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In the aztec society where did human sacrifice come from and how
In the aztec society where did human sacrifice come from and how
Summary of the aztec sacrifice by mark cartwright
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The conflict and the defeat of the aztecs could not have been prevented. The spanish wanted land and gold and discovered Tenochitillan. Due to their advanced weapons, their hatred for the Aztecs and their diseases the Aztecs had to have lost.
The Spanish military forces greatly helped them with the conquest of the Aztec Empire. They had advantages with their cavalry, firepower and steel. These weapons outdid the Aztecs in many aspects. The Aztecs were terrified of the Spanish, since they had never seen horses or canons ever before. The Spanish weapons consisted of pikes and swords made of hard steel, which was much stronger than any of the weapons the Aztecs had. The Spanish also had protective armour unlike the Aztecs. With this armour the Spanish faced less risks to death, while the Aztecs were extremely vulnerable. These weapons allowed the Spanish to fire towards the Aztecs, resulting in many deaths. The Aztecs were surprised to see these
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Human sacrifice was fairly common to the Aztecs, but other people had feared it. The Aztecs used to sacrifice many people throughout the year to nourish their gods. They believed that without the sacrificing, their gods would decide to end the world. Most people who were sacrificed were war prisoners that fought against the Aztecs, but they weren’t the only ones. When needed, they would also sacrifice adults and children. Since Cortes was a catholic man he was disgusted with what the Aztecs were doing. This allowed him to find allies and respect among other tribes that feared the Aztecs. With many allies the Spanish had an advantage of numbers against the Aztecs. With many cultures allied with the Spanish they had a strong force of men to fight against the Aztecs. Their alliance with the other cultures helped them greatly with war and
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,...
He attempted this primarily through his portrayal of Montezuma’s system of governance as brutal and is people as disloyal to him. He described the apparent willingness of the peoples he encountered to abandon the Aztecs and swear allegiance to the King of Spain, “Although they were subjects of Montezuma … they had been reduced to that condition by force …and when they had obtained through me some knowledge of your Highness … they declared their desire to become vassals of your Majesty, and to form an alliance with me”(Second Letter, 38–39). Cortés justified his conquest further through his proclamation to the his king that he was acting in defense of these newly acquired vassals. Cortés wrote that Montezuma subjected the local people to violent and tyrannical repression and, “took from them their sons to be slain and offered as sacrifices to his idols”(Second Letter,
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
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,
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
Read those last few words again. As said in the popular children’s show Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other”. The integration of human sacrifice into Aztec culture was not nearly as subtle as written above, though: The most important Aztec deity in their whole religion, Huitzilopochtli, was the sun god. According to Aztec creation myths, Huitzilopochtli required a great deal of power to raise the sun every morning and keep the night from overpowering for too long. This strength was drawn from regular consumption of human blood and heart.
To begin with, the Aztec's cruel tribute system allowed Cortes to act as a liberator. The process of human sacrifice was extremely common and was feared by the majority of the common people. The Aztecs as a nourishment for the Sun and all other gods needed human sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed between 10,000 and 50,000 victims per year. As the majority of those who were sacrificed were war captives who opposed the Aztecs, they obviously greatly feared the brutal tribute system. However not only war captives were sacrifices, common adults and children were also sacrificed at times. Cortes himself was disgusted at the thought of human sacrifice, this allowed him to gain Indian allies as well as gain respect among Mexican tribes that feared and opposed the Aztecs. The majority of the population feared the process therefore making Cortes, whom despised the process, an appealing alternative. Many followed Cortes as they shared the same views on the 'human sacrifice' topic.
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 source discusses many of the same events that The Broken Spears does, however they are more polished and detailed. The more detailed nature of the text itself can be attributed to the fact that The Conquest of New Spain most certainly contained less errors in translation when compared to The Broken Spears. The document was originally written in Spanish, whereas The Broken Spears contains a compilation of documents translated from the Aztec’s native Nahuatl. Another factor to consider when looking at The Conquest of New Spain as a source is the fact that Bernal Diaz himself was a solider under Cortes’ command. His account is perhaps one of the most accurate due to the fact that he was actually present during all of the events he describes in his account. It is also extremely important when looking at this document through the lens of history to consider the differences in faith between the Aztecs and the Spaniards. Diaz and his fellow soldiers were Christian and many of the abnormalities that he attributes to Aztec life, such as human sacrifice, choice of clothing, and their temples, are related to their native religious traditions and were extremely foreign to him. Another interesting aspect of The Conquest of New Spain to highlight is Diaz’ status as a soldier under Cortes’ command. Diaz often depicts Cortes as less of a heroic figure, which is often how Cortes describes himself. In one particular passage Diaz describes Cortes as “…very frightened,” when he sees how numerous the Aztec forces are in their canoes. He goes on to say that Cortes, “…stationed himself in the lake, so that if he his men hard pressed he could sail out freely and hurry to any place he chose.” These types of descriptions of Cortes by Diaz aim to attribute his feats to those of his
His main accomplishment was the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. With about 600 men and 16 horses, Hernan Cortes landed on the Mexican coast in search of gold. From local inhabitants, he heard of a great and he had heard of a great and wealthy civilization farther inland. This civilization is what we call now the Aztec empire. He and his troops marched onward towards Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital.
...aniards, Mexicans, and Americans. The Aztec unlike the Kiowa warned their enemy before attacking them. When they decided to attack a city, an ambassador was sent to offer protection in turn for gold or a precious stone. The Aztec gave them about 20 days to make a decision. If the city refused, the Aztec sent more ambassadors and told the city leaders about the destruction of their city if they refused. If the city still refused, the Aztec would start a war against the city and destroy it. In these wars the Aztec took prisoners for sacrifice and precious stones or gold.
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...
Without expansion they could no longer give human sacrifices in the same amount in which they use too. Upon the arrival of the Spanish the Aztec government was falling apart, and "Moctezuma II programs of internal military consolidation and administrative and social stabilization had failed" (Conrad & Demmest). When the Aztec’s first met the Spanish they were amazed by them. The Spanish used the Aztec’s own legends to take advantage of them and gain the upper hand. Other disadvantages that the Aztecs had was the need to take prisoner to sacrifice, they were not untied with other tribes (Spanish were able to unite with other tribes to help fight the Aztecs), had primitive weapons, and couldn’t stay on the battle field for long, because they ran out of supplies quickly (Age of Reconnaissance 167).
middle of paper ... ... 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). These three civilizations were focused on their religions, causing some similarities. They all built cities as religious centers.
Although McNeill acknowledges European germs’, which the indigenous population had no immunity against, role in significantly reducing the Aztec population, he attributes Spain’s success to its superiority over the Amerindians. Primary source from da Gama. Like da Gama, McNeill describes the Aztec civilization as weak because of their inferiority and docility to growing Spanish control: “inherently inadequate to cope with Spanish ideas, Spanish diseases, and Spanish power. Hence the higher political and cultural organizations of the Aztec and Inca empires disappeared almost overnight… The Indians numbly submitted to the leading strings imposed by Spanish missionaries and officials.”