The search for identity in Mexico has been a continuing exploration of many different cultures and realities. Although Mexico has an established democratic political system, cultural uniqueness has been in flux since the invasion of Spain in 1492. The Aztec culture was well instituted and was a direct decedent of the Olmec civilization that formed the Mexican identity over a thousand year reign. However over a two year attempt at genocide by the Spanish conquers the Mexicans have been struggling with an inability to recapture their roots ever since.
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The Olmec civilization ruled the land now known as Mexico from 1300bc to 400bc. The fertile soil on the gulf coast in what is Southern Mexico around the State of Veracruz was once home to these ancient forerunners to the Aztec, Mayan, and Incan tribes. The Olmec established their boundaries after migrating from Eastern Asia across the land-bridge that at one time existed between Asia and North America. “The Olmec called themselves the Xi, the same name that they used when they were in China.”
They brought with them from their Chinese culture; writing, stone craftsmanship, and human sacrifice. Many of their stone sculptures bear an uncanny resemblance to the Asian people of the time. The feathered serpent that was one of the gods that was worshiped is striking familiar to the Chinese dragons that adorn many Chinese art pieces.
“The Olmec introduced many things to the Americas, most of them good. However, the Xia/Olmec practice of Human sacrifice, which even intruded unto another Olmec invention, The Rubber Ball Game, was not. And there is no doubt, that the Amerindians wholehearted acceptance and subsequent practice of human sacrifice, was the major contributor to their demise. ...
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... influences. These outside influences have created a vacuum so powerful that poverty and corruption have taken the place of structure and stability. Although art and strong family values are still in place, the need to find the best that the Olmec left for its decedents continues.
Conclusion
It is my contention that should the Mexican and even Latin American population ever decide to adopt the intrinsic and beneficial aspects of the Olmec culture that they once possessed, they would become a force to be reckoned with on the world’s stage. The fundamental strength of the Olmec was their ability to influence whole nations through trade, art, and religious beliefs. Not all of their ancient traditions should be allowed but modification of them in the world today would increase the stability, economic value, and overall utility of the people of Mexico and Latin America.
... A few photos of Tenochtitlan and warriors headdresses, clubs and obsidian blades would increase the pleasure 10 fold. Also in places the author tends to divert to other Ameriindian cultures and use their ritual practices as examples. These comparisons can bring the ritual practices of a 500 year extant culture into modern day belief.
The early years of colonial Mexico were a time of great change, as the native Indian populations were decimated by disease and increasingly dominated by the Spanish social and economic structure. Under the encomienda system, the initial flood of Spanish immigrants were provided with a support structure in New Spain, as the Indians’ land and labor were put at their disposal in exchange for moral guidance.[3] As Spain sought to reap the benefits of its new colony, the need for dependable labor in Mexico’s agr...
Jacques Lafaye, a French historian, published a study pertaining to the intellectual history of New Spain and its development of a national consciousness that would facilitate a move towards independence. Lafaye takes a unique approach of examining the formation of Mexico’s national conciseness by pointing to the importance of religious thought in that process. In this ethnohistorical study the author pays special attention to the interaction of Iberian Christianity and Aztec belief system in New Spain. Through careful analysis the author confronts the merging of these two faiths and their role in the transition from the Aztec world to independent Mexico. Lafaye specifically alludes to the syncretic nature of St.Thomas-Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe-Tonantzin
In Northern Mexico, a group of people known as the Aztecs arrived and became the dominant
The following paper will be comparative of the cultures and ideas of the Americans and the Spanish. It will be primarily referring to the paper “Lived Ethnicity: Archaeology and Identity in Mexicano America, by Bonnie J. Clark”. The similarities as well as the differences will be discussed. After the comparisons and contrasts have been established, there will be a prediction of what will happen when these two cultures meet and begin to interact with one another.
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.
Mexico is a Latin American country just south of the USA. Mexico is a country that has tremendous influence on the USA. This is mostly due to the fact that it is so close. Another reason is that a large number of Mexicans live in the USA, both legally and illegally. Many Mexicans come to the USA to find work and send money back to their family still living in Mexico. Because of this close relationship Mexican culture has made a great impact on the USA. In this brief paper about Mexico I will discuss its history, geography, cultural contribution to the USA, a few items about the negative side of the country, and end with a few concluding remarks.
The Olmecs were farmers, traders, artists… innovators. The Olmec culture first emerged in the Isthmus region of Tehuantepec. The site of San Lorenzo, which sits on the Coatzacoalcos River, sheds the most light on this mysterious culture. During this time period, The Initail Formative, food surplus sparked an increase in population and career specialization. With the increase of specialization and sedentism came the environment for complex culture.
After three hundred years of suffering and oppression by the Spanish crown, and inspired by the fire of revolution sweeping over the world in places such as United States and France, the Mexican population finally decided that they could endure no more, it was time for a change! In this essay I put together some of the various factors of Spanish colonialism that led to the Mexican independence. These factors were the socio political conditions of nueva españa, the enlightment era, as well as various leaders
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...
Lets start in the Formative period, the beginning. Between 1800 BCE and 200 BCE the Olmec empire was one of the leading powers of Mesoamerica. The Olmecs believed that humans transformed or evolved from Jaguars (Carrasco, 32). They believed there was a strong connection between all animals and people. Many of their temples and rituals were designed to praise or show acknowledgement of different animals. That is how they viewed the make up of their society, or how it came to be. The Olmecs also had a very big concern for burying their dead near their sacred areas. According to Carrasco, “this combination of human and temple at the heart of a settlement indicates the early pattern of what we have called world centering” (Carrasco, 34). This shows they believed there was a strong connection between sacred spaces, ceremonial structures, the earth, the dead, and the underworld. Their calendar system called the long count, was a huge part of organizing rituals and social life in Mesoamerica. They also had a sacred ball game that was very influential to their culture. It was more of a ritual than a game, being that, in some cases, the losing team would be sacrificed to the gods (Carrasco, 36). They believed that using these things would maintain order in their
International Congress of Mexican History. Contemporary Mexico: Papers of the IV International Congress of Mexican History. Berkley, University of California Press, 1976
When observing the architecture found in Mexico one has to wonder about how much influence the Spanish Colonialists had on this country. Much of the influence the Spanish Colonialists had on Mexican Architecture came from their conquests over the Native Indians of the Americas. Historically, Mexico has been a war-torn religiously, socially, economically, and political areas of the country. As the Spanish Conquerors dominated the Natives, their influence spread thoroughly throughout the Americas. The result was an aristocratic government where the natives were not given any chance of self-expression. Under these conditions, it was natural for the Architecture of the New Americas to have been brought from Spain.
Like an enormous living museum, Mexico City provides an extraordinary showplace for the thousands of years of human cultural achievement that Mexico has attained. It ranks as one of the world's great capitals and is a must for anyone craving to understand Mexico's complex past, its fast-paced present, and its ever challenging future. The size and grandeur of the city are staggering. It is not only the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere, but, by some accounts, has also become the largest city in the world. Before we look at present day Mexico City, let us look into it deep and storied past.
The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress from the force of globalization. Globalization has followed the trends of conflict and contradiction forcing ethnic Mexicans to adjust their culture and combat this force. While Mexican Americans are in the struggle against globalization and the impact it has had on their lives, e.g., unemployment more common, wages below the poverty line, globalization has had a larger impact on their motherland having devastating affects unlike anything in history.