The Influence Of Spanish And Native American Culture

The culture of Mexico reflects the country’s complex history and is the result of the gradual blending of native culture with Spanish culture and other immigrant cultures. Mexico’s culture revolves around and is most prominent in music, food, and celebrations. The combination of beliefs and customs creates the unique Mexican culture.

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

Native American, or American Indians, have a rich culture comprised of struggle, strife and success. For this paper, i will discuss the Native American Culture and it's history.

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 Mexican culture is a mixture of Spanish and Aztec roots dating back to the 19th and 20th century when Spain had rule over Mexico. Their rich heritage and inhabitance formed their culture today with pride and unbreakable traditions. Back before the Spanish had power over Mexico, it was first occupied with an enormous number of Indian groups that varied in social as well as economic systems. Mexico was shared with the Mayans, Totonac, Huastec, Otomi, Mixtecs, Zapotecas, and Tlaxcala’s, Tarascans, and Aztec tribes. Before the Spanish arrived, the Aztec tribe ruled most of Mexico. They built most of what is known as Mexico City due to a tribe prophecy that demanded the city to be established where there was an eagle with a snake in its beak resting on a cactus. That became a national symbol of Mexico and embellishes on the country’s flag

Mexican Americans were decedents of Mexico, or “Estados Unidos Mexicanos” as their culture would say. Mexico is bordered by the “United States to the north, the Gulf of Mexico to the east, Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Pacific to the south and west” (Englekirk & Marin, 2014). In this area, the population consist of 75 million people between these locations. According to Englekirk and Marin (2014) Mexico’s earliest occupants were hunters from Asia. Prior to the 16th century civilizations such as Mayan, Aztec, Toltec, and more, built societies amongst themselves in these areas. In 1951 Hernan Cortes conquered this area, thus establishing Mexico and their culture. Three groups were mixed to form

     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 .

At my understanding, the term Hispanic is wrongly used when referring to a race. Being Hispanic is, of course, to belong to an ethnic group, but it is much more than that. It is not about the color of your skin or your hair, but about culture, tradition, and manners. All started with the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of South and Central America. From Europe came the adventurous men, full of ambitions and courage. These attributes blended with the strength and energy of African slaves and the Native Americans, and this mixture led to the born of this new culture that we called Hispanic.

The first Europeans arrived in North America in the fifteenth century CE. Native cultures included the Olmec, the Maya, the Aztecs, the Incas, the Mound Builders of the Mississippi region, and the Anasazi of the American Southwest. The first metropolis in Mesoamerica, was the city of Teotihuacan, capital of an early state about thirty miles northeast of Mexico City that arose around the third century B.C.E. and flourished for nearly a millennium until it collapsed under mysterious circumstances. Among the groups moving into the Valley of Mexico after the fall of Teotihuacan were the Mexica. Folk legend held that their original homeland was the island in the lake called Aztlan, from that is why today they are known as the Aztecs. The Aztecs were excellent warriors. They set out to bring the entire region under their domination. For the remainder of the fifteenth century, the Aztecs took control over much of which is known as modern Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and as far south as the Guatemalan border. The Chimor kingdom was eventually succeeded in the late fifteenth century by an invading force from the mountains far to the south. The Inka were a small community in the area of Cuzco, a city located at an altitude of ten thousand feet in the mountains of southern Peru. In the 1440s, under the leadership of their powerful ruler Pachakuti, the Inka launched a campaign of conquest that eventually brought the entire region under their authority. Under his

Food is a major part of every culture, some very different and some very similar. American and Spanish cultures are very different because of eating habits, meal times, and how people interact over food. There are several differences between American and Spanish food, but there is one similarity: it brings people closer together like nothing else.

Mexico was one of the main points of the conquistadors’ conquest. Mexico was home to two of the biggest Pre-Colombian civilizations, the Aztecs and the Mayans. The Mayans and Aztecs both faced the wrath of the conquistadors, as they were both conquered very easily due to the Spanish’s advanced weaponry. After conquering the natives, the Spanish would rule over that land for anout 300 years. This new ruling came with new foods, races, animals, and changes that effected the natives.

The Aztec civilization was a solid and powerful foundation. The Aztec’s dominated northern Mexico during the 16th century, during that time was also the Spanish conquest with Hernan Cortes. The Aztec’s were bodacious warriors. The Aztec’s had a well organized agricultural economy even the Spaniards were impressed and could not wait to take over Mexico. The Spanish knew this could not happen right away with the Aztec being a great civilization and fearless in the battle field. (“The Aztec/Mexicas”)

Mesoamerica was once a place filled with growing, ruthless empires and civilizations, although not one was like the Aztecs and their empire. Although they started off with a humble beginning, they quickly grew into a great civilization that dominated present day Central Mexico. They conquered and expanded into an empire stronger than the other neighboring empires. The heart of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, was a grand capital filled with many people and astounding temples. The Aztecs were also ahead of their time with fully-functional government and irrigation systems. They continue to astound many historians with their diverse way of life. They impacted the way of life for many people today with their customs and ways of life. Throughout the years, the Aztecs were able to grow and prosper with their sufficient supply of agriculture and blessed fertile lands of the Mexican Valley, and demonstrated to be an important part of Mexican heritage. Because of their history, unique culture, and beautiful architecture, the Aztec Civilization truly is one of Mesoamerica’s most influential early empires.

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

“My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain...There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory.,” Chief Seattle Speech of 1854. The culture of the Native American people has been deteriorating ever since the Europeans arrived in the Americas. The impactful and immense loss of lifestyle that they faced is one that can never be recovered, what the United States has given them are generations of trauma and blatant suffering. However, the U.S. did not stop there, a multitude of cultures have been broken to help keep America pure. For instance, one of the most significant cultures that have been dismantled by the U.S. other than the Natives and their music were the languages and music of the African slaves. The apparent likeness of these two cultures in the ways in which their deconstruction impacted them is in more of an abundance, such as the dominating influence of the Christian religion and the gravely vital role of maintaining what little heritage they could through language. In contrast to this, the two groups had an opposing difference pertaining to how the Natives and slaves tried to compensate the immense loss of their culture through the generations.