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The rise and fall of the aztecs
The rise and fall of the aztecs
The rise and fall of the aztecs
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The Aztecs were a large civilization and arguably the most advanced group of people in Latin America. They were developed in all aspects in life; from their unique and colorful culture to their exceptional feats and achievements. The Aztecs were proud and fierce people and even managed to continue to develop and hold on to their culture, despite the overwhelming change that the Spanish Conquest brought. This exhibit is dedicated to the Aztecs and their accomplishments as a civilization in all areas of their lives.
The Aztecs had a very distinctive culture that was different from others in more ways than one. They had a very unique religion that was polytheistic, meaning that the Aztecs believed in many deities. Two of these deities were
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For one, they had a very effective form of communication and writing. The Aztecs mostly communicated orally, but they also had to rely on a form of written writing as well, and this came in the form of picture symbols called glyphs. The form of writing began to develop during the progression of the Spanish Conquest and were used to record the many events of Aztec life. This form of picture writing can be seen in Aztec books called codices, like the artifact displayed. The Aztecs were also advanced in the way of their system of time. They developed a type of solar calendar that they got from other groups in the time, and it was based on the sun’s movements. The calendar was used as a form of religious dedication as well, because many of the Aztec beliefs and deities could be seen as aspects of the calendar. The Aztec people were very skilled architects and builders and this could be seen in records of their buildings of the time, although most of these structures are in ruin now. The full extent of their architectural building styles could be seen on religious buildings, which had been dedicated with much effort and beauty. They were decorated and built as great feats of engineering and it showed their love of their
Inga Clendinnen has had a fascination for the MesoAmerican area and it's history for over 30 years. Having wrote many books on the peoples and history of the region, her knowledge makes her well qualified to write a book such as Aztecs. The book is not one based on historical facts and figures, but one which is founded on interpretations of
In 1518 Hernán Cortés took command of an expedition to secure the interior of Mexico in the name of the Spanish Crown. In the letters he detailed his expedition and the land and peoples they conquered and encountered. The first letter, dated 1519, is a problematic document as it is written in the third person and was most likely not actually wire by cortez. The second and third letters are much more reliable and were published in Seville in 1522 and 1523 respectively. The culture, geography, economy and other details of the Aztec civilization, as well as Cortés and his forces’ interaction with them, are detailed in his letters which are addressed to the monarch of the sponsor of his force, Spain. In his letters Cortés also gave justification and explanation of the actions he took in Mexico.
The Aztecs were a large group of Indian tribes.They were originally migratory and as they migrated they assimilatated other tribes. Through this process they joined together and became rich in civilization. The tribes the comprised the Aztecs were the Toltect whom the Chichimec [Aztecs] conquered in the early 1300's A.D. The Toltect embarked on conquests, which resulted in the Aztecs becoming a dominate civilization of their time.(1) Their migratory pattern stopped on the southwestern border of Lake Texcoco as they discovered an eagle sitting on the stem of a cactus, holding a serpent in his talons with his wings open to the sun. This as an omen from the gods.(4) The Aztecs finally settled in central Mexico, where Mexico City is now located, and began building Tenochtitlan in 1325. Over time the civilization's control spanned from Tenochtitlan east to the Gulf of Mexico and south to Guatemala.(1)
August 13th, 1521 marked the end of a diabolical, yet genius group of leaders. They were referred to as the Aztecs. They were an extremely advanced ancient civilization. The Aztec’s were overthrown by the Spanish, yet we still haven’t forgotten the Aztecs. But since their culture was so complex it’s hard to know what is the most necessary thing to study when it comes to them, especially when their were so many things that defined their culture. The Aztecs were highly religious and believed in human sacrifice. They also had a complex method of farming called chinampas. This grew an extremely large amount of food per year by using canals. This was extremely successful because of how complex it was. When asked if historians should emphasize agriculture
They had at least 128 gods, including but not limited to the divine beings of “rain, fire, water, corn, the sky, and the sun.” They were honored in numerous ways: ceremonies and festivals, dances and feasts, and by having humans sacrificed to them. (Background Essay) Read those last few words again. As said in the popular children’s show Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other”. The integration of human sacrifice into Aztec culture was not nearly as subtle as written above, though: The most important Aztec deity in their whole religion, Huitzilopochtli, was the sun god. According to Aztec creation myths, Huitzilopochtli required a great deal of power to raise the sun every morning and keep the night from overpowering day for too long. This strength was drawn from regular consumption of human blood and hearts. This in turn caused the Aztecs to strongly believe in needing to give these things to him. According to the Aztecs, sacrificing people to Huitzilopochtli was the ideal way to provide him with these
Back in the time of the Aztec their culture was very different but also similar from our now. For instence they belived in human sacrifice and also there was only a few different jobs that you could make a living through. . There are four major jobs in their society,which are being a priest,tradesmen,warrior or in your a women you would more often then not work hard in the houses learning how to weave and make clothes.
The pottery was used to eat out of and they could also trade it to other tribes for food or maybe even horses. The Aztecs did feather working and goldworking. They made shields and did art work with the feathers. They held the feathers together with glue made from bat dung.
The Aztecs were isolated from the world until they fell to the Spanish which highlights that they didn’t have any of the inventions and innovations that the rest of the world experienced
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
The Aztecs and Incas served an important role in the primal Native American civilizations. They were similar and different with the treatment of women, the economy, and intellectual achievements. Economically, both civilizations used trade, tribute, and agriculture to build their economy. However, the Aztecs had a more mixed economy, used trade more frequently than the Incas, and had a merchant class whereas the Incan civilization had more governmental control. Intellectually, both civilizations achieved in fields such as architecture, and art; however, the Incan empire had a wider range of achievements, disregarding their lack of writing. Throughout both civilizations, women had a tough life and were underappreciated but comparing the two, Incan women had it better off due to parallel descent.
Aztec women embarked on several defining moments of labor, gender, class, symbolism, and political power in the Aztec Mexico history and culture. The roles of the Aztec women were unjustly marginalized. Their contributions to the work activities, economy, government and the influence of growth and development were grossly deceptive in the Ethnohistoric documents. Moreover, the variations of Aztec women cooking and weaving revolutionized gender. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Since human sacrifice is a very dark and twisted subject, historians don’t talk about it as much as their agriculture. Even though that it is true that human sacrifice is dark, it is also a very important part of Aztec society. Human sacrifice was basically a part of their religion. The Aztecs thought that without this ceremony, they wouldn’t get different things that their gods and goddesses bring. For instance, the Aztecs believed that the gods and goddesses would bring crops, sun, rain, existence, etc, and the only way to keep them pleased was by human blood. In history we learn about agriculture and different ways agriculture is important, but we never learned about human sacrifice before. So, this a new thing that everyone is learning, and this is something more interesting than learning about
According to their own history, the Aztecs, who called themselves the Tenochca or Mexica, started as a small nomadic tribe originating from a place called Aztlan. Aztlan existed somewhere in the southern part of California or the north west of Mexico. At this time they were Nahuatl speaking. During the twelfth century they started a period of wandering and in the thirteenth century they came across Mexico's central valley. There they decided to settle.
The Rise and fall of the Aztec Empire is possibly the most important area of study in the modern world. Of all of the nomadic tribes who migrated into Mexico, the Aztecs were one of the last. At first driven away by established tribes, the Aztecs slowly began to develop an empire of immense wealth and power by the late fifteenth century. Due in large part to the accomplishments of their ruler Itzcoatl, the empire expanded to include millions of people from a number of different tribes, including the Cempoala, who would later aid the Spanish in defeating the Aztecs. Because of the "melting pot" within the empire, the Aztecs had a very diverse culture. However, this immense Aztec Empire would soon be brought to its knees by the doings of one man and his army.
The Aztecs came from Azatlan which is the mythical place of origin(Aztecs of Lost Civilization). Huizilopochtli, the god of war, told the Aztecs to leave Azatlan and wander until they saw an eagle perched on a cactus growing out of a rock and eating a snake(Los Aztecas). The Aztecs traveled many years to find the legend and finally found it while at Lake Texcoco. Lake Texcoco was ruled by the Toltecs between the 10th and 11th centuries(Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia). Since many other tribes also migrated to Lake Texcoco at the same time, the Aztecs were pushed out to the westside of the lake to a swampy area. The only piece of dry land they had was a little island surrounded by marshes. Over a long period of time they built their empire with chinapas. Chinapas were formed by piling up mud from the lake bottom to make little islands(Aztec Empire History). Tenochtitlan (currently Mexico City), which means "Place of the Cactus", became the capital in 1325 and soon there came many islands in which bridges were built to connect the mainland (Los Aztecas). They also dug canals and constructed aqueducts. There were many religious structures, and they built temples and pyramids. By 1502 the Aztec Empire expanded from Guatemala to San Luis Potosi which is in Central and Southern Mexico and extended 800 miles along a northwest-southeast axis. The Aztecs conquered many cities and all became part of the empire which was wedged between high mountains and surrounded by lakes(Aztecs of Lost Civilization/ Azetc Empire History).