Food is a big part of everyday life. People need to eat food to survive, because without food a person will die. In the Aztec civilization there are two cultural practices that stand out. These are: human sacrifice and agriculture. Many historians have a mutual disagreement over which one should be emphasized over the other; which practice deserves more attention. Here are three reasons why agriculture should be more emphasized than human sacrifice: agriculture was crucial for everyday living, it was well organized/ cleverly constructed, and it played a huge role in Aztec culture.
The Aztecs, just like any living being needed food to survive. Agriculture provided food since it was the practice of farming and became crucial. The Aztec farmers did not only grow food for themselves, but also enough for their entire cities, like Tenochtitlan (Doc B). This played a major role in trade and the economy. The farmers used Chinampas which were small mounds of land that were very fertile ( they are still being used today in Mexico City) to farm. Agriculture did not only help the Aztec people but also many people that they traded with. Agriculture helped the Aztecs develop and expand as a civilization/empire. This is why agriculture should be
…show more content…
They had developed islands that were seventeen feet wide and three-hundred feet long (Doc B). These islands were floating and the Aztecs used the roots of willow trees to anchor them down (Doc B). The Aztecs used natural irrigation and resources to farm off of for their families and empire. These systems are still used today and are quite successful. The strategies were that advanced. By being organized, the Aztec civilization flourished and thrived for many years. The empire expanded tremendously and lasted a very long time. Human sacrifice did not help expand nor flourish the
It was clear through the human sacrifice that the Aztecs practiced that they had no regard for the quality of human life and did it for the benefit of their society. First of all, they would kill thousands of people at a time, and then they ate the arms, thighs, and heads leaving the bodies to feed to the wild animals (Document G). This shows that the Aztecs did not care about the people that they were killing, only about sacrificing to the gods. Secondly, many say that the Aztecs sacrificed human beings for the sole purpose of pleasing the gods. In the eyes of the Aztec religion, if then gods were happy with the Aztecs, then that they would be blessed. It is clear the Aztecs sacrificed to make their civilization the most successful of their time. In contrast, it is also a popular belief that the reason for human sacrifice was for cannibalism. It is a possible that since they had no animals such as cattle or lamb, they had to resort to eating human beings (Document J). This theory demonstrates that the Aztecs valued the well- being of their society over human life. Regardless of what approach regarding human
Aztecs were fierce warriors who were able to conquer lots of land from 1427-1520. They had genious farming methods and had interesting sacrifice rituals. When teaching about Aztecs, historians should emphasize their amazing agriculture. Historians should emphasize their agriculture because they were able to farm for their huge population and they used ingenious methods to do so.
The Aztecs were a remarkable civilization. Th is civilization were distrusted and disliked because they tended to push others out of their way. They ruled an empire in Tenochtitlan in the time of 1350 to 1519. They also were known for their agriculture and human sacrifices. Agriculture was a very important part of their h istory because without their farming method the Aztec couldn't have created such great civilization. According to Document A of the Aztec DBQ, states that the Aztec empire grew more than 200 miles west to east, and north to south. Th is means that with the growth of the empire the population also grew and more effective agriculture techniques were needed to feed the people. They created the method of ch inampas because they
The Aztecs were a civilization of brave and strong warriors. They ruled their empire in 1350 to 1519. Tenochtitlan was the capital of their empire. Two things the Aztecs were known for were human sacrifice and agriculture. However historians should emphazise agriculture.""I think historians should emphasize Aztec agriculture because of these three reasons. One reason is their farming method called chinampas. According to Document B it states that when the Aztecs used the method of chinampas they did not get cut short of food. Second reason historians should emphasize mor aztec agriculture is because they created many popular Mexican foods of today. According to Document C it states that they created tortillas and popcorn. Laslty Aztecs agriculture
Farming helped out agriculture more than human sacrifice. Agriculture focus on food and to make sure that everyone has strength and military needs strength to expand the land for Aztec. (Document A) Chinampas take up about 20,000 acres. (Document B) Human sacrifice only works or really does on care out their god because their god needs energy by drinking human blood, but agriculture can live by the chinampas because chinampas can produce
I believe that historians should emphasize more on Aztec agriculture than Aztec human sacrifice. The Aztecs were an ancient civilization found in the modern day Mexico City of there empire tenochitlan which was there Aztec empire. Two aspects that they are known for are Agriculture and human sacrifice. However, historians should emphasize on Agriculture more for many reasons. One reason why is this had a big growth on the empire because they used agriculture for food and to grow plants to make for they city to eat. Another reason is because they had a major engineering achievement because they built Chinampas to farm and grow crops to eat. The last reason is that they had a large scale of Chinampas and because of this they had and abundance
The Aztecs have two remarkable qualities about their culture; human sacrifice and agriculture. While both of these qualities holds an importance in their history, historians should emphasize human sacrifice more. The Aztecs human sacrifice is more notable than the Aztecs agricultural ability, because they left land unoccupied for later sacrifices, it resulted in many’s death, and even the finest were sacrificed.
The Aztec Empire was very successful during their time in power. Before settling Lake Texcoco, they were believed to be nomads. According to legend, Huitzilopochtli (god of sun and war) told them to go where they was an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in it’s mouth. Although, historians believe that other more powerful tribes had settled around Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs had no choice but to settle where they did. Overall the Aztec Empire was very powerful, and successful. Mainly they should be known for their innovations. Politically, through lightning quick attacks, chinampas, and emperors being chosen on merit. Economically, innovations such as chinampas, causeways/raised roads, and canals. Lastly, innovations were used socially through calpullis, aqueducts, and Calmecacs.
The Aztecs were a well known civilization that was very advanced for their time but should people emphasize their gruesome sacrifices or their well known agriculture. Before the Aztecs established Tenochtitlan, in June 20, 1325, they were hunters and gatherers that served as mercenaries for more powerful groups. Soon the Aztecs built Tenochtitlan on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. With this established, the Aztecs were allowed to focus more on religion and agriculture as well as conquering other tribes and growing their population. So which should we emphasize more, Aztec agriculture or human sacrifices. In my opinion we should emphasize Aztec agriculture for three main reasons, it’s large scale, clever construction, and how it was
Some major aspects of the Aztec civilizations were farming and trading. The Aztecs were hunters and
Aztec is civilization created by the ancient Indian, which was mainly distributed in central and southern Mexico. Aztecs were a tribe with a lower level of development at first, but they absorb and fuse with other outstanding cultural traditions of Indian in the region that they rose rapidly. Aztec had developed agriculture and the main crops were corn, beans, squash, potatoes. Religion played an important role in the life of the Aztecs. The inhabitants believed in the immortality of the soul and Supreme domination. They adored the natural god that one of the peculiar was to use the living person for sacrifice.
The religion of the Aztec, including their beliefs, customs and religions, acted as a tremendous influence on their government, economy, and culture. Religion was the foundation for the infamous culture of the Aztec Civilization. Through ceremonies of sacrifice, and the infusion of cosmology into their religion, the Aztecs sculpted a culture unlike that of any other civilization, and left behind a legacy to be studied and admired for generations to come. Religion ultimately shaped the unique civilization of the Aztecs, through cultivating the general outlook and values of the Aztecs, expanding the empire, and influencing the architecture and layout of their city.
The religion of the Aztecs was made up of mainly three gods: Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Below these three main gods were four creating gods. Below these four gods were many other gods, however the most important were Tlaloc, the rain god, Chalchihuitlicue, the god of growth and Xipe, the god of spring. The main thing that captures the attention of Aztec religion is their human sacrifice made to the different gods. Although human sacrifice was practiced around Mesoamerica, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice in a large scale never seen before to date. The idea of human sacrifice was that Gods gave things to humans like food, rain, wealth, and other goods only if they were given human beings in return. The Aztecs believed that the goods liked best the living hearths of sacrificed captives. If the captive was a well skilled soldier and very brave then the Gods would return better goods to his people. This idea lead to wars were the Aztecs fought with other indians and capture their bravest men for sacrifice. As we can imagine,
"It was the Human Sacrifice that led to the Aztecs expanding their empire. There is a connection between Aztec Agriculture and Human sacrifice. Document A "Growth of the Aztec Empire", states that the Aztecs empire grew, they purposely left territories alone the use of " flower wars " to capture sacrificial victims. This meant that the Aztecs were
Much of the farming flourished in Mesoamerica, the Mexican valley of Tehuacan, is where the plant teosinte was specialized in becoming maize, the main crop of the Americas. They even learned that planting beans next to these crops enriched the soil to make them better. These great crops made for good trade with non-farming traders, due to their large surplus. Rich communities had become strong enough to capture their weaker neighbors and use them for labor and to gain riches such as land.