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Changes in social structures during Columbian exchange
Changes in social structures during Columbian exchange
Aztec indigenous people
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The Aztecs were a very advanced race. A group called “Nahuatl” people moved to northern Mexico. This group built the twin cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatclolco in the early 1500’s. At the time this empire was not termed “Aztec”, it was termed “Mexica.” The religion of the Mexicas gave them advantages over other groups in Central Mexico. The Mexicas conquered an abundance of cities in a short period of time. War came to be a way to honor the gods and acquire wealth. The Mexicas worshipped many gods and goddesses for different things. The temples, shrines, and altars were kept very clean due to the Mexicas thinking dirt was lead to disorder. The Mexica religion required constant warfare for two reasons; to meet the gods needs for human sacrifice, and to acquire warriors for the next phase of expansion.
The Mexicas wrote an abundance of books about their history, geography, and religious practices. Although they wrote all of this down, Spanish Conquerors destroyed almost all of it. The Mexicas did not have social distinctions. Most of the Mexicas were very poor, but by the sixteenth century the social standard changed. The Mexica chose their first king, Acamapichti, from the Toltec civilization. With this new king came along generals, judges, and
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This class was the working part of society, filled with ordinary citizens. The Maceualtin class made up most of the Mexica society. People who belonged to this class performed all sorts of agricultural, military, and domestic services. Army officers often called ordinary citizens to do military duty. The ordinary citizens considered this and honor and religious right other than it being a burden. Beneath the Meceualtin class were the Tlalmaitl. They were landless workers or serfs. This class provided agriculture labor and were bound to the land. Below this class were the slaves. These people were prisoners that was captured at
The religious beliefs of the Aztec’s was bloody they believed they had to make many sacrifices to appease the gods. The sacrifices were an important aspect of the Aztec religion. At the root of these interesting rituals, were the beliefs that the gods needed to be nourished by human beings. This was accomplished through human blood. They did this by a practice called bloodletting. Bloodletting is intentionally harming and drawing blood from the body. Those who were higher in status within the Aztec religion were expected to give the most blood during these Aztec rituals.
Although the Aztec civilization is a popular subject studied by the scholars, it tends to be one-dimensional: the elite and religion are the hearts of the study. The work here goes beyond that, as it tries to give us a new perspective on the “ordinary people”. The book studied here is titled Aztecs: An Interpretation, by Inga Clendinnen, first published in 1991. It studies the Aztecs people, also known as Mexicas, living in the empire that was Tenochtitlan, in the valley of Mexico. This work tries to be a reconstruction of the pre- colonial kingdom, before the arrival of the Spaniards in August 1521. Clendinnen successfully highlights how religion and sacrifices are perceived among the common people, and how they forge the lives of the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan. Nevertheless, even if she brings fascinating new elements, her lack of multiple sources puts doubt on the truth and accuracy of her statements.
Being an agriculturally dependant empire, the Aztec’s religion was based highly on the forces of nature and worshipped them as gods. The god of war, Huitzilopochtli, was the most important deity. They had many other important gods, such as Tlaloc, the god of rain, Quetzalcoatl, the god of wind and of learning, and Tenochtitlan, the sun god. The Aztecs believed in order to appease these and many other gods that they needed to perform human sacrifices. The main purpose of the great Aztec pyramids was, in fact, human sacrifices. They also believed that there were “lucky'; and “unlucky'; days for baptism and to declare war on, which were decided by a priest.
The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people that lived in the area of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. It is said that Aztecs came from a place called Aztlan. Aztlan was the Aztec's homeland, nobody knows exactly where it was, but it is believed that Aztlan lies somewhere to the north of Mexico. Some experts claim that Aztlan is a mythical place. According to Aztec legends Huitzilopochtli, their god of war and of the sun, told them to leave Aztlan and to wander until they saw an eagle on a cactus budding out of a rock and eating a snake. The Aztecs traveled many years to find the legend that Huitzilopochtli had told. They left Aztlan in the 12th century. They built their settlements in the Valley of Mexico by Lake Texcoco. There were other Indian tribes living in the area when the Aztecs arrived. The Aztecs called their settlement Tenochtitlan. By the time they settled after two centuries of voyage they called themselves by a different name, the Mexica, but the term Aztec has been used as a ...
This means that both groups had their own plan that benefits them in wars. The Aztecs reason for war was to capture enemies to sacrifice and to expand their territory. The Aztecs would conquer the surrounding peoples/groups to expand their territory. They would also capture lots of prisoners to later sacrifice to honour the gods, otherwise they believed the world would end. However, the Spanish reason for war was to earn gold and other minerals. Gold was valuable, because according to the notes, “in the Renaissance, it was thought that a country's wealth was depended on their supply of gold and silver. This indicates that wealthy countries could buy natural resources that it lacked. They could pay for wars to take other territories, while protecting their own”. Meaning that the Spanish wanted to be the most powerful. Saying that, this shows that the Spanish also wanted fame, when it comes to wars. Fame would make the Spanish famous. In other words, the Spanish would be known for being powerful with its resources, and for conquering territory. One similarity of their reasons for war, was that the Aztec and Spanish both wanted to conquer land, so they could be the most powerful in their areas. Another similarity is that the Aztecs and Spanish both wanted riches. The Aztecs wanted riches in a form of sacrificing people, and also asking for a tribute from the allies/conquered people, surrounding their empire to
A major element of Aztec life was religion, as often is in the case in ancient civilizations. The Aztecs were a polytheistic people, and they often made use of human sacrifice to please their gods. Diaz often makes reference to the blood-stained walls of the Aztec temples in his account of the conquest. In reference to the success of Cortes and his soldiers, an anci...
They were militaristic people, always ready to wage war on neighboring regions to earn and demand respect. The emperor, being a powerful king, was the one who would declare war. When Aztecs went to war it was to capture prisoners and pay tribute to their gods. Many young Aztec boys believed becoming a warrior was a glorified position and would enlist with great pride. Aztec warriors lived by the sword, and died for it. Capturing a prisoner was part of the initiation of becoming a warrior. The more prisoners the warriors caught, the more they were rewarded with land, and social rank. Similarly, Maya warriors could also move upward in rank and class through service in the military. The difference between the Aztec and the Maya military was that the Aztec military was led by their powerful emperor, whereas each Maya city-state had their own military which was led by a military leader, the halach uinic. The military leader not only controlled the city-states government but also had religious control over them. Maya city-states would fight one other for destruction of rival states, for dominance and to capture prisoners for sacrificing. The capturing of high-ranking officials were considered a priority and sacrificed immediately as supreme offerings to the gods, whereas commoners were forced into slavery, publicly humiliated, and weren 't sacrificed until one was needed. The Aztecs and the Mayas both
The Aztec people had a very polytheistic religion- worshiping over 128 different gods. Each one had its own appearance ranging from what looked to be a woman to an animal. The main gods that the Aztecs worshiped were Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc -Huitzilopochtli being the main god that they worshiped. He was supposedly the god that would make sure that the sun rose in the morning. Tlaloc was the god of new life and birth. The Aztecs held strong beliefs regarding human sacrifice. They felt that it was the best way that they could please their gods particularly their sun god- Huitzilopochtli. One thing that the Aztecs are well known for is the magnificent pyramids that they built ...
The Toltec civilization was one of the greatest Mesoamerican civilizations, prospering between 900 to 1150 CE. The Toltecs preceded the legendary Aztec civilization in Mesoamerica, who regarded them as their “great intellectual and cultural predecessors” (ancient.eu). They played a key role in maintaining the Mesoamerican culture that was passed down by several older civilizations including the Olmec, Teotihuacan, and Mayan civilizations. Much of what is known about the ancient Toltecs is derived from Aztec along with other Mesoamerican texts which document even older oral descriptions of historical events. The accuracy of these events, especially that of the Aztecan documents, has been questioned due to the tendency of the civilization to hyperbolize the feats of the Toltecs by combining historical truths with cultural myths. However, it cannot be argued that the Toltec civilization was vital in preserving the culture and ideology of the Mesoamerican region.
There has been evidence of over two hundred human sacrifices in just one general area of Mesoamerica. Not just in an area of a city – but a “building”. Many pyramids, temples, and art forms such as sculptures were made and used just for the purpose of sacrifices and blood-letting rituals. Such violent rituals are shown in art and architecture to show the effect of symbols on the humans of Ancient Mesoamerica. The question that will be uncovered is, how far did the Mesoamericans go? To what extend do symbols effect Mesoamerican art and architecture? These effects could of course lead to the stronger subjects, specifically human sacrifices. The extent of symbols on the architecture and art therefore is reflected as the extent it had on ancient Mesoamericans. It will first be evaluated how Architecture is made to reflect their beliefs on the lives of their gods. Second, how architecture and art can depict symbols will be revealed, and lastly it will be discussed how architecture and art shows the effect of symbols on ancient human lives and interactions. Finding these things will answer the research question by revealing how much effort believers would make to please their symbols, how Mesoamericans believe their gods to be, and how far they would go with tradition or rituals.
The Aztec Empire was one of the most dominant and advanced Native American tribes around their time. Originally the Aztecs were a nomadic group, traveling from place to place, but eventually they settled down and built an empire around Central Mexico. They made Tenochtitlan their capital city. This particular empire arose around 1345 BC and collapsed around 1521 AD. With the uprising of the empire, the Aztecs made significant advances in agriculture and their day to day life. This historic tribe has not only made memorable achievements, but also left major marks in history that will never be forgotten. Aztecs are widely known and remembered for their many advances.
The second class was the town slaves. They were not just domestic slaves of the common citizen, but also skilled laborers. They worked as mechanics, laborers, washwomen, etc. They, likewise, were somewhat educated. They were considered every freedman’s right hand man.
This class was the poor working class. According to the article “Child Labor in the United States” written by Robert Whaples, a large proportion of the labor workforce was made up of children: “In 1820 children aged 15 and under made up 23 percent of the manufacturing labor force of the industrializing Northeast.” That is a significant percent of the working population. According to the article “A History of Child Labor” reviewed by Milton Fried, a child could work as long as six days a week for up to 18 hours a day, and only make a dollar a week.
An ancient legend , of an eagle with a snake, landing on a lake, Texcoco was the name. They were a group, an ignorant troupe, created an empire on a swampy lake. The Aztecs are a fascinating civilization,They created a massive empire , but without the element of beliefs there would be no Aztecs . Because, that ancient legend says that the old land of the Aztecs know as Aztlan was suffering drought, so the gods sent them an eagle carrying a snake as an indicator of where to go. The eagle landed on a lake called Texcoco. They created a massive empire and called it tenochtitlan which means land of the eagle. They created new technology in their buildings, and they had an education system for every body. The first building they built was a temple. That is how important their gods were to them. The Aztecs had more than 100 Gods. There gods were based in their agricultural life, so for example they had a sun god, a rain god , and growth god. Including that they had gods that protected their rights as humans, for example they had a slave god that protected the slaves so if the slave owner abuses him he would get punished. They believed that sacrifice, and the victim’s blood nourished the gods. They pursuited human sacrifice because they thought that according to a legend that the sun god sacrificed himself and became the sun to help others, but he eventually needed help, so other gods sacrificed
The ancient religion of the Mexican Aztec’s was a complex interaction between gods and its adherents through human sacrifice, rituals, and principle beliefs. The fall of the Toltec civilization allowed for the Aztec religion to form and thrive during the 14th and 15th century. They believed the gods were powerful enough to effect everyone from the emperor right down to the slaves. Huitzilopochtli was the tribal sun god and god of war, without whom no life would exist on earth. Although often influenced by the surrounding cultures, the Aztec rituals and beliefs shaped and gave meaning to life for its adherents.