Mexican Civilization Dbq Essay

Pre-Columbian civilizations, the aboriginal American Indian cultures that slowly evolved in Meso-America and the Andean region prior to Spanish exploration and conquest in the 16th century. The pre-Columbian civilizations were extraordinary developments in human society, agriculture and culture, ranking with the early civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China. Those in the New World were characterized by kingdoms and empires, great monuments and cities, and refinements in the arts, metallurgy, and writing; the ancient civilizations of the Americas also display in their histories similar cyclical patterns of growth and decline, unity and disunity.

In Document 1, The maguey plant was of great importance in the life of the Aztecs. It was

used for firewood, fencing fields, house structure, plates to eat off of, paper, thread, cloth, and wine. It wasn’t important only for the pulque which they extracted from it, but also for the many industrial products, listed above, from the leaves and spines of the plant. It was made sacred under the name of Mayahuel. She was a goddess, who, like Venus of Ephesus, had 400 breasts to nurse her 400 children.
Document 2 is a battle song that was played before a major battle.

The Mayans mainly used music in theatrical events, dance, ritual, and, to a lesser extent, even warfare would have been unthinkable without musical support. Maya dictionaries, both ancient and more recent, contain many words and distinctions related to music.

Document 3 is a dialog where an Aztec noblewoman describes the education of noble boys and girls in Texcoco. The huehuetlatolli or huehuetlahtolli (means in Nahual: The sayings of old) consisted of long books, in story form, describing the standards of conduct, moral vision, celebrations and beliefs of the people of the Nahua. The objective It was to introduce young people to the religion and customs of the people Nahua. They were collected after the conquest by Fray Andres de Olmos and Bernardino de

Sahagun.
Document 4 is the description of King Nezahualpilli of Texcoco.

Nezahualpilli was ruler of the Mesoamerican state of Texcoco, elected by the city's nobility after the death of his father, Nezahualpilli. Like his father, he was a poet, was considered a sage, and had the reputation of being a fair ruler. Only one of his poems survives: "Icuic Nezahualpilli yc tlamato huexotzinco" ("Song of Nezahualpilli during the war with Huexotzinco"). His court was a peaceful place for astronomers, engineers, and soothsayers. During his reign, he abolished capital punishment for a number of crimes and struggled to keep the political independence of Texcoco during the increasing centralization of Aztec power in Tenochtitlan. He married a daughter of Ahuitzotl only to later have her executed. Her public improprieties and high social status qualified her for a punishment that would not have been applicable to someone of a lower status. He was said to have taken numerous consorts and fathered 144

children.
Document 5 is the description of the Mayan’s capital city. Tenochtitlan was an Aztec city that was arranged in a slightly different manor than other Aztec cities. It was an urban island settlement that housed 200,000 inhabitants at its height. It was one of the largest cities in the world at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two largest cities in the world at this time were Paris and Constantinople with 300,000 people. Tenochtitlan was described also having floating gardens and being a floating city (not literally) for protection/defense.
Document 7 is an image of these Indians planting and harvesting corn in the valley of Mexico. The most common crop grown by the Aztecs was maize, also known as corn, and it was also the most important. Maize could be stored for long periods of time, and in addition to being eaten as it was, it could be ground into flour and made into other foods.