The Aztecs were a bloodthirsty war-orientated civilisation that dominated central and southern Mexico, extending to modern-day Guatemala from 1345-1521. They were known as one of the greatest civilizations of the Americas with astonishing feats of engineering, military conquest, and construction. The Aztecs believed that sacrifices were needed to appease the gods and save the world. And if they didn’t, the god’s fury would punish them. Sacrifices were used to intimidate their enemies with things such as the wall of skulls. Until their great reign fell to the hands of the Spanish who arrived in 1519 for gold, glory, and god. The Spanish first arrived with an initial 500 Spanish soldiers. The battle of Tenochtitlan happened 26th of May 1521 and …show more content…
Casualties were about 450-860 Spanish soldiers, 20,000 native allies, and approximately 200,000 Aztec casualties. But the Spanish couldn’t defeat the Aztecs alone, for they had tribal allies, and the Aztecs were weakened. The Spanish Military Technology was one of the main turning points resulting in the demise of the Aztec empire, as it allowed them to defeat forces much larger than their own. The source ‘Cortez Greets Xicotencatl’, from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, shows the Spanish Conquistadors greeting the Tlaxcala allies. It shows the conquistadors wearing metal armour, riding horses and wielding metal spears. While the Tlaxcala warriors are chest bare, wearing thin animal skins like cloaks and wielding bows and arrows. The source is a primary source, was a part of the codex Lienzo de Tlaxcala, and was composed by the lords of Tlaxcala and was created approximately at 1552. It was made to document the conquest of the Cullhua Mexica and to underline the part the Tlaxcala played to defeat the Aztecs. We can infer that the Spanish had a massive advantage over the Aztec empire, who had primitive tools. Unlike the Spanish who had metal weapons and …show more content…
The Aztecs military technology was ancient compared to the Spanish. The website article published in the World History Encyclopedia, written by Mark Cartwright, a historian, explicitly states that the weapons used by the Aztecs were ‘clubs, bows, spears, and darts. Clubs or swords studded with fragile but super sharp obsidian blades’. The source was created to inform about Aztec culture and improve history education worldwide and was published in May 2015. The Aztec weapons were rendered useless against the metal armour and shields of the Spanish. And the advanced weapons used by the Spanish would easily cut through the pathetic protection the Aztecs had. And the Aztec’s only armour would be ‘Shields of wood or reeds. Elite warriors could wear leather helmets. Ordinary warriors wore a simple tunic over a loincloth and wore war-paints. Elite warriors. exotic feathers and animal skins. The source informs us that the Aztecs armour was mediocre, if there at all. Unsurprisingly, eagle feathers didn’t work very well as armour, nor animal
The religion and culture of the Aztecs played a role in the way the way they thought and fought. They worshiped the war-god Huitzilopochtli. He was identified with the sun and was called "the Giver of life" and "the Preserver of Life" (xxxix). The religion carried some ridiculous rituals such as human sacrifice along with using magicians and wizards to cast spells. In war conditions, human sacrifice played a big role because the Aztecs would not fight to kill,...
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 ...
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)
Spain, as one of the most powerful nations in the old world, had a great influence on many events in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Spanish also had an influence on many other empires/nations' fate. One of the empires that suffered a grave fate at the hands of the Spanish was the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire was not the oldest Mesoamerican empire and it was formed from an agreement between three city-states. The Aztec's class system had the emperor on top, then the priests, and everyone else below them. The priests were responsible for keeping the gods happy. The sacrifice of goods and people was a commonplace in the Aztec culture, and it was often the goods/people of other nations that were taken for sacrifices. As one can imagine,
The book Daily Life of the Aztecs: On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest written by Jacques Soustelle gives a great insight into the Aztec people and their immersive culture. This book is set in Tenochtitlan and covers the span of the Aztec civilization to their invasion by the Spanish Conquistadors. This book brilliantly discusses the Aztec civilization like never before. I hope to show the importance of Aztec religion and education to their society as a whole.
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
The history of the Western hemisphere is full of war and conquest. One of the most significant and defining of those conquests is the downfall of the Mexica/Aztec Empire. While there are many other events to choose from, this one stands out since it was one over one of the largest empires in Central America. It is also important to look at because of the immense cultural impact it had. The story of this takeover reads like a movie script, a small band of Spaniards single handedly takes down the most powerful empire in Central America. It was an epic battle, which unfortunately led to the destruction of a magnificent culture. As in any major historical event there are many underlying themes and storylines that come together to make the event happen. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec is no different. Three major themes are seen in this struggle. One of them is the incredible advantage that the Spaniards technology gave them over the Aztecs. A second major theme is the greed that fueled the conquests in the New World. The last major theme was the effect of the political divisions and rivalries within Montezuma’s Central American Kingdom. As this historical event progressed each one of these themes began to intertwine until they became an almost unstoppable force.
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.
A major element of Aztec life was religion, as often is in the case in ancient civilizations. The Aztecs were a polytheistic people, and they often made use of human sacrifice to please their gods. Diaz often makes reference to the blood-stained walls of the Aztec temples in his account of the conquest. In reference to the success of Cortes and his soldiers, an anci...
According to Mexicolore.com, the Aztecs standard strategy was that it would usually start off with a barrage of arrows and slings while both sides advance. While running, the front row soldier would use their atlatl to do some damage before they meet. Once close enough, the barrage would stop, to avoid friendly fire, and the battle would begin. Those in the front row would fight for a while and rotate out of battle to rest their arms. During the battle, the Aztec would also capture some prisoners. But the Spanish had a different strategy. Their tactic was to walk in rows of men with muskets. When the first row shoots, they will drop back to reload, while the second row fires a second round of shots, and fall back to reload, followed by another row, and so on. The most preferred battlefield is a flat terrain or open ground, so there will be no obstacles in the way, when shooting. Another tactic was called the Conquistador’s Formula. According to the notes, this is when the Spanish would act peacefully in a new region, and figure out which area was the most powerful. They would then invite the leader of the most powerful group to a meeting and exchange gifts. They would then kidnap the leader and threaten to kill him, unless the followers obeyed their orders. The Spanish will then take over the land and use the people as slaves. One similarity is that their tactics both involve
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 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.
In colonial and revolutionary literature, people were persuasive. To persuade someone is to cause someone to something through reasoning or argument. That's how people got what they wanted. Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson were all persuasive writers. They wrote with rhetorical questions, repetition, exaggeration, and emotional appeal.
... (Schweikart 5-6). The Aztecs’ greed for sacrificial hostages turned these Indian neighbors against them (Kingfisher 196-197). The Aztecs were defeated, partially because they had been weakened by smallpox, but also because the Spanish fought together as a single force, while Aztecs fought as individuals (Schweikart 6-7).
Who were the Aztecs? Why were they considered to be an empire even greater than the Romans? And how was Hernan Cortes able to defeat them? These are some of the questions that people ask about these indigenous people. These people are known as the Aztecs but originally called themselves Mexica. They came to Mexico in the early thirteenth century and from there they started to develop a social structure and government consisting of priests, kings, peasants, and soldiers. Besides having a very organized society the Aztecs had a very large and intimidating army consisting of full time soldiers and peasants. By 1427 A.D. the Aztec empire became the dominant group and controlled most of central Mexico. Considering how advanced and large the Aztec culture and society were makes me believe that they were aware of other people outside of their civilization. A clear example would be that they knew of neighboring tribes other than their own that they went to war with and conquered. Although I do believe that the Aztecs were caught off guard and even amazed when they saw the light skinned Spaniards. I also believe that Cortes wasn’t the first outsider to make contact with the Aztecs but I do believe he was the first light skinned person to make contact with them because of Moctezumas reaction to Cortes description. Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs with less than 1000 soldiers and a handful of horses. Some reasons that have to do with the Aztecs fall from power are the Prophecy of Quetzalcoatle, their Emperor Moctezuma, enemy tribes, disadvantages in technology, their omens, disease, and lastly their warfare rituals.