Aztec Empire Research Paper

The Aztec were a powerful group but did not have an imperialistic worldview like the Spanish. The Spanish expanded their empire and travelled across to the America’s. Here they explored and conquered many groups of people. As they fought the Spanish army grew with more slaves being taken in. This was very different from the Aztec people who fought only for control. They were not focused on expanding their religion and allowed conquered areas to keep their religion and way of life. They did not take slaves and used the captured men for human sacrifice. The Aztec thought that sacrifice would keep their gods happy and increased the amount of before they were conquered. Thus the Aztec worldview was based on religion and the gods. The Aztec and Spanish worldviews were different. The Aztec respected their gods and only conquered land to not be destroyed while the Spanish conquered land to expand their empire. These factors helped contribute to the fall of the powerful Aztec

The Aztecs were one of the last tribes to arrive in Mexico, in 1195 CE, when they arrived in the Valley of Mexico other tribes had taken the best land so the Aztecs were left with the swampy shores. They soon adapted and began to conquer their neighboring tribes. They continued to expand until they had their very own empire. The empire continued to thrive, until the Spanish arrived and had a fixed mind set on wanting the empires region of land.

The Aztecs, the people of the sun, people of reason and the people of knowledge. The Aztecs knew the land; they were one with the earth using the stars for direction and time telling and the earth as a producer of life. The universe was sacred, it was to be preserved, treated and used as a source of life because for the Aztecs the sun was life, they are the people of the sun. Conquering was very important to the Aztecs; they were warriors, strong ones who trained their men at a young age to protect what they have constructed. The Aztecs were led by a king, the king loved his people and was a divine ruler who was sent by their gods, one of which is Huitzilopochtli who is mentioned numerous times throughout the

They believed that the sun would not rise each day without the offering of blood (Gleeson, Matthew).The most important part of the Aztec religious life was the role of human sacrifice. The Mayan priests would nourish the gods with their blood caused by piercing their tongues, ears, extremities, or genitals. Sacrifice had other practices like prayer, offerings of food, sports, and even dramas. The heart was the most sacred body part that the Aztec offered to the gods (Forgotten Empires: The Aztec Empire | Discovery History Documentary). The Aztecs developed the idea that gods were nourished better by living hearts of captives. If the captive was brave, the better the sacrifice. Aztecs thought their gods would turn against them if they were not given human sacrifices. This belief led to many wars to find victims both captured in war and those paid to the Aztecs as tribute by the people who were conquered. Human sacrifices were made to make the sun rise the next day. They believed that if the sun god were not fed human hearts and blood the sun would not rise and the world would end in disaster. The Aztecs believed that their special purpose in life was to delay that destruction. They sacrificed to the gods to avoid destruction for as long as possible. On God's Feast Day, slaves were killed for the gods. The most brutal sacrifices were those

Pre-Columbian Aztec Tribe was a very complex and hierarchical society that settled among the Aztecs of central Mexico in the times prior to the Spanish seize of Mexico. It was erected on the cultural bases of the bigger area of Mesoamerica. The culture was structured into self-governing city-states, called altepetls, which had smaller divisions. These city-states were further composed of one or more large kinship cluster (History.com). Nobles and commoners were the most fundamental social division in the Aztec empire. Noblemen were given more privileges that were not shared by the commoners most significantly the right to get protection from commoners on their land. The common individuals were exempted to own and cultivate land and to handle their possessions, while yet accomplishing the requirements of the lords and their calpulli, such as protection payment and military help. Nevertheless, at the same time were given some privileges equal to those of the lesser nobleness. During the rise of an Aztec empire, there were so many problems that the community experienced to conquer other lands and survive. This article illustrates some of the main problems that the Aztec tribe experienced. Among them are diseases, feeding a large population, ritual sacrifices, political problems through rivalry and prejudice and technological problems.

     The Aztecs were an American Indian people who ruled a mighty empire in Mexico from the 1400's to the 1500's. The Aztecs had one of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas and built cities as large as any in Europe at that time. They also practiced a remarkable religion that affected every part of their lives and featured human sacrifice. The Aztecs built towering temples, created huge sculptures, and held impressive ceremonies all for the purpose of worshipping their gods. The Spaniards destroyed their magnificent empire in the year 1521, but the Aztecs left a lasting mark on Mexican life and culture .

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 great Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlán was overpowered and taken by Hernán Cortés. When the empire fell, many Aztecs were infected with a disease from Europe, smallpox. It was their first exposure to the disease and they had no immunity. Over a course of months, the culture and civilization of the fallen empire have changed.Numerous people wonder about the Aztecs who have survived and still remain in Tenochtitlán. On a trip to the city, we stopped an Aztec resident on the street to answer a few questions. The resident requested to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

In the book Daily Life of The Aztecs On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest by Jacques Soustelle you are walked through what life was like for the Aztecs. You are in 16th Century Mexico, or to them Mexico-Tenochtilan. Soustelle does an excellent job immediately putting you in character with the introduction of the book. The book is broken down into seven different main chapters detailing major aspects of the Aztecs lives in the late 1500’s. You learn about where they lived, to the wars they fought, and what life was like for them from birth to death. In this paper I will further discuss four topics that were very crucial in the daily lives of the Aztecs. I will help you find a better understanding in their daily life as well as the many changes they migrated through over time. The four topics I will be discussing are: 1. Culture and Customs of the Aztecs 2. Civilization vs Barbarism 3. Art and Architecture 4. Education and Home Life.

The Aztecs were sophisticated for their organized government. The Aztec government consisted of strong rulers. Their prestigious rulers led them through conquests such as how their ruler, Itzcoatl did in 1427 (doc C). Itzcoatl was a ruler who vastly contributed to the advancement of the Aztecs by leading them in the claiming of more land. Aztecs had their own capital, Tenochtitlan. They were cultured and their population grew to 300,000 in 1519 (doc F). The Aztecs were sophisticated because of their rapid population growth and their strong rulers.

When the Spaniards under Hernan Cortez gazed upon the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in Mexico in 1519, the scene before them amazed them. There, in the middle of a wide lake was a shimmering city with bright white walls of vast buildings sitting on an island in the middle of a large lake with causeways linked to it. The astonishment of those first Spanish visitors soon turned to horror when they saw the vast scale of ritual sacrifices made by the Aztecs.

Between 1350 BCE and 1519 BCE the Aztecs dominated the area around Mexico City. When the spaniards invaded Mexico and ended the era of the Aztecs they were surprised and impressed. The Aztecs migrated to the shores of Lake Texcoco in 1100 BCE. They were distrusted and disliked because of their domineering nature. Eventually they came to power and began demanding military support and labor by 1434 BCE.

Friar Diego Duran points out that an Aztec god ordered them to call the piece of land that they settled in, Tenochtitlan (Doc. 2). There are religious reasons that justify the Aztec reign and control over central Mexico; one of these reasons if their gods telling them what to do. There is a polytheistic reign in the Aztec empire, which makes them feel like they have to build towers to impress their gods and make their lives better. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Student Edition describes “the central plaza of an Aztec castle included a pyramid temple to the war god, left, temples to other gods and palaces” (Doc. 4) The Aztecs relied on their gods to help them make choices in life. The Aztecs did fierce human sacrifice to turn the sacrifice into a god. Most of the Aztecs fierce fighting game from human sacrifice to their

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,

Aztec is civilization created by the ancient Indian, which was mainly distributed in central and southern Mexico. Aztecs were a tribe with a lower level of development at first, but they absorb and fuse with other outstanding cultural traditions of Indian in the region that they rose rapidly. Aztec had developed agriculture and the main crops were corn, beans, squash, potatoes. Religion played an important role in the life of the Aztecs. The inhabitants believed in the immortality of the soul and Supreme domination. They adored the natural god that one of the peculiar was to use the living person for sacrifice.