The well-planned out city of Tenochtitlan was taken over by the ruthless Spanish as they destroyed the Aztec culture and civilization. The Aztec had advancements in architecture and religion before the Spanish arrived. The Spanish arrived and took over the Aztecs mercilessly killing the innocent people and destroying their culture. Before the Spanish arrived with disease in 1519 the Aztecs were a thriving culture with advanced architecture and religion.
The architectural advancements used by the Aztecs allowed for the creation of a complex city to be built on top of a lake. The Aztecs used architectural ideas to make the city of Tenochtitlan more accessible. The created causeways that connected to the mainland that allowed people to travel into the city. This architectural design was an advancement that allowed the Aztecs to work with what they had. Another architectural advancement that made the lives of the Aztecs easier were their floating gardens. “Aztecs built a series of chinampa, or floating gardens, by layering mud and plants together that were then held in place by tall posts.” These gardens allowed the Aztecs to grow crops that would supply the food for the community. The Aztecs also used architecture in their temples to the gods. They were able to create a round temple
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The europeans also brought not only disease but warfare and sacrifice along with them. They sacrificed helpless victims and killed off the population in battle. After they had killed the Aztecs and their leader they took control of the city and implemented their own rules. “The many other warnings we had received to beware of entering the city of Mexico, since they would kill us as soon as they had us inside.” This shows how the Spanish denied their rude ruling habits causing the Aztecs to revolt. The Spanish were ruthless during the battles and their advanced weaponry is how they took over the Aztec
The book Daily Life of the Aztecs: On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest written by Jacques Soustelle gives a great insight into the Aztec people and their immersive culture. This book is set in Tenochtitlan and covers the span of the Aztec civilization to their invasion by the Spanish Conquistadors. This book brilliantly discusses the Aztec civilization like never before. I hope to show the importance of Aztec religion and education to their society as a whole.
Aztecs were tribe. In Chronicler’s Account talked about Spaniards with Aztecs from 1519 to 1521.When the Spaniards arrived in Tenochtitlan, and they bought horses, guns and also smallpox that killed a lot of people there. A Text from the Chronicler’s Account saids “ at about the time that the Spaniards had fled from Mexico….there came a great sickness, a pestilence, the smallpox. It …. spread over the people with great destruction of men.” The Aztec chronicler was trying to be objective in what happened at that time. Aztec Chronicler wrote about struggled in
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
In the fertile valleys or high plateaus the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs built communities and villages practicing sedentary lifestyles. They had for the most part “permanent, intensive agriculture.” (Lane and Restall 2012) This allowed them to produce complex foods that benefitted the villages because it made them possible but it also resulted in social stratification. “Agricultural activities of the majority allowed a minority to live and work as artisans, merchants, warriors, nobles and royalty – permitting the development of writing, metallurgy, bureaucracy, and other features of high civilization.” More specifically, the Mayans were able to create the most complete of the three Mesoamerican writing systems, “one that was still used in the early sixteenth century.” (Lane and Restall 2012) They were also able to expand, but their expansion would also be their demise. Because they were so large -- filled with regional kingdoms and empires -- the Spanish were easily able to conquer
The ancient Aztecs, who most likely originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica at approximately the beginning of the 13th century. For a long time, the nomads wandered the land of Mexica, countlessly resettling into new areas in a constant search for land that was fertile and that they could call their own. Before the founding of their capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, the Aztecs had to work for various cities and small empires that were more powerful than them in order to gain military experience and come out as the dominant force in central Mexico. Through developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization, it was by the 15th century that the empire brought many of the region’s city-states under their control.
... The plague was brought over by the Spanish who where immune to the disease, but the Aztecs weren't so lucky. Many where killed over the course of seventy days, including the new King Cuitlahucs (92). Obviously this had a dramatic impact because they lost their leader. Those that remained where very weak with a milder form of the disease (93). Obviously this affected their strength to fight.
The Aztec civilization was a very complex society that was feared and known well for their various gory sacrifices done to please their many gods in their polytheistic religion. The much feared civilization began by the exile of one of the two Toltec leaders, which lead to the decline of the Toltec state that was later replaced by Mexica, or the Aztecs. According to the Aztecs, the land chosen to build their main city was chosen by the portrayal of an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. Through military might, the Aztecs managed to become the most powerful civilization in the mid-fourteenth century. They maintained their power through military might and the fear they caused other civilizations because of the human sacrifices they performed on their captured victims. In the mid-fourteenth century, the Aztecs used the method of human sacrifices to uphold fear in their neighbors by using the method year round to please the gods and ensure their survival.
The Spanish defeat of the Aztecs has been extensively criticized for many years. Religion was a motive for discovery, enabled the Spanish to enter the heart of the empire, and was used as justification for torture of the natives. The centrality of religion as a force in Spanish conquest is undeniable. Virtually all of Aztec culture was destroyed and the Spanish victory has had lasting effects for both natives and Europeans up to and including the present-day.
built on top of the ruens of Tenochtitlan which was the main city of the Aztecs. Tenochititlan was
The Rise and fall of the Aztec Empire is possibly the most important area of study in the modern world. Of all of the nomadic tribes who migrated into Mexico, the Aztecs were one of the last. At first driven away by established tribes, the Aztecs slowly began to develop an empire of immense wealth and power by the late fifteenth century. Due in large part to the accomplishments of their ruler Itzcoatl, the empire expanded to include millions of people from a number of different tribes, including the Cempoala, who would later aid the Spanish in defeating the Aztecs. Because of the "melting pot" within the empire, the Aztecs had a very diverse culture. However, this immense Aztec Empire would soon be brought to its knees by the doings of one man and his army.
The leader of the Aztecs was Montezuma the second.Their government was similar to a Monarchy.They called the leader at the time a Huey Tlatoani. The Aztec Indians had many enemies, their enemies were, Texlacans, Huaxtec, purempecha, mayans, and spanish conquistadors. They had so many enemies because they were all fighting for the same territory. They were around from 1428 to 1521.
...The last two reasons that the Aztecs were defeated had to do with the disease that the Spaniards brought with them from Europe mainly small pox and the Aztec warfare rituals. The Aztecs had never been exposed to this disease and therefore their immune systems could not beat it and it eventually claimed the lives of thousands of Indians not only the Aztecs. The Aztecs had many rituals that they performed and most of them had to do with human sacrifice and this was something unspeakable and unholy in the eyes of the Spaniards which only fueled their cause in killing them and stopping such barbaric acts. Also the Aztecs would perform rituals before declaring war which the Spaniards used to their advantage and caught them off guard with their immediate attack of Tenochtitlan. These were the most important factors that led to the eventual fall of the Aztec empire.
Hernán was the cause of the fall of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs had their own religion and it involved sacrifice. They believed that sacrificing humans were good because, without human blood, the Gods would grow sick and eventually die. After Hernán Cortés’s arrival on the coast of Mexico, they ran into a few Indigenous groups on his way to Tenochtitlan. Totonacs, Tlaxcalans, Cholulans, and Tabascan. Three out of four of those groups they fought and after defeating the Tabascan people, one of the slaves could speak Mayan, Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs), and shortly learned Spanish. Malinche helped the Spanish as an interpreter, spy, and the key to conquering the Aztecs. When Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma (Emperor of the Aztecs) allowed them in and exchange gifts. Cortés found out about their religion, traditions, and gold. He figured if they wiped them out, he’ll bring peace to Tenochtitlan and make him wealthy. Then happened a long battle of slaughtering many Aztec warriors, one by one and even place Moctezuma under house arrest in his own palace. The Europeans brought the Smallpox epidemic to Tenochtitlan and it had wiped out 25% of the Aztec population and not only that, they cut the aqueducts to the city. Finally, the Aztecs were annihilated and the Spanish tore down the city in ruins. The Aztec Empire ceased to
The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human sacrifice, which was seen by the Spanish as a disgusting act, this trigged Spanish hatred for the Aztecs. When the Spanish saw the resources that the Aztecs had, they quickly started taking advantage of the Aztecs weaknesses. The Spanish had more power; they were better equipped than the Aztecs and more advanced. The Aztecs’ leader Montecuhzoma was a weak leader, he was more of a coward, more concerned with his well being and safety than the safety of his people and kingdom so he quickly surrendered under pressure. The Spanish used surrounding enemy tribes to take over the Aztec lands, then began to massacre men, women and children. When the Aztec became angry and started to fight back, they were quickly wrecked by the diseases the Spanish ...
Temples or Pyramids, or any building that does it’s job to honour the gods. Aztecs and Egyptians had a symbolic reasoning for showing extravagant ways to show appreciation the gods that do so much for them. For social classes, this isn’t something that really changes along with ages or civilizations. Although there might be slight differences, the main focal point is that there was the people who were recognised as lower class and middle and high class. Aztecs and Egyptians both had a leader or high class person that they follow to the end. Whether for Aztecs that was priest or Egyptians a Pharaoh, no matter what, Someone had more authority than a person that was just trying to make a living by building. Appearance can come in many shapes or forms when it comes to your civilization. Though what connects them all together is that Egyptians and Aztecs cared clearly about how they appeared. Even though Egyptians took care of more makeup and accessories, Aztecs cared more hygienic by bathing twice a day. Putting them together, you see that appearance is key to when comes to a civilization. It what them all connected but also uniquely