Aztec Society Essay

After the Spanish came and ruined everything the Aztecs ever worked for, the Aztec people were slaves for the Spanish, they had lost all of their economic control. Their whole lives were dedicated to working for the Spanish, which meant they had pretty much no control of what they did in life. The Aztec economy didn’t exist after the Spanish. Tenochtitlan has changed majorly over many years, now being called Mexico, it has the 14th largest economy in the world. Their population is 114.9 million people and they do a lot of trading with other

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 society was structured in a hierarchy with nobles at the top. Social status was determined primarily at birth. All members of the nobility could trace their lineage to the first Aztecs ruler Acamapichtli . The only way one could rise up to another class in the system was to perform an outstanding military achievement.

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."

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 first interesting thing about the Aztecs is their daily routine. Aztec family life was very similar to many modern day cultures. For example, the husband was primarily responsible for supporting the family and the wife’s role was to provide the family with clothing and food. As such, the Aztec daily life for many of the men was to farm or engage in craftwork. The female Aztec life, on the other hand, mainly consisted of weaving and cooking. The Aztecs were a culture that settled in the Valley of Mexico during the early 14th century. By the 15th century the Aztecs had developed into a very powerful culture with many daily activities that spanned the ages. These activities were divided among gender and age with the males farming and crafting, the females weaving and preparing food, and the children attending school for training in Aztec religion and war.

The Aztec were curled people who ruled an empire in from Tenochtitlan. Form Tenochtitlan For their capital city of the Aztec, presently the site of modern-day to this day, the Aztec had many achievements. Two thing ps they are most know for include their farming method and use of human sacrifice. However, historians should emphasize the role of the human sacrifice in Aztec culture. " "It was human sacrifice that led to the Aztec expanding their empire.

The Aztecs practiced religion of many gods. They worship gods. The Aztecs gods are Tlaloe-rain god, Quetzalcoatl-feathered sepert god, Tezcatlipoca-supreme god, Xipe Toltec-god of springs, Xiuhtechti-god of fire, Xochipilli-god of summertime, Mictlunechuhti-god of dead, Coatlical-earth mother goddess. Also, Xochipilli is one of the gods he has a statue of a man sitting. The Aztecs are a symbol of spiritual and national unity. Also, the gods are divided into 3 groups sky, celestial beings, and rain agriculture. Their temple was called Temple Mayor.

The Aztec religion had a mix of mythology which is seen through the Aztecs God’s uprising story and their significance. In the Aztecs religion, the people had multiple gods that they observed and prayed to. Their Gods ranged from nature spirts to supporter of the Gods. One of their Gods, was named Quetzalcoatl. This deity represented the four major aspects of their forces, their creation, virtue, learning and culture. Another influential God was Tlaloc, the God of rain. Tlaloc was a representation of the atmosphere and everything that happened that was impacted by the weather. Along with the Gods representing significant topics, the stories that led to that unique spirt becoming a God influenced their life as well.

Aztec community was experience and knew how to maximise the production by following crop rotations on highlands where less irrigation treatments are available, also exchanging in inter-cities to have different availability of vegetation (Peters-Golden 2002a: 21).In the form of occupation the status of women was limited on some extents, as the entire section of croft practiced by women of all classes only. Women of the lower rank used to produce simple goods for household where Nobel women were engaged in producing ceremonial capes, by using finest cotton, rabbit fur and feathers(Peters-Golden 2002a: 22). This division of labor amongst women represent status-run going the empire with less equalities. "A boy was declared a soldier"(Peters-Golden 2002a: 29) and the only way a women n get honor in warfare is only if a women dies while giving birth a boy. The high involvement of men in warfare resulted in handling of agriculture and small level horticulture by women, as they used to cultivate cotton and decorative herbs which were used in making clothes.

They were not as sophisticated as their neighbors and had to be alliances with stronger city-states. They were good warriors and in the fifteenth century, they had control over most of modern Mexico. The Aztecs promoted their patron god, Huitzilopochtli to guide the people in the kingdom. The Aztec state was authoritarian. Most of the population was commoners who were a part of large kinship groups

The everyday life of the Aztecs depended on what part of society you were born into because in the Aztecs you were born into and it was either a commoner or a lord, there was also another social class but it wasn't exactly considered a class and this were the slaves; slavery came upon people through debt or punishment and many people sold themselves into slavery when they found themselves unable to support themselves, this mostly happened during famines such as the one in the 1450's. Within the commoners there were two classes, the peasants and the calpolli and the urban commoners. The calpolli were small groups of family composed of peasants who worked for the same lord. In this case the commoners were dependent upon their lord and their land

Overall Smith gives us the impression that the Aztec provincial commoners were relatively prosperous, productive, and enterprising people that held a high work ethic achieving what was necessary to sustain or maintain their standard of living. In spite of an economic decline after conquest and incorporation into the Aztec Empire, commoners in both urban and rural

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.