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Comparing and contrasting the aztec and inca empires
Religion's role in society
Compare the aztec and inca empires
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Recommended: Comparing and contrasting the aztec and inca empires
The Aztec Empire stood for many years but never expanded much, only conquering small neighboring civilizations. The Aztec Empire was founded in the 6th century and didn’t fall until 1525. The Inca Civilization was a bit different. The Inca Civilization conquered as many lands that it could but quickly fell after just 100 years. In this essay I will be comparing the government, economics, and culture in the Aztec Civilizationand the Inca Empire.
The Ancient Aztec government got its structure from units of society that existed long before the Aztec empire was founded. Families didn't individually own land, the land was owned by a group of families, called the calpulli. This structure of local government existed long before the Aztec empire. The head in the calpulli would be responsible for the basic needs of the group. The Inca were able to keep control over their vast empire by using of a number of techniques and practices that assured either cooperation or
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subordination. The empire was ruled by the Inca who was thought of as a god. The main industry for the Inca was farming. They used all the land they could for farming, some say the Incas put more land to use for farming and animal-raising than any society since. There were many different climates so the people would swap food with neighbors, this way it was more self sufficient and money wasn’t involved so there wasn’t a need for more power. Their economy was not based on money, the government made sure everyone had what they needed. The Aztec economy was built on trade. The Aztecs traded everything, their economy relied heavily on agriculture and farming. Aside from farming the Aztecs also marketed raw materials, finished goods, wood, and even medicine. Their economy was really driven by marketplace. The Aztec culture at its height had about 15 million people that were in almost 500 towns and cities.
Aztec culture had a rich and complicated set of mythological and religious beliefs. These religious practices and artistic accomplishments as well as music, dance, dress, food, drink, sports and games played a large part in their everyday lives. A rather remarkable part of Aztec culture was the ritual of human sacrifice. The Incas drew on the artistic traditions of their Andean predecessors and the skills of subject peoples. Beautiful pottery and cloth was produced in specialized workshops. Inca metallurgy was among the most advanced of the Americas, and Inca artisans worked gold and silver with great technical skill.
The Incas also used copper and some bronze for weapons and tools. They also had a communication system with knots on strings.
In conclusion you can see how different the Inca and Aztec civilizations were, from government, to economy, and cultural to even human sacrificing. They were very
different.
This primary source tells the reader a great deal about the Incas. The Incas were extremely wealthy. Most of the document tells the reader about the wealth and riches of the Incas, describing their wealth in depth. Jobs in the Incas’ society included many lavish occupations. “[M]any silversmiths who did nothing but work rich pieces of gold or fair vessels of silver; large garrisons were stationed there, and a steward who was in charge of them all” (Pedro). The Incas were organized and intelligent. Large armies were set up to protect their villages, and they had plenty of silver and gold to experiment with and create new beautiful objects. They used their systems to create a fair,
The Aztec’s and the Inca’s have many similarities, such as religious beliefs, and views about gods. Inca’s views about training for war are different, and the Aztec’s artifacts are somewhat different. The farm land compared to the Inca’s differs also, because where the Aztec’s lived the land was elevated about ten thousand feet. The religious beliefs of the Aztec’s were bloody; they believed they had to make many sacrifices to appease the gods. The sacrifices were an important aspect of the Aztec religion.
While yes, the Inca, the Mayans, and the Aztecs had many gods and their religion was somewhat of the same. An example of this is when the tribes all sacrificed people, but the Inca only sacrificed children. A thing that is even more surprising is that they only sacrificed the most behaved kids, the best kids. But that was kind of small thing in the history of these three tribes in their religion and how big it was. Like about their gods, also about some of the ways they were created and even more. Another surprising thing is that criminals were thrown off a cliff. But if they survived they would be treated as a sacred person to their society. I wonder how well they were really treated. The Aztecs had a myth about how they were going to make a great city ruling over all of the Aztecs. It is now in modern-day Mexico
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.
When it comes down to comparing and contrasting Native American and Spanish civilization, there is actually a variety of things that make each one stand out from one another. When looking into both the Natives and the Spanish there was more to be found different then there was to be similar in any way. Both societies struggled, but one did have more of an advantage which is why there was such conflict between the two.
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 Spanish and Aztecs were both, very powerful and rich empires. They both were immensely successful. The Aztecs, originally known as the Mexica, was a group of people who lived in Tenochtitlan, now know as Mexico City. They believed that the gods controlled the world, and that they worshipped them by sacrificing. If the gods were not fed blood, the believed that the world would end. The Aztecs became one of the greatest cities in the world. On the other hand, the Spanish lived in the west of Europe, converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish wanted to explore, to conquer and by doing that, they could get rich. They were both powerful in their own areas. The Spanish soon were exploring and came across the Aztecs. The Spanish were seeking
Both the Aztec and Incan civilizations used trade, tribute, redistribution of goods, and agriculture to balance out their economy. However, the Aztecs had a more mixed organization, the use of more than one functions, used trade markets, and had a merchant class, unlike the opposing Incan economy. The Aztecs were more engaged with trade than the Incans, shown with the trade markets at Tlatelolco. Tlatelolco was a trade market controlled by the merchant class, or Pochteca and the development of currency was put in place using beans and or gold dust. On the other hand, the Incans did not have trade markets due to their trade being more informal, along with no merchant class or currency. To help specifically long distance trade, advanced road systems were put in place as way stations. Both civilizations used tribute and was an important aspect to the economic organization, but the Aztecs collected goods and the Incans collected labor, mita. ...
Patterson, Thomas C. "Tribes, Chiefdoms, and Kingdoms in the Inca Empire.” Power Relations and State Formation (1987): 1-15,117-127.
The Inca Empire Janos Gyarmati’s Paria la Viexa and an expanding empire: Provincial centers in the political economy of the Inca Empire proved that the Inca’s built an empire unlike any other. From 1440 to 1532 A.D., the Inca Empire dominated the Americas. Known as “the fastest growing and largest territorial empire”(Gyarmati 37) of its time, the Inca Empire left a mark with their complex, perpetual and innovative economic, road, and settlement system. The Inca’s were advanced for their time, however, they lacked a system that would guarantee the survival of their kin. In order to strive, for the long-term, the Inca’s created provincial centers that would ensure their growth and economy for the generations to come.
Two of the biggest and greatest civilization in the Americas were the Aztecs and Incas. These two civilization were both said to be conquered by the Spanish, but it wasn’t just the Spanish who conquered them. These two civilizations both fell from a combination of a weak government, lack of technology, new disease introduced by the invaders, and not being prepared for the invaders. For many centuries the Aztec civilization revolved around a ideological, social, and political system in which expansion was the cornerstone. Expansion was the cornerstone of their whole civilization, because their religion requested that a large number of human sacrifices where to be made to the gods.
The Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica during different periods of time. Maya 's classic period is dated from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated from 1325 AD to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although they shared cultural similarities such as their social structure, they also had their differences in military and religious rituals.
The Incas are much more advanced. Labor specialization was common, especially in the large densely populated areas like Cuzco. The Incas made roads, irrigation channels, fortresses, and mines. They used crop rotation, terracing and other advanced agricultural methods. These civilizations had retainers and all had slaves, usually slaves from other villages that they had fought in wars.
The Inca and Aztec empires were both very large and strong empires. Each place had its own religious, political and cultural difference. Nevertheless, some things in the two kingdoms were similar. If closely examined similarities in the religious and cultural practices can be quiet intriguing- As each civilization became more and more advanced the similarities between the two cultures becoming more prominent.
In this essay I will tell how the Aztec and Inca empires ended, and also I will compare the fall of both empires, using for a point of departure the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the land of Mexico. Wherever the Spanish went always the same thing happened, from my point of view. Innocent people were killed for no good reason, cities were massacred, civilizations were destroyed or forced to convert to Christianity. And so, I think now is the time to reevaluate the actions of the European explorers who subjugated the native American peoples and their civilizations. Undoubtedly the most glorified and heroically portrayed of these figures of the European conquest of the New World were the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16-th century. These men, under leaders such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro nearly eliminated the Aztec and Inca peoples. Surely many of these soldiers were extremely cruel and intolerant of the native populations. But it is important to consider, with the push of both sides toward territorial expansion, how these groups (European and American) could remain isolated from each other. Furthermore, with meeting of these two imperialist cultures, it must be considered whether it would be possible for the two to peacefully coexist.