is something that is practiced solely out of faith. To have faith is to believe in what cannot be seen or heard, what cannot be held; a belief that is not based on proof. The bible describes the Christian god as more of a present being, but to the Aztec, their gods were spiritual. Abraham had the voice of god to tell him that sacrifice was not what he truly wished but what if there was no presence there to stop him? For the Aztec there were no voices. They had developed the idea that their purpose on earth was to appease the gods for all that they had given them, and that is life. That being said, the most logical way to repay them for the life they had given is to give it back, bringing the Aztec upon human sacrifice. The number of lives taken by their people is unknown, however what is known, is that the number is much larger would care to believe. The Aztec, as Abraham had prepared himself to do, sacrificed themselves out of devotion to the gods. The Aztec sacrifice of humans was attributed to religion, but in what aspect of religion is it said to give your own life to repay christ? (The Aztec felt worship to hundreds of gods opposed to christianity where there is but one) Legend has it the creation of the earth was not an easy task, created only to be destoyed time after time. The fifth and final creation...
Words: 1441 - Pages: 6
