Apush Terms Chapter 1 a People and a Nation Essay examples

Throughout time, there are many instances of early civilizations accomplishing breathtaking feats that we find awe worthy even today. These cultures helped shape humanity as a whole, and paved the way for people everywhere. Of these early cultures, one of the most remarkable was undoubtedly the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica, around Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. They were an isolated group of people that thrived on farming and raised crops such as Maize, Beans, and Chili Peppers. They also Fished often and hunted Deer and other woodland creatures.

In the Aztec religion there was not only god, there were many sun-gods over many ages. In the Aztec religion there were five ages, or five suns. Each of these sages had a different Aztec sun god and each age ended in disaster. Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) was the first god to be a sun. Tezcatlipoca was the god of the night and was an enemy of Quetzalcoatl which is another god (Ancient Aztec Religion). After Tezcatlipoca was knocked by Quetzalcoatl from his exalted position, in revenge Tezcatlipoca took the form of a jaguar and destroyed the world (Aztec-History). Aztecs believe that the world was created and then destroyed with wind, and then two floods (Ancient Aztec Religion). Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent) became the next sun, but the rivalry continued, and the paw of the jaguar knocked him from the sky. The reign of the second sun god came to an end. A strong wind arose and there was great destruction on the earth. The gods next chose Tlaloc (god of rain) to be the sun. Quetzalcoatl wasn't happy and made the fire rain down, causing destruction on the earth and the end of the age. The next god of the Aztec sun goddess was Tlaloc's sister named Chalchiuhtlicue (lady of the jade skirts). Chalchiuhtlicue was chosen by Quetzacoatl to rule the sky. Chalchiuhtlicue was the goddess of water, lakes and streams. Once again the fighting of the gods caused the destruction of the world, which was again destroyed by floods. No other god wanted the job

     According to the famous legend, the Aztecs finally settled at a spot where an eagle sat upon a cactus eating a snake. This was a sign foretold by their patron god. The sign, found by the priests, finally appeared on a small island in Lake Texcoco. By 1325, on the island, the Aztecs built a temple to Huitziposhtli and began to construct the city of Tenochtitlan, the "Place of Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit." Over the next 200 years, the city slowly became one of the largest and most powerful cities of the world, and was the giant heart of the Aztecs Empire .

The Maya of Mesoamerica, along with the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, made up the high civilizations of the American Indians at the time of the Spanish conquest. Both the Aztecs and the Incas were late civilizations, between 1300-1533 AD, but the Maya of the Yucatan and Guatemala exhibited a cultural continuity spanning more than 2,000 years, 1000 BC-AD 1542. Many aspects of this culture continue yet today. The Ancient Maya in their time had actually refined writing.

The prefix "paleo" comes from the Greek adjective 'palaios' meaning “old” or “ancient.” The term Paleo Indian (Old Indian) or Paleo-americans (Old Americans) refers specifically to the small bands of nomadic people whom first populated into the Americas during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period.

The Aztecs were a ancient civilization who ruled an empire in the region of mesoamerica between 1325 A.D and 1521 . From their capital city of tenochtitlan, presently the site of modern - day Mexico City, the Aztecs had many achievements. Two things they were most know for is Agriculture and Human sacrifice, which was very unique. However, historians should emphasize the role of Human Sacrifice in Aztec culture."

The ancient Mayan civilization settled in the Yucatan Peninsula in around 900 AD. This civilizations was one of the most advanced of its times. They created their own religion, language, mathematical structure, a very precise calendar, and many other things.

The Aztecs were Mesoamerican people from the early centuries in the Americas. The home of the Aztecs was in the Valley of Mexico, they named it Tenochtitlan an island in Lake Texcoco. Before they got to Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs were from Aztlan led by chief man Tenoch. It was believed that “they were hated and rejected by all the surrounding inhabitants of the valley because they were uncivilized” (Aztec Culture). It was also believed that the chief Tenoch got a message from their God that said to lead his people to a place surrounded by Lake Texcoco and, where they saw an eagle eating a snake on a cactus that was their place for them to grow. During the next couple of years, the Aztec empire began growing into the greatest and most powerful tribe in Mexico. The Emperor who led them after Tenoch was Moctezuma II and it has also who led them to their downfall when the Spanish got to Tenochtitlan.

The Mayan civilization existed in central america from to 250-900 CE. The Mayans were located in Mesoamerica which is mondern day Central America which includes southern Mexico , Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. In the western hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Maya. The Mayans were extremetly a pre industrial society that had many achievements. Those achievements include a developed calendar, a unique number system, and most importantly their trade networks.

•Aztecs – The Aztecs were a native group centered in Mexico, and thrived between the 14th and 16th centuries. They had a huge impact on modern day through their advancement of the calendar (including leap years), and religious practices that would spread to influence other belief systems in the future.

The Aztecs had human beings for sacrificial rituals. Aztec society was based on agriculture, and influenced by religion that encircled life of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs were polytheistic and worshipped gods that represented natural forces. These sacrifices were vital to their agricultural economy. All of the sacrifices were at a giant stone pyramids topped by temples where sacrifices were provided the gods. Human sacrifice played an important role to the indigenous tribes in the central Mexico. However, the Aztecs brought human sacrifice to excessive deaths that had never been practiced before. The Mexica Indians and other indigenous tribes believed it was necessary to constantly gratify the gods through human sacrifice. They performed this ritual spilling the blood of human beings onto the ground. The priests believed it was a way paying tribute to the gods for the weather, and good crops. If the blood flowed, then the sun would rise each morning. This would allow the crops would grow, and the gods would provide perfect weather for the

The Aztecs settled in the Valley of Mexico in 1250 c.e. They were forced to build on an island that was in the middle of a swamp. With water all around it should've been easy to attack the Aztecs. But the water protected the island and made it easier to get water for drinking and crops. Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec empire. Tenochtitlan had many temples, that were dedicated to their gods. There were many waterways that were used for trading goods and transporting people. More than 200,000 people lived in Tenochtitlan. There were three main groups in the Aztec society. The Macehualtin

Tenochtitlan was built on a lake island called Aztlan and over the lake, the Aztecs built fertile, floating farms called “Chinampas”.The people who inhabited the Aztlan Island were originally called the Mexica people. The name Aztec is derived from the name of the Island. However primitive this empire may seem, the Emperors were quite affluent. They had lavish possessions

The religion of the Aztecs was made up of mainly three gods: Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Below these three main gods were four creating gods. Below these four gods were many other gods, however the most important were Tlaloc, the rain god, Chalchihuitlicue, the god of growth and Xipe, the god of spring. The main thing that captures the attention of Aztec religion is their human sacrifice made to the different gods. Although human sacrifice was practiced around Mesoamerica, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice in a large scale never seen before to date. The idea of human sacrifice was that Gods gave things to humans like food, rain, wealth, and other goods only if they were given human beings in return. The Aztecs believed that the goods liked best the living hearths of sacrificed captives. If the captive was a well skilled soldier and very brave then the Gods would return better goods to his people. This idea lead to wars were the Aztecs fought with other indians and capture their bravest men for sacrifice. As we can imagine,

The Mayan people occupied the southern portion of Mesoamerica from 1800 BC to 1500 AD during which they grew into one of the most advanced civilizations, constructing massive temples, pyramids, and sculptures centered around the central theme of astronomy. The Mayans were the only pre-Hispanic civilization in Mesoamerica with a well developed culture, advanced written language, and understanding of advanced architecture, mathematics, and