Cultural And Religious Traditions Of The Americas And Oceania

The Mexica, better known as Aztecs, were Indians who lived in what we call today Mexico. They were very powerful people and dominated most of Middle America. Because warfare was consider sacred, Aztecs would wound their enemies and present them as sacrifices to their gods. The Aztecs also built a beautiful and elaborate empire, improved farming techniques, and even built a political structure. However, they were demolished by the Spanish empire. Later on during the 16th Century, the Iroquois League was formed in North America. They consisted of 5 Iroquois nations that decided to form an

They did not have a set military hierarchy, they just picked who they thought was best for the job at that time. Expansion was the cornerstone of the Aztec civilization, because their religion demanded that a large number of human sacrifices be made to the gods. To get these sacrifices the Aztec went to war with other tribes; in this way they captured more slaves for sacrifices and also more land to add to their empire. The Aztec was a strong civilization who had specialized war chiefs and an organized system for amassing large armies in a short time.

The Aztec and Incan empires both had strong armies. In the Aztec empire by the early fifteenth century the Aztecs were powerful enough to overcome their immediate neighbors and demand tribute. During the middle decades of the fifteenth century, the military elite that ruled much of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs launched ambitious campaigns of imperial expansion. Know as “the Obsidian Serpent” Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma advanced first to Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. After capturing Oaxaca and slaying

an imperial state was as spectacular as it was rapid. The Aztecs were simply one of the nomadic

During the 15th century, there were two leading empires of Mesoamerica. The Inca Empire, which was located in what is now Peru and the Aztecs, whose area was located in what is now Mexico. Both the Aztec and Inca empires were advanced civilizations with a good economy, agricultural developments, and religious practices that spread across the region of Mesoamerica.

The Aztec was a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They called themselves Mexica. The Republic of Mexico and its capital, Mexico City wanted to be called “Mexica”. I chose this culture because The Aztec nation is one of the largest and most advanced Indian nations to have ever existed on earth. Nearly every part of the

The Aztec Empire was very successful during their time in power. Before settling Lake Texcoco, they were believed to be nomads. According to legend, Huitzilopochtli (god of sun and war) told them to go where they was an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in it’s mouth. Although, historians believe that other more powerful tribes had settled around Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs had no choice but to settle where they did. Overall the Aztec Empire was very powerful, and successful. Mainly they should be known for their innovations. Politically, through lightning quick attacks, chinampas, and emperors being chosen on merit. Economically, innovations such as chinampas, causeways/raised roads, and canals. Lastly, innovations were used socially through calpullis, aqueducts, and Calmecacs.

"It was the Human Sacrifice that led to the Aztecs expanding their empire. There is a connection between Aztec Agriculture and Human sacrifice. Document A "Growth of the Aztec Empire", states that the Aztecs empire grew, they purposely left territories alone the use of " flower wars " to capture sacrificial victims. This meant that the Aztecs were

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.

Christianity is the major religious tradition today and has been since around 1945. Many of the British who first came to Australia, either as convicts or free settlers were Christians. They formed the huge base for Christianity to rise to the top religion in Australia before they began to let more immigrants enter. In the 1947 census, 88% of the population (not including Aboriginals because they were not considered in the census) stated they were Christian. The remaining 12% was mostly people who didn’t respond to the question. Today not much has changed the percentage of Christians has slightly decreased because of a rise in new religions. In the census of 2011 it is seen that out of 21.5 million people just under half, 42% classed themselves as Christian and around 8% said they were of a different religion. The number of people who said they had no religion was hugely increased at around 25%per cent. Today, even with the growing amount of Islam Buddhism and Hinduism, Christianity still remains the major religious tradition.

The religious aspects of both the Aztec and the Incan civilizations were based on several different deities. The Aztec empire had more than 128 gods and goddesses. The most important of these gods is Tlaloc (Life god) and Huitzilopochtli (Sun god). These gods could be represented in human, animal or direction form. Aztec gods were worshipped through pyramid shaped religious buildings and ritual sacrificing. Human

The Aztec civilization was a very complex society that was feared and known well for their various gory sacrifices done to please their many gods in their polytheistic religion. The much feared civilization began by the exile of one of the two Toltec leaders, which lead to the decline of the Toltec state that was later replaced by Mexica, or the Aztecs. According to the Aztecs, the land chosen to build their main city was chosen by the portrayal of an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. Through military might, the Aztecs managed to become the most powerful civilization in the mid-fourteenth century. They maintained their power through military might and the fear they caused other civilizations because of the human

Battle between European kingdoms incited to an eagerness for states and trading posts that may sustain the rising nations. This expansionism familiar Europeans with African and American social requests that had created over several years, and the social correspondence that took in the wake of starting contacts between these human headways fundamentally affected western history. American Societies first there was Paleo (Indians) Paleo Indians arrived some place in the scope of 12,000 to 14,000 years earlier and made due by pursuing sweeping preoccupation. As the distinctive items, and wherever cultivating ruled the economy, complex human progressions flourished. Horticulture was an essential key as of now fundamentally that is the place most the cash and nourishment supply originated from. Mesoamerican Civilizations Early municipal foundations created in what is by and

Mesoamerican was the religion of the Aztecs and other cultures. The religion consists of three main parts, earth, an underworld, and an upper plane. They claimed multiple gods and deities including Tlaloc, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl. The Aztec’s had many rituals that coincided with their calendar. There were a series of eighteen spectacular, often grisly public festivals during the three hundred and sixty-five day Mesoamerican year. Some were simple enough such as burning their old kitchen utensils, and putting out all the fires and starting a new fire for a central bonfire. Simple rituals that did not have any ethical principles to speak of.

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,