Fresh Produce with a Side of Conquest

892 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ancient Aztec civilization

If one takes the time to read and learn about the world's greatest empires that have ruled throughout history, one will notice they all have certain characteristics in common. For example, they have all had formidable militaries, beautiful architecture, and strong leaders. They also all have had flourishing economies. One of these great empires were the Ancient Aztecs, who like the others, had the flourishing economy. The Aztecs dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries ("Aztec"). It is important to analyze how the Aztecs created such an economically strong empire, because it is the same blue print that has been followed by countless power houses before and after the Aztecs. The Aztecs strong economy resulted in a dominant empire.
One of the reasons the Aztecs had such a dominant empire was in huge part due to their agricultural driven economy. It was the Aztecs agricultural innovations that really stimulated crop production, which in turn stimulated their economy. One of the first methods of agriculture was known to be rainfall cultivation. Rainfall helped the Aztecs grow crops where ever they wanted. The quality of the dirt or terrain did not matter. Being able to sow crops in all terrains meant that there would be an abundance at all times. Rainfall cultivation was their method of choice in the early stages of the Empire ("Aztec"). A method such as rain cultivation surely helped upstart that empire. Another method that led to the success of Aztec's strong empire was the construction of canal systems and dams. The dams were used to divert water to their fields. The canal systems and dams helped the Aztecs harvest on regular basis. The canal systems helped them irrigate their large fields in...

... middle of paper ...

...h the Aztecs limiting communication, the conquered states were forced to trade with Aztecs. Having a strong economy allowed the empire to expand and it reached as far south as Chiapas and Guatemala and spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans ("Aztecs"). The Aztec economy was strong because of them conquering everything around them.
There have been many great empires through out history. One of those being the Aztec empire. The Aztecs strong economy was what fueled the strong empire. When you have a huge agricultural economy and currency flowing through the empire, the sky is the limit.

Works Cited

Wikipedia contributors. "Aztec." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Encyclopedia, 4 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.

Carrasco, David, and Scott Sessions. Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Broken Spears by Miguel Leon-Portilla

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    "The Broken Spears" by Miguel Leon-Portilla gives a different perspective on the defeat of the Aztecs. Through reasons such as religion and culture beliefs, the Spanish technological advancement, and their strategy of gaining alliances in the new land contributed to the defeat of the Aztecs. The two factors that played the biggest roles were the poor leadership of Motechuhzoma and the timing of the plague. Those two factors were indeed what brought down this great Empire.

    Read More

  • Aztecsinga Clendinnen

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inga Clendinnen's Aztecs:An Interpretation is an outstanding book dealing with investigations into how the Mexica peoples may have veiwed the world in which they lived. From the daily life of a commoner to the explosively, awe inspiring lives of the priests and warriors. Clendinnen has used thoughtful insights and a fresh perspective that will have general readers and specialist readers alike engaged in a powerful and elegantly written interpretation that is hard to put down without reflection upon this lost culture.

    Read More

  • Huitzilopochtli Rituals and Modern Concheros

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Aztecs were a large group of Indian tribes.They were originally migratory and as they migrated they assimilatated other tribes. Through this process they joined together and became rich in civilization. The tribes the comprised the Aztecs were the Toltect whom the Chichimec [Aztecs] conquered in the early 1300's A.D. The Toltect embarked on conquests, which resulted in the Aztecs becoming a dominate civilization of their time.(1) Their migratory pattern stopped on the southwestern border of Lake Texcoco as they discovered an eagle sitting on the stem of a cactus, holding a serpent in his talons with his wings open to the sun. This as an omen from the gods.(4) The Aztecs finally settled in central Mexico, where Mexico City is now located, and began building Tenochtitlan in 1325. Over time the civilization's control spanned from Tenochtitlan east to the Gulf of Mexico and south to Guatemala.(1)

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Aztec And Spanish Empires

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Incan Empire was older than the Aztec empire and included over five million people before the Spanish arrived. The strength of the empire was impressive considering most of the empire's terrain was mountainous and they had only llamas and people to transport goods. One of the systems that the Incas had in place that allowed their road systems to flourish was that every young poor male had to work for their government building villages, roads, etc. After the Spanish arrived, many Incas died from disease. It is believed that the similarities between the Spanish religious and political systems and the Mesoamerican political/religious systems allowed for an easier takeover of the empires for the Spanish. The Spanish had originally come to the "New World" in search of gold and they found little of it, however, they found a surplus of silver, especially in the mountain practically made of silver in Peru. The responsibility of mining for the silver fell to the natives, despite the mercury poisoning and the deadly conditions in the mines. Spain did eventually become rich from the silver, but inflation and the cost of their wars left them damaged. China had also suffered inflation after they developed paper money and they changed their tax system to require that taxes be paid in silver, which meant their people gave up agricultural jobs for jobs that usually involved silk (which paid in

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Aztec Culture

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    Back in the time of the Aztec their culture was very different but also similar from our now. For instence they belived in human sacrifice and also there was only a few different jobs that you could make a living through. . There are four major jobs in their society,which are being a priest,tradesmen,warrior or in your a women you would more often then not work hard in the houses learning how to weave and make clothes.

    Read More

  • The History and Culture of the Aztec Empire

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Aztecs and Incas

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both the Aztec and Incan civilizations used trade, tribute, redistribution of goods, and agriculture to balance out their economy. However, the Aztecs had a more mixed organization, the use of more than one functions, used trade markets, and had a merchant class, unlike the opposing Incan economy. The Aztecs were more engaged with trade than the Incans, shown with the trade markets at Tlatelolco. Tlatelolco was a trade market controlled by the merchant class, or Pochteca and the development of currency was put in place using beans and or gold dust. On the other hand, the Incans did not have trade markets due to their trade being more informal, along with no merchant class or currency. To help specifically long distance trade, advanced road systems were put in place as way stations. Both civilizations used tribute and was an important aspect to the economic organization, but the Aztecs collected goods and the Incans collected labor, mita. ...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Spanish And Aztecs

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Spanish and Aztecs were both, very powerful and rich empires. They both were immensely successful. The Aztecs, originally known as the Mexica, was a group of people who lived in Tenochtitlan, now know as Mexico City. They believed that the gods controlled the world, and that they worshipped them by sacrificing. If the gods were not fed blood, the believed that the world would end. The Aztecs became one of the greatest cities in the world. On the other hand, the Spanish lived in the west of Europe, converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish wanted to explore, to conquer and by doing that, they could get rich. They were both powerful in their own areas. The Spanish soon were exploring and came across the Aztecs. The Spanish were seeking

    Read More

  • The Role of Religion in "The Conquest of New Spain"

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Native Americans - Aztecs and Indians

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Two of the biggest and greatest civilization in the Americas were the Aztecs and Incas. These two civilization were both said to be conquered by the Spanish, but it wasn’t just the Spanish who conquered them. These two civilizations both fell from a combination of a weak government, lack of technology, new disease introduced by the invaders, and not being prepared for the invaders. For many centuries the Aztec civilization revolved around a ideological, social, and political system in which expansion was the cornerstone. Expansion was the cornerstone of their whole civilization, because their religion requested that a large number of human sacrifices where to be made to the gods.

    Read More

  • The Aztec Empire in Mexico

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    Agriculture was very important for the Aztec empire to flourish. The Aztecs had a variety of methods of doing agriculture. One of the first methods of agriculture was known to be rainfall cultivation. Rainfall cultivation was a major factor to them in there early stage of the Empire. Rainfall helped the Aztecs to grow crops where ever they wanted and the quality of the dirt or terrain did not matter. Another method that led to the success of Aztec agriculture was the construction of canal systems. The canal systems and dams helped the Aztecs to harvest on regular basis. The canal systems helped them irrigate their large fields in the valley. The last method the Aztecs implemented was the chinampas. Chinampas were areas of the land raised and were made up of mud from the lake. The land had very rich soil that the Aztecs used to grow a lot of crops all throughout the year. The main crops the Aztecs grew were maize, fruits, beans, tomatoes, and avocados. Out of all the different cr...

    Read More

  • The Aztec Human Sacrifices

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    Callery, Sean. The Dark History of the Aztec Empire. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2011. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Scholars Woodrow Wilson International Center for. “The Mystery of Aztec Sacrifices.”

    Read More

  • Dbq On The Aztecs

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    August 13th, 1521 marked the end of a diabolical, yet genius group of leaders. They were referred to as the Aztecs. They were an extremely advanced ancient civilization. The Aztec’s were overthrown by the Spanish, yet we still haven’t forgotten the Aztecs. But since their culture was so complex it’s hard to know what is the most necessary thing to study when it comes to them, especially when their were so many things that defined their culture. The Aztecs were highly religious and believed in human sacrifice. They also had a complex method of farming called chinampas. This grew an extremely large amount of food per year by using canals. This was extremely successful because of how complex it was. When asked if historians should emphasize agriculture

    Read More

  • Victors and Vanquished

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the principle themes in the Aztec downfall was the immense greed of the Europeans. The principle goal of every major faction in Europe was to gain power and wealth it didn’t matter from what source. Everyone from popes and kings to the lowly soldier envisioned rivers of gold and fame. Ever since they had boats Europeans have been looking for lucrative trade routes and other ways to turn a profit. The ruling monarchs of these countries contributed a great deal to this. They saw vast profits from these ventures through taxes and the customary “ Royal Fifth” which was a fifth of all profits would go straight to the King and/or Queen. Also royalty or other nobility within the country personally funded a large majority of explorations. Trading and exploration companies just helped push the trend further and made the exploitation of newly discovered lands big business. While greed was defiantly a starting point for Cortez’s expedition, it was his greed while in Central Mexico that changed the tide of history. Cortez’s first encounters with the natives in Central...

    Read More

  • The Aztec Empire

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    Who were the Aztecs? Why were they considered to be an empire even greater than the Romans? And how was Hernan Cortes able to defeat them? These are some of the questions that people ask about these indigenous people. These people are known as the Aztecs but originally called themselves Mexica. They came to Mexico in the early thirteenth century and from there they started to develop a social structure and government consisting of priests, kings, peasants, and soldiers. Besides having a very organized society the Aztecs had a very large and intimidating army consisting of full time soldiers and peasants. By 1427 A.D. the Aztec empire became the dominant group and controlled most of central Mexico. Considering how advanced and large the Aztec culture and society were makes me believe that they were aware of other people outside of their civilization. A clear example would be that they knew of neighboring tribes other than their own that they went to war with and conquered. Although I do believe that the Aztecs were caught off guard and even amazed when they saw the light skinned Spaniards. I also believe that Cortes wasn’t the first outsider to make contact with the Aztecs but I do believe he was the first light skinned person to make contact with them because of Moctezumas reaction to Cortes description. Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs with less than 1000 soldiers and a handful of horses. Some reasons that have to do with the Aztecs fall from power are the Prophecy of Quetzalcoatle, their Emperor Moctezuma, enemy tribes, disadvantages in technology, their omens, disease, and lastly their warfare rituals.

    Read More

More about Fresh Produce with a Side of Conquest

Open Document