Essay - question 1
The Aztecs were barbarous and uncivilised. This was the view of the Spanish invaders when they came to conquer the Aztecs. This is far from the truth. ‘Barbarous’ is defined as “primitive in customs and culture” and ‘uncivilised’ is defined as “without civilising influences.” The Aztecs were anything but primitive and were highly sophisticated in many aspects of life, including architecture, religion and society.
The Spanish came over to conquer the Aztecs in 1519. They came to the city Tenochtitlan and their mouths fell open. Bernal Diaz Del Castillo described the scene in his epic book, The conquest of New Spain, "And when we saw all those towns and villages built in the water…we were astounded. These great towns . . . and buildings rising from the water …seemed like an enchanted vision. . . . Indeed some of our soldiers asked whether it was not all a dream." 1This amazing sight was astounding in the planning and proved that the Aztecs were not primitive and barbarous but highly complex. This quote in particular suggests that the Spanish in fact conceded that these people were highly complex. The Aztecs architecture was like no other at the time. This was reflected especially in the religious temples and shrines. This is because of how frequently the Aztecs used the temple for Human sacrifice, in order to make the sun rise again.
The Aztecs did not built temples in the conventional ways. Instead of finding a new piece of land, they simply built over it. This meant that each temple was bigger and better then the last one. The Aztecs believed that this was because the Gods had blessed the original one, so they didn’t need the Gods blessing again. The most impressive temple was the templo Mayor, of course in the capital city of Tenochtitlan, standing at 90 feet high. It was a structure expertly hand crafted from the serpent heads at the bottom, to the two shrines that housed the ‘major’ Gods (Tlaloc and Tonacatepetl) at the top. The most amazing aspect of this temple though, is the fact that it was built over 7 phases. This means that when planning, not only did the Aztecs have to build a new temple, but also incorporate the old temple into the new one. This proves beyond doubt that the Aztecs were highly sophisticated and not primitive in the aspect of urban planning and Architecture.
Religion was also a huge part of the Aztec's lives. Some of the observations about the world and nature are amazing. One such example is the Aztecs believed that the sun god died every night at sunset, and the blood spilt at sunset had to be replicated on Earth so they would sacrifice people every day. The Aztecs did this because they believed “there could be no new life without death.” As Bernal Diaz described a sacrifice he witnessed, "They strike open the wretched Indian's chest with flint knives and hastily tear out the palpitating heart which, with the blood, they present to the idols." 2 This conveys their disgust at what the Aztecs did but also presents them as primitive with phrases such as "Flint knives" describing their unsophisticated technology, but also "idols" claiming that their gods are wrong and primitive. But the Aztecs were not unsophisticated. The reason that they pulled out the still-beating heart was that they believed it was the centre of intelligence. This meant that in every sacrifice the heart was to be offered to the gods. This is what drove the Aztecs in sacrifice, something which the Spanish didn't understand when they arrived.
The Aztec’s and rather then trying to receive something from the Gods, their rituals were usually to stop the destructive power of nature (i.e. the god’s wrath) or to thank the gods for something. The Aztecs had two main Gods, Huizopochtli (the sun God) and Tatloc (the rain God).
Religion was what Aztec life revolved around because every day the ‘era’ the Aztecs were in could have been destroyed in a second. This meant that the Aztecs were always trying to keep the Gods happy with offerings and sacrifices.
The Aztecs were skilful also in the aspect of society, in which their hierarchy, trade and education to name a few. These will be the three aspects concentrated on in the paragraph.
The Aztecs had their own hierarchy split up into three main groups, the slaves, commoners and the upper class. The most common group was the commoners, who were primarily agricultural and common trade people. They could own their own land for their life but the slaves and low commoners worked similar to the European serfs by working in land that was not theirs and they had to give a compulsory 'gift' to the nobility that owned the land for letting them use it. The slaves were at the bottom of the hierarchy because they were most probably prisoners of war or people who had committed a dreadful crime. The minority of people was in upper class (also known as the pipiltin) and lived like nobility. These people were normally filling the top ranks in jobs such as priesthood, government and the army. These people are often blamed for the social stress in the Aztec empire which eventually led to their downfall. The social structure in the Aztec empire was highly complex and everyone had their place. This is what proves that the Aztecs were a highly sophisticated culture.
The Aztecs trade practices were different to that of many other empires in that there was no metal money. The Aztecs traded with cocoa beans, a precious substance with what they made chocolate with. The local markets in the Aztec empire provided people with the necessities of life such as baskets, clothes and tools. This highlights the practicality of the trade scheme because you could trade for what you want in exchange for what other people want. This meant that you would receive what you need or want more efficiently than the normal trade because you wouldn't have to buy and sell, you would just have to do the one trade. When the Spanish came over they were amazed at the markets, as Bernal Diaz described it: "the moment we arrived in this immense market, we were perfectly astonished at the vast numbers of people, the profusion of merchandise, which was there exposed for sale, and at the good police and order that reigned throughout."3This proves the Aztecs trade was not primitive but highly complex, astonishing even the Spanish.
The education of the Aztecs was of high importance because this would ensure the Aztecs being prepared for their future lives. This would mean young boys and girls would learn of history, myths, religion and Aztec ceremonial songs. For the boys there was also military training and learning about trade and agriculture while the girls would have learned how to form a family and run it smoothly. They also learnt arts and trade that helped them in their running of a household. A lot of effort was put into religion because it was of such importance in the Aztecs lives so creation of codices was stressed as highly important. There were also schools for the children of nobility that focused on training the children to become military and religious leaders.
These parts of society prove beyond doubt that the Aztecs were not barbarous and primitive but highly sophisticated in society, and the aspects I have discussed (education, trade and hierarchy) convey that the Aztecs society were highly complex.
The Aztecs were clearly highly sophisticated in all areas of their culture. The Spanish had even conceded that these people were not primitive but highly sophisticated. This clearly proves that the Aztecs were sophisticated people and not the savages that the Spanish first thought them to be.
Reference list:
Wikipedia - Tenochtitlan, For architecture and religion, Last viewed 4/8/07
Life styles Native and imposed, for religion, Last viewed 22/08/07
3. Diaz, B, The Memoirs of a Conquistador
The memoirs of a conquistador, for society quotes, Last viewed 22/08/07
Aztec society, For social structure, Last viewed 21/8/07
Ancient Aztec society, For architecture and society - life in Tenochtitlan, Last viewed 9/8/07
answers.com, For society - nobility, Last viewed 9/8/07
Aztec society, For education, Last viewed 15/8/07
Templo mayor, For architecture, Last viewed 19/8/07
Aztec religion, For religion, Last viewed 5/8/07
Architecture, For architecture, Last viewed 13/8/07
Essay - question 2
The conquistadors left an indelible scar on the native culture of the Aztecs. Indelible is defined as "cannot be removed, washed away or erased."1 This is clearly true because the conquistadors devastated the Aztecs and demolished their society. This is shown through many aspects of the aftermath such as decline of population, the loss of resources and the introduction of new aspects of society after the conquest. These three aspects clearly prove that the Spanish left a scar on the Aztecs that couldn't be "washed away."
The loss of population is the most monumental aspect of the scar the Spanish left because of the vast numbers lost in the Aztec society. This is caused through two main reasons, the Conquistadors and the diseases they introduced into Central America.
The Conquistadors came over in 1519 because of their lust for new resources, in particular gold. They found the Aztec empire and the Aztecs thought that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl. This caused them to welcome the invaders in and treat them well. The legend of Quetzalcoatl is that he would return to Earth one day and reclaim his city. They welcomed him and his army into the city and gave the palace of Auitzotl to the Conquistadors and their allies. In return Cortes demanded gold and then held the emperor ransom in order to obtain more gold. This demand was met and pressure was mounting in Tenochtitlan and the Aztecs were beginning to suspect something. They drove Cortes and his allies out, but in vain. Cortes laid siege to Tenochtitlan and eventually the capital fell. The Aztec empire went down with the upper class seeming to adapt to Spanish lifestyle but the lower classes were almost slaves and with that the Aztec empire crumbled as education, religion and the society was destroyed by the Catholic Church. This left a scar from which the Aztecs never recovered from.
This conquest was hard to recover from also because after the collapse there were various outbreaks of diseases, including these major epidemics in 1520-21 (Smallpox), 1545-48 (smallpox again) and 1576-81 (typhus). These three outbreaks probably wiped out about 80% of the population in the Aztec empire. Other diseases introduced from Spain also caused many deaths as well (see appendix 2) such as bubonic plaue, malaria and influenza to name a few. This combined with the loss of numbers due to the Conquistadors invasion is phenomenal at 95% (see appendix 1). This is how the population decline left an indelible scar on the Aztecs.
The loss of resources that were available to the Aztecs before the Spanish conquest also left an indelible scar on the Aztecs through many aspects, mainly their loss of gold and silver, loss of land and sacrifices.
The Aztecs gave gold to the Spanish because Cortes (or Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs) demanded it as a gift. When Cortes held the emperor hostage the Aztecs lost an enormous amount of gold when they paid the ransom. After they had been conquered though, their loss of silver was incredible. After the conquest many Conquistadors received a lot of land in order for their military service. The Spanish then found silver mines and extracted all the silver possible from these mines, during which they worked the Aztecs as slaves. This caused the Aztecs to have no more silver and gold and could only obtain it through conquest. The problem was that the Spanish ruled over them. The yield from the silver mines was enormous and in less than two centuries, the amount of silver in the world had doubled. The Aztecs did not see a scrap of this, leaving a loss of resource that was indelible while their conquerors still were in power.
The loss of land also had a huge impact on the Aztecs because their resources from other tribes/empires was cut off, and also their use of the land for agriculture and temples. A substantial amount of food of the Aztecs were used for agriculture and the loss of land not only meant that they couldn't farm as much, but that most of their agriculture now was land owned by the Spanish and primarily for the Spanish. The land was also used for temples by the Aztecs but the Spanish destroyed many temples and as a result the Aztec couldn't make as many sacrifices as they once used to because of fewer temples and tribes/nations under their control.
The Spanish left an indelible scar on the Aztecs in many aspects of Aztec society, mainly religion, architecture and introduction of animals. These factors attributed to the Aztecs losing almost all culture to the Spanish in their obsession of trying to transform the Aztecs into a Spanish society.
The Spanish destroyed many different altars, shrines and temples in an attempt to make the Aztecs forget about their previous ways. The Spanish then forced the Aztecs build cathedrals, chapels, monasteries and convents in order for the Aztecs to embrace their new religion. But the Aztecs had other ideas, and saw the new Catholic god as just one of their many other gods. The Spanish didn't like this and killed all the religious leaders in a massacre in order to try and erase the shepherd and hopefully the flock would scatter. This caused an indelible scar when the Spanish tried to eradicate all traces of Aztec religion. It was the same in architecture, as the Conquistadors razed Tenochtitlan and build a cathedral over the Templo Mayor, the main temple in the town. This was also to try to force the Aztecs to adapt to their way of life.
Appendix 1
| Year |
Population of the Aztecs |
| 1519 |
24,500,000 |
| 1568 |
3,600,000 |
| 1630 |
1,000,000 |
Appendix 2
| Pre-Columbian Distribution of Organisms with Close Ties to Humans |
| Type of organism |
Old World list (what they had) |
New World list (what they had) |
| Domesticated animals |
|
|
| Domesticated plants |
|
|
| Infectious diseases |
|
|
1. http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=indelible
WordNet search, For defintion, Last viewed 25/08/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec
Wikipedia - Aztec empire, for population decline and disease info, Last viewed 25/08/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_Mexico
Wikipedia - Spanish conquest of Mexico, for population decline and loss of resources, Last viewed 25/08/07
"Conquest of the Aztecs," pg 39, Source A, DIW
Conquest of the aztecs, for appendix 1, Last viewed 25/08/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tenochtitlan
Wikipedia - Fall of Tenochtitlan, for aftermath on invasion, Last viewed 25/08/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Exchange
Wikipedia - Columbian exchange, for appendix 2, Last viewed 25/08/07
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/dpalfrey/dpcolonial1.html
Mexicos colonial era part 1, for aspects of society, Last viewed 26/08/07
Human Sacrifice
| 1. There are two main reasons in which sacrifices took place is to get something from a god, e.g. blessings in battle, a good harvest/crop or even fertility. Another reason is to stop something terrible such as famine, drought or a natural disaster.
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2. Sacrifices are directed to the deities of the civilisation. In the Aztec culture there were many, but the ‘main god’ was Huitzopochtli.
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| 3. The main reasoning of Aztec sacrifices would probably be that Aztecs had bloodthirsty gods so in order to please them blood had to be offered. They offered the heart because it was believed to be the centre of intelligence. |
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4. Four practices and beliefsthat relate specifically to the Aztecs is:
Their devotion and worship to the sun (sun god).
The sun died every night when it went down.
Every 52 years the world would collapse if the gods weren’t strong enough.
The Aztecs believed that by eating some specific body parts of a person, they would get their qualities.
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| 5. The Chinese are known for their sacrifice of young men and women to river deities.
· They sacrificed not only to gods but to give people companionship when they died for going into the next life.
· It was actually a ploy to pocket money by the priests of the time.
· It was normally the slaves of the person who had died who were sacrificed.
Celtic sacrifice was performed by Celtic druids.
· Similar to Chinese sacrifice, slaves would be burnt when their master died.
· Sacrifices could also be made to Gods in certain ways, for example if they were sacrificing to a particular god, the person might be hanged or drowned.
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6. We know the Aztecs were engaged in cannibalism because of many sources such as the Florentine codex and also the records of Spanish conquistadors (Hernando Cortez). This verifies it from both angles. They were engaging in cannibalism in order to communicate with the gods but they also believed that the body becomes ‘divine’ when it is sacrificed to the gods and they will receive the qualities of the person they eat so as to become a better person.
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(left) A Chinese sacrificial body that was preserved. 
(right) Lindow man, a famous bog body.
Theories of settlement and occupation of Central/North America
There are many different theories. Here are some of them:
The theory of Aztec immigration starts at 10,000BC. There is a landbridge between Asia and America. The humans have been able to go over the landbridge but when Asia drifted away from America they were stranded so they built their homes in North America. They grew crops to keep alive and eventually moved south into Mexico and South America.
Some argue that the landbridge between Asia and America was made in the Ice age of 80,000BC. As http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/inventing/interface/ch01/ch1_overview.htm claims that the humans came over in about 27,000BC and created their society then.
Yet another source, http://mirrorh.com/timeline1.html claims that in 11,000BC therre was massive extinction of species. This then created people to look further then they looked before to find food. These people eventually moved into North America and then gradually down south into Mexico.
Length of stay in Central America
- The length of stay in Central America can be debated but there is DNA evidence that people have lived in Central America for more than 10,000 years.
- Some sources are suggesting even longer stay. The book"The Aztecs" by Pamela Odijk (1989) suggests there were humans in Central America in 10,000 BC.
- But it is known that the Aztecs have lived in Central America for about 700 years ago in 1325 AD.
Aztec occupation stories
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There are many creation stories, some have been included in websites such as these:
http://www.indians.org/welker/aztecs.htm
This creation story tells of Ometecuhlti and his wife Omecihuatl who created life and ‘Coatlique’ who’s offspring were the stars and the moon goddess.
http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/papers/graves.html - paragraph 3
Another creation story begins with Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli creating everything including, “the creation of life, including gods, humanity, environments and all living substances.” Quetzalcoatl then created humans by splashing blood on the previous age of human’s ashes and bones.
There are also stories of the Aztecs origins (eg migration) from North America:
The Aztecs were nomads and travelled from place to place. Their God Huitzilopochtli told them that they should settle in a place with an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake. On a small island in the middle of a shallow lake they found the eagle, settled there and named the place Tenochtitlan, meaning ‘place of the prickly pear cactus.’
The source of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_mythology provides another reason that the origins of the Aztecs were they came from Aztlan, hence the name, Aztecs.
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Religion and sacrifice
The Aztecs were very religious in many ways and this was because of their beliefs. Their beliefs drove them to do many things that many other religions wouldn’t do. There are many beliefs that led to acts of religion that included sacrifice. These are some of them:
Link: http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/aztec.html
The Aztec’s religion focused on the destructive power of nature and rather then trying to receive something from the Gods, their rituals were usually to stop the destructive power of nature. The Aztecs had two main Gods, Huizopochtli (the sun God) and Tatloc (the rain God).
The Aztecs believed that the sun wouldn’t rise every morning unless human blood was spilt which is why the priests made themselves bleed or even human sacrifice to mimic the ‘blood’ in the sky at sunset. The Aztecs cut out the heart and offered it to the Gods because they believed it was the centre of intelligence. For the Aztecs, “there could be no new life without death.” According to http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/aztecgod.htm they also did this because they believed it helped the ‘good’ Gods strong and healthy to fight away the ‘bad’ gods.
But there were other reasons that the Aztecs participated in human sacrifice as the website http://nv.essortment.com/aztecsacrifice_raif.htm shows you – Cannibalism. The Aztec royalty would sometimes eat the limbs of the sacrificed bodies for two reasons. The first is because the Aztecs believed that if you ate part of a human then you would get their traits, so if you wanted to be courageous and powerful you would eat the body parts of a leader. But the other reason for cannibalism is simple – nutrition. There were no domesticated animals when the Aztecs were around so this would also provide good nutrition for the Aztecs.
Religion was what Aztec life revolved around because every day the ‘era’ the Aztecs were in could have been destroyed in a second so the Aztecs were always trying to keep the Gods happy with offerings and sacrifices.
Architecture
Link:http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Americas/04/McGuire/McGuire.htm
The Aztecs did architecture in a very different manner to all the other societies at the time. Religion was very important to the Aztecs, who used the temples so often for Human sacrifice. The result was that the Aztecs put in a lot of work and effort into the planning and building of the temples. The temples, instead of being built on an empty block of land, temples were built over older temples. Also rather than being destroyed, the temple that was previously at the site, kept standing and the new temple was simply built around the old one. The Aztecs saw this as a new temple and acceptable because they believed that their god had blessed the original temple so this 'new' temple was acceptable. The appearance of the sacrificial temples was similiar with stairs leading to the top where the sacrificial area lay.
The other major religious buildings in Aztec culture were the shrines. These shrines were built specifically to one god and ranged in appearance depending on what God it was paying respect to. The internal structure however was similiar which mostly was a sphere cut out of the rock and a circular table in the centre.
The finest piece of work for the Aztecs though was the Emporer's palace. It was intricately designed with many mosaics, carvings and paintings. The staircase to the second story was made out of possibly the most valuable substance, marble. There was also many rooms in the palace, each with their specific purpose.
According to http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/aztec.htm the Aztecs home's were very simple with a piece of flat ground divided up into four sections. The four sections were: bed, shrine, cooking and discussion area. The bed area was only allowed to be used for sleeping. The shrine area contained rag dolls of Gods that the Aztecs worshipped. The cooking area is where food was prepared, and the discussion area was for eating the food prepared, talking about the dayetc.
These are the main architectural aspects the Aztecs have created. They strived to have better temples than any other culture, and that is their drive behind the magnificent temples that they have built.
Urban planning - the marvel of Tenochtitlan
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenochtitlan
The Spanish came over to conquer the Aztecs. They came to the city Tenochtitlan and their mouths fell open. Bernal Diaz del Castillo described the scene (from Wikipedia link above) "And when we saw all those towns and villages built in the water, and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Mexico, we were astounded. These great towns . . . and buildings rising from the water, all made of stone, seemed like an enchanted vision. . . . Indeed some of our soldiers asked whether it was not all a dream . . . It was all so wonderful that I do not know how to describe this first glimpse of things never heard of, seen, or dreamed of before." This amazing sight was astounding in the planning and proved that the Aztecs were not primitive and barbarous but highly complex. This quote in particular suggests that the Spanish in fact conceeded that these people were highly complex.
The urban planning of Tenochtitlan is something to marvel at (as the picture shows below link: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/tenochtitlan-color.jpg)
There are many different ways to illustrate the devastating effect that the Spanish had through the Americas with their land gain, accidental introduction of diseases and their brutal nature all in the name of God but really their desire to come was for the lust of gold.
The Columbian exchange is the most obvious way to convey the two differences between the 'old' and the 'new' world. This table not only highlights domestic livestock and crops/plants, but also the monumental impact to diseases that spread throughout the Americas.
Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Exchange
The ratio of about 3:1 of introuction of diseases, many of the old world diseases more potent, created the devastating effect that appendix 2 in the book "turn'd upside down :changes", pg 203, (sir im going to scan this tomorrow) conveys the population decreasing by almost 42%. Also in the booklet "Conquest of the Aztecs" on pg 39 Source A there is a table like so:
This prove the slaughter of the Aztecs by the Spanish
% decrease
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