Facts About The Aztecs

The Aztecs were a remarkable civilization. Th is civilization were distrusted and disliked because they tended to push others out of their way. They ruled an empire in Tenochtitlan in the time of 1350 to 1519. They also were known for their agriculture and human sacrifices. Agriculture was a very important part of their h istory because without their farming method the Aztec couldn't have created such great civilization. According to Document A of the Aztec DBQ, states that the Aztec empire grew more than 200 miles west to east, and north to south. Th is means that with the growth of the empire the population also grew and more effective agriculture techniques were needed to feed the people. They created the method of ch inampas because they

They worshipped their god blindly which would eventually lead to their destruction. They depended on human sacrifice to ensure their salvation. Every fifty-one years, their priest and/or priestess would capture a man from neighboring tribes and tear out his heart as a ritual, If the ritual was done poorly, their civilization would crumble and the “stars would fall on them.” The Aztecs had many gods that represented their everyday life such as, human activities, the aspects of nature, and agriculture. The well-known god was Quetzalcoatl, the god of civilization, order, the wind, and the culture hero. It was said that Quetzalcoatl would return one day and offer peace to the world. The priest at that time described Quetzalcoatl as being pale faced and bearded that much resembled Hernὀn Cortes when the Spanish arrived in 1519. They praised him and offer him gold and more gold because they thought he was god. This in turn, made the Aztecs vulnerable to the Spanish ammunition, smallpox, trained dogs, horses and cannons. In my opinion, the Aztecs were too strict in their religion for capturing their enemies instead of killing them because it backfired on

The Aztecs had one of the most successful and advanced empires of all time. They had a dwelling culture The Aztec civilization was located directly in the middle of two mountain ranges in the central valley of Mexico ( Platt 10). Although the Aztec empire eventually came to an end they were able to do well as an empire. Contributing factors that led to the rise of the empire was their political structure, social components, and religious traditions which they preformed earnestly.

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

The Aztecs have two remarkable qualities about their culture; human sacrifice and agriculture. While both of these qualities holds an importance in their history, historians should emphasize human sacrifice more. The Aztecs human sacrifice is more notable than the Aztecs agricultural ability, because they left land unoccupied for later sacrifices, it resulted in many’s death, and even the finest were sacrificed.

Another reason historians should emphasize human sacrifice is because, Document A "Growth of the Aztec Empire", shows that there is a connection between the Aztecs territorial expansion, a growing population, and agriculture. The Aztec empire grew to more than two hundred miles west to east and north to south. As their empire grew, so did their population. And as their population grew, they had to sacrifice more people, not only because there was too much people, because they had to please their gods so they will not destroy the world. This also made a growth of empire because they didn't only sacrificed people for religious reasons, also they did it because there is also to many people to conquer in war so they have to sacrifice, and they make more people. According to document D "The scale of Sacrifice", the people being sacrificed are prisoners taken at Teuclepec. How the person was sacrificed to the Aztec Gods is that they would first they raised their hearts to the sun, then throw them into the shrine before the gods. The scale of human sacrifice is huge , 200 people got sacrificed every single day .

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 influenced by the Toltecs, their self-proclaimed ancestors, who were “a warlike people, no doubt conquering surrounding tribes and imposing tribute without any concern for integration into the Toltec political and religious culture”5. To justify their conquests, Itzcoatl, the third Aztec ruler, devised a new vision of the Aztec as the “chosen people” who were the “true heirs” to the Toltec. The Aztec rewrote history to link the Aztec to the Toltec and to show that the Aztec were the heirs, the direct descendents, of the Toltec nobility”7. The Aztecs were a war faring people who engaged in such to acquire territory, resources, quash rebellions, and to collect sacrificial victims to honour their gods. Warfare was a fundamental to the Aztec culture10; warriors were trained from youth, in special military compounds where children learnt to master weapons and tactics and were regaled

The Aztec empire thrived in Mexico from the 13th to the 16th centuries. In the early 16th century, Spanish Conquistadors overtook the Aztecs as a part of the “Age of Exploration.” Since then, historians have struggled to define how history should remember the Aztecs. The Aztecs were a sophisticated civilization because of their organized government, intricate religious rituals and memorable traditions.

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

Aztecs achieved many goals. Aztecs most valuable trading item was obsidian. They made tools with obsidian and chert. However the didn’t use iron and bronze to make weapons. They used copper to make axes.

1. The nature of the regime of the Aztecs. The Aztecs was bloodthirsty tribe that overruled and claimed from their capital of Tenochtitlan the area around central Mexico. The Aztec society was very religious, but unfortunaely the main point of their religion demanded human sacrifice and this terrible act had to happen every month to make their “Gods” happy so they could insure a fruitful land for their people.

Their religion was dominated by three gods: Huitzilopochtli (God of War and Sun), Tezcatlipoca (God), and Quetzalcoatl (God of Civilization, Priesthood, and Learning). A major component in the religious beliefs of the Aztecs was human sacrifice. Human sacrifice was very important, honored, and common. Their beliefs were highly focused on keeping nature in balance. One false step could lead to natural disaster.

In the Aztec religion there were 5 gods that created the earth. Their names were Tezcatlipoca, Nanauatl, Ehecatl, and Quetzalcoatl. Each god took turns on being the sun ultimately revealing that all of them had to sacrifice themselves in order for humans to live. The sacrifices did not stop there, although the 5 gods gave themselves up, the people had to repay them with sacrifice in return. Another belief that the Aztecs had was that nature must stay in balance.

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,