The well-planned out city of Tenochtitlan was taken over by the ruthless Spanish as they destroyed the Aztec culture and civilization. The Aztec had advancements in architecture and religion before the Spanish arrived. The Spanish arrived and took over the Aztecs mercilessly killing the innocent people and destroying their culture. Before the Spanish arrived with disease in 1519 the Aztecs were a thriving culture with advanced architecture and religion.
The architectural advancements used by the Aztecs allowed for the creation of a complex city to be built on top of a lake. The Aztecs used architectural ideas to make the city of Tenochtitlan more accessible. The created causeways that connected to the mainland that allowed people to travel into the city. This architectural design was an advancement that allowed the Aztecs to work with what they had. Another architectural advancement that made the lives of the Aztecs easier were their floating gardens. “Aztecs built a series of chinampa, or floating gardens, by layering mud and plants together that were then held in place by tall posts.” These gardens allowed the Aztecs to grow crops that would supply the food for the community. The Aztecs also used architecture in their temples to the gods. They were able to create a round temple
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honoring their god Quetzalcoatl. The advanced architecture of the Aztecs allowed for a clean and compact city which was easily accessible. The religious advancements of the Aztecs allowed for the community to come together and celebrate their gods. Sacrifice was common throughout the Aztec religion. There were different methods of sacrifice but all of the methods were used in honor of the gods or as a punishment. Since the Aztecs were a polytheistic religion sacrifice was committed often to honor all of their gods. “Rasps, bells, and flutes produced music to accompany feasts as well as religious celebrations.” This shows there were other ceremonies held in honor of the gods but when the Spanish invaded in 1519 they forced the Aztecs to change their religion and lose their enriched culture. The Europeans affected the Aztecs by bringing disease and ultimately killing off their culture. The Spanish had brought along smallpox with them when they arrived in the Aztec culture. The smallpox spread through the city and killed about half the population. Another disease that was brought to the Aztec population was influenza. These diseases spread easily because Tenochtitlan is a tightly-knit city with buildings weaved in between each other. The disease killed off a good amount of the population but warfare and sacrifice finished off the job. The Europeans impacted the culture of the Aztecs when they cause their downfall.
The europeans also brought not only disease but warfare and sacrifice along with them. They sacrificed helpless victims and killed off the population in battle. After they had killed the Aztecs and their leader they took control of the city and implemented their own rules. “The many other warnings we had received to beware of entering the city of Mexico, since they would kill us as soon as they had us inside.” This shows how the Spanish denied their rude ruling habits causing the Aztecs to revolt. The Spanish were ruthless during the battles and their advanced weaponry is how they took over the Aztec
culture. The thriving culture of the Aztecs was taken over in 1519 by the Spanish when they brought disease and they fought the Aztecs for their land. The Aztecs had great advancement in architecture and a thriving polytheistic religion which contained sacrifice. They brought new ideas to the table with their beautifully constructed city. One question that will be asked is if the Spanish hadn’t taken over the Aztecs would the city of Tenochtitlan be a thriving city today?
"The Broken Spears" by Miguel Leon-Portilla gives a different perspective on the defeat of the Aztecs. Through reasons such as religion and culture beliefs, the Spanish technological advancement, and their strategy of gaining alliances in the new land contributed to the defeat of the Aztecs. The two factors that played the biggest roles were the poor leadership of Motechuhzoma and the timing of the plague. Those two factors were indeed what brought down this great Empire.
The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human sacrifice, which was seen by the Spanish as a disgusting act, this trigged Spanish hatred for the Aztecs. When the Spanish saw the resources that the Aztecs had, they quickly started taking advantage of the Aztecs weaknesses. The Spanish had more power; they were better equipped than the Aztecs and more advanced. The Aztecs’ leader Montecuhzoma was a weak leader, he was more of a coward, more concerned with his well being and safety than the safety of his people and kingdom so he quickly surrendered under pressure. The Spanish used surrounding enemy tribes to take over the Aztec lands, then began to massacre men, women and children. When the Aztec became angry and started to fight back, they were quickly wrecked by the diseases the Spanish ...
There were millions of Aztecs and only a few hundred Spaniards. How was it then that the Spaniards, even with their steel and guns, could overrun them? The answer lies in a number the Spanish had even more of: microbes, which no one counted on. Yes, the encounters destroyed the Indians’ homes and made them slaves, but they also brought in disease and unknown illnesses to the New World. Millions had died, and generations disappeared. 50 years after the Spanish conquest 88% of the Mexican population was destroyed and only up to 200 thousand natives survived the ordeal. Also, the second in the list of causes of death had become the commonplace brutal treatment and poor conditions during slavery, and the third was by war
Aztecs were tribe. In Chronicler’s Account talked about Spaniards with Aztecs from 1519 to 1521.When the Spaniards arrived in Tenochtitlan, and they bought horses, guns and also smallpox that killed a lot of people there. A Text from the Chronicler’s Account saids “ at about the time that the Spaniards had fled from Mexico….there came a great sickness, a pestilence, the smallpox. It …. spread over the people with great destruction of men.” The Aztec chronicler was trying to be objective in what happened at that time. Aztec Chronicler wrote about struggled in
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
It is the 1450s. Foreigners have invaded your land, and they’re capturing the citizens living there for their lethal rituals. (Doc. A) You are unlucky enough to find yourself kidnapped, along with your family. Your mother is taken away quickly, but your father is forced to become a human sacrifice for the Aztec gods. What does this mean, exactly? According to The History of the Indies of New Spain by Friar Diego Duran, your father’s chest is severed, and his heart is taken out of his body. This is all while he is still awake, and before the time of pain medication. He slowly bleeds to death on the temple stairways - and you’re watching it all. This sounds terrible, does it not?
Beginning in the fifteenth century with the arrival of Columbus, natives of the Americas were infected with European diseases that proved to be deadly to the Indians. The population in northern Mexico suffered an immense decimation of 2,500,000 peoples to less than 320,000 by the end of the sixteenth century (Vargas, 30). The Spaniards’ cruel treatment of the natives aided this vast reduction in the Aztec and Mexican population, enabling the Spaniards to conquer the lands of the Aztecs and other native tribes. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards had expanded their conquests into the southwest region of what is now known as the United States of America.
In the 13th century the Aztecs ruled city-states from Tenochtitlan, and were feared as the most powerful civilization in America
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 defeat of the Aztecs has been extensively criticized for many years. Religion was a motive for discovery, enabled the Spanish to enter the heart of the empire, and was used as justification for torture of the natives. The centrality of religion as a force in Spanish conquest is undeniable. Virtually all of Aztec culture was destroyed and the Spanish victory has had lasting effects for both natives and Europeans up to and including the present-day.
The Spaniards didn’t destroy the Aztec civilization all by their self another factor which helped the Spanish were the disease that they brought over to the Americas from Europe and Africa. The introduction of diseases like syphilis, measles, smallpox, malaria, mumps and yellow fever are just some sickness that plagued the Budhu 2 Aztecs. Also the introduction of different species of animals and plants caused a ecological imbalance (Plagues and Peoples 176-199). All these are some reasons to why the Aztec civilization was destroyed. With the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico rumors started to reach
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 sacrifices they performed on their captured victims. In the mid-fourteenth century, the Aztecs used the method of human sacrifices to uphold fear in their neighbors by using the method year round to please the gods and ensure their survival.
The Olmecs are the earliest known Mesoamerican civilization. Around 1200 B.C. the Olmecs originated as a primitive people living and farming on the shores of Mexico (Stanton 91). Soon, however, they began to build cities such as San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Monte Alban. These “cities” were religious centers where people gathered to worship, and were not populated (Stanton 91). The first of these centers, San Lorenzo, was built c. 1150 B.C., on a flat topped, man-made mountain. It was mysteriously abandoned 200 years later (Stanton 92-93). La Venta, built between 1000 and 600 B.C., sat on an island in a swamp (Stanton 93). Later, around 500 B.C., Monte Alban, which was used as a religious center even after the Olmecs faded, was built on an immense mountain (Stanton 93). The cities were made up of temples and plazas, and decorated by monumental stone heads, which weighed up to 50 tons (Stanton 93)! These heads probably represented their early kings and had distinct helmets (Kingfisher 32). It is incredible how the Olmec people transported the stone from the distant mountains to La Venta, near the shore, without the aid of work animals or carts. It appears that the Olmecs did this grueling work for their gods willingly, as there is no evidence of forced labor (Stanton 93). The Olmecs probably worshipped the jaguar, as it appears so often in their artwork. There are also many e...
...The last two reasons that the Aztecs were defeated had to do with the disease that the Spaniards brought with them from Europe mainly small pox and the Aztec warfare rituals. The Aztecs had never been exposed to this disease and therefore their immune systems could not beat it and it eventually claimed the lives of thousands of Indians not only the Aztecs. The Aztecs had many rituals that they performed and most of them had to do with human sacrifice and this was something unspeakable and unholy in the eyes of the Spaniards which only fueled their cause in killing them and stopping such barbaric acts. Also the Aztecs would perform rituals before declaring war which the Spaniards used to their advantage and caught them off guard with their immediate attack of Tenochtitlan. These were the most important factors that led to the eventual fall of the Aztec empire.
The leader of the Aztecs was Montezuma the second.Their government was similar to a Monarchy.They called the leader at the time a Huey Tlatoani. The Aztec Indians had many enemies, their enemies were, Texlacans, Huaxtec, purempecha, mayans, and spanish conquistadors. They had so many enemies because they were all fighting for the same territory. They were around from 1428 to 1521.