Aztecs Should Practice Their Religion

Well there is much more to the Aztecs than human sacrifice and wars. The Aztecs were a very advanced and successful civilization. They did perform human sacrifice, but it was a part of their religion, and it was common for cultures to sacrifice humans at the time. Also, all of the things we know today about the Aztecs come from the Spanish perspective, and the Spanish had every reason to make the Aztecs look bad. History should say the Aztecs were a well organized civilization who deserve credit, and should not be opinionated on because of

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, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief and conquered Mexico within two years. By 1521, the Aztec culture was officially eradicated and a new culture, consisting of a

The letter written in 1524 by the Aztec Priests in response to the Spanish was mainly for the Aztecs people to “defend the legitimacy of their own customs and how most Aztecs did not want to renounce their own religion in favor of Catholicism.” Also, if they did listen to the Spanish king’s rule, they would be going against their own God. The Aztec Priests made sure to list numerous of examples to why they went against the Spanish who were trying to change their religious believes. For instance, in the letter the Priests stated, “you say our gods are not true gods. The new words that you put utter are what confuse us; due to them we feel foreboding. Our makers [our ancestors] who came to live on earth never uttered such words. They gave us

Cortés also made sure to describe the Aztecs as primitive people who worshiped false gods and viewed the king as a "barbarous monarch". As a result, Cortés placed himself in a strong position to be the symbol of the crown that could bring a stable Christian society to save these people.[4: Cortés, and Pagden, In Letter from Mexico, 11][5: Arkenberg, Hernan Cortés: From Second Letter to Charles V, 1520][6: Arkenberg, Hernan Cortés: From Second Letter to Charles V, 1520]

Before taking this course and completing this assigned reading, I knew one or two things about the religion assigned. People all around the world have so many differences and beliefs. Between the Aztecs and the Christians, they are not that much alike. Yes they have some similarities but their practices and teachings are different. Christians only believe in one God and the Aztecs believe in many gods. The Aztec religion is mainly focused on keep nature in balance. For as Christianity they believe in helping others, reading the Bible and being able to spread Gods word more. Christians believe God put us on this earth for a purpose. The rules that both the Aztecs and the Christians go by are no similar. They do things totally different. The religion of high God/gods, meanings. Some believe in more than one god and other believe there is only one God.

The Aztec people felt very strong about their beliefs in gods and superstitions. Montecuhzoma the independent ruler of the Aztec empire swayed his people to believe in the power of gods and idols and live a spiritual life. This ultimately was a turning point for the Aztecs and is where the Spanish once again gained advantage over the Aztecs. While the Aztecs were faithful to their beliefs it made them powerless an easy take down. Superstitions played a huge factor in the Aztecs first encounter with the Spanish people. In 1519 when the Aztec people saw sight of something coming from a distance in the water, they believed it was Quetzalcoatl (Leon-Portilla, 18). Quetzalcoatl was a legend to them that promised to come back. Montecuhzoma misread the situation and sent messages and gifts in hopes that it sent a gesture to welcome the gods onto their land. This was a big mistake that Motecuhzoma made by opening his arms to the Spanish people upon their first encounter together (Leon-Portilla, 63). This is just one case where the Aztec people poorly used their judgement. However, Motecuhzoma did come to realize the behavior of the Spaniards or “Gods”. When the Spaniards held the gold given by the Aztecs their greed became noticed in the eyes of the Aztecs. The Natives described them as monkeys. They soon caught on that the Spaniards were not gods and heroes and more so barbarians

If religion was a guiding principle in the lives of the conquerors, as Todorov points out, so too was it for the conquered, especially in the case of the Aztecs. Baffled by the paradox of the famous story concerning Cortes and his several hundred Conquistador's ability to defeat the entire Aztec empire, which numbered at least several million, Todorov reveals that it was primarily due to Montezuma's belief that Cortes and his party were Gods, which led to his reluctance to raise an army in opposition.

Maybe too much credit is given to Cortés as one of the greatest Spanish conquerors who developed effective strategy to defeat the Aztecs. Restall see this as somewhat of a myth accounting for the failure of historians to look at history before the 1519 (Restall, 19). Restall says “However, too often, without any direct evidence, the actions of Conquistadors after the 1519– 21 invasion of Mexico are taken as deliberately imitating Cortés, while pre-1519 patterns are ignored.” Whatever the case for whom should be given the credit for the strategy used to defeat the Aztecs; one must admit Cortés was able the win the trust of the people and use the Aztecs’ fear of him to control their empire. Cortés harbored fear of his own. Elliott says, “Cortés felt some uneasiness, when he reflected that it was in the power of the Indians, at any time, to cut off his communications with the surrounding country, and hold him a prisoner in the capital.” The Omens of the Aztecs betrayed them and caused them to see the arriving settlers as gods. They were not prepared to defend themselves against the advanced weapons of the Spanish. Much like the Aztecs, the Mayans faced hard times at the hands of the Spanish conquerors, but their defeat came much easier to the Spanish.

What does Aztec culture mean for Mexican people? The Aztec culture was the beginning of the Mexican culture along with other Indian territories in Mexico. The Aztecs were known because they ruled and most of the southern part of Mexico for a long period of time, but like everyone knows everything has to come to an end. Even though Aztec society is gone, their society levels, religion, and architecture can still be seen and analyzed today.

Hernan Cortes and his army arrived in Tenochtitlan and his main goal was to get the gold that was there. The Aztecs didn’t know that they were a threat they received them and soon enough they were being threatened for gold by the Spanish army that was invited. When the Aztecs were forced to display their gold Hernan and the other Spanish men went rummaging through the gold and took nothing but gold. For example, document A states, “They seized these treasures as if they were their own..” The part were it says “as if they were their own” demonstrates that they didn’t have respect for others or their

In order to gain control of the whole of New Spain, Cortés must manipulate the hierarchal traditions of the Aztec people as well. As in wealth, Castillo makes no lapse of detail here as well. He documents the way Montezuma his treated and revered by those who are under him. "Not one of these chieftains dared even to think of looking him in the face, but kept their eyes lowered with great reverence…" (World History: Castillo, 247). Montezuma

The Aztecs served a strange religion.After, a while it took their gods five times to make the world.To illisterate this, it took five tries cause the gods were fighting each other.Most of the Aztec gods died during their wars.Next a god named Quetzalcoati made people.He made people out of older bones and his own blood.Now, that he did this the gods needed blood by sacrifice.So they took prisoners for sacrifice.they were especially scared of nature.The Aztecs were scared that in every fifty-two years the world end.By the way they thought there death would effect their after life.Also, the Aztecs thought they had an underworld.Obviously they thought they had an heaven to go with it.

The religion of the Aztec, including their beliefs, customs and religions, acted as a tremendous influence on their government, economy, and culture. Religion was the foundation for the infamous culture of the Aztec Civilization. Through ceremonies of sacrifice, and the infusion of cosmology into their religion, the Aztecs sculpted a culture unlike that of any other civilization, and left behind a legacy to be studied and admired for generations to come. Religion ultimately shaped the unique civilization of the Aztecs, through cultivating the general outlook and values of the Aztecs, expanding the empire, and influencing the architecture and layout of their city.

Cortés and Charles V were both religious which would be the reason why Cortés spent such amount of time explaining the Aztec religious practice in the following and why he took actions to Christianize the natives. From my perspective, Cortés began the letter with an objective tone. Firstly, he apologized for the time writing this letter because there were too many things he observed and encountered. He mentioned that the city of Temixtitlan had religious rights and customs, various wonderful objects, and how the sovereign governed the people and so on, which would appeal to the Emperor Charles V. Cortés wrote this letter with full of humility, instead of showing off how he conquered the city of Temixtitlan, he described the whole picture of