Differences And Similarities Between The Spanish And Aztec Empires

As time went on, groups changed, emerged, and disappeared. As this essay progresses, I will be comparing and contrasting the Mongols and the Aztecs. Both of these groups were very similar, based on their war dispositions such as their views on ways to gain power and land. As both of these groups progresses they both had many similarities, they both had just as many differences regarding their religious, war/conquest and economic views. The Aztecs were very advanced for their time period.

This military power was what helped to gain new territory. “Though the Aztecs did acquire a lot of land, the Aztec emperor didn't rule every city directly.” Each city that was conquered would be allowed to keep their local governments, but each would be forced to pay tribute. Document 11 shows us the symbols of the provinces that were required to pay tribute. A bill would be presented to each province stating what was required of them.

The Aztecs had many different customs they followed in their daily life. One of those is that they baptize their children as soon as they are born. The midwife who performed the delivery would then act as the priest. The midwife would also name the child after preforming many rites in front of the family. Another custom the Aztecs did was when you passed away, what was then done with your body would be determined by how you died. If you were a woman that passed during child birth, you would be

In the 1400’s through the 1500”s there were the Aztec and Inca empires, both were empires that started out as marginalized peoples who conquered and absorbed other cultures. Aztec and Inca Empires were based on managing resources, goods, and people in an economy centered on intensive agriculture including having their currency systems. The economic characteristics of the Aztec and Inca empires were similar in that they both changed their environment to improve their agricultural system and they both focused on internal trade networks, however they differed in the way they taxed their people. The Aztecs were a triple alliance; three city states that banded together for the greater good. The joined civilizations were Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. The Incas were located around modern day Peru, and are known as the largest empire in the pre-Columbian America.

The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan on the shore of Lake Texcoco. From their magnificent capital city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs emerged as the dominant force in central Mexico, developing an intricate religious.

The history writers Diego Duran and Pedro de Cieza de Leon were of the conquering Spanish forces and outsiders to the Aztec and Inca societies they described, and this led them to view both societies as outsiders but they were both also in a position to view the Aztec and Inca Empires from within the cultures and thanks to that they both created more objective accounts than those of the Spanish conquerers.1 Similarly, Miguel Leon-Portilla was also an outsider but made the genuine effort to study the Aztec from “indigenous” records in a way that also led to a more objective look, than the Spaniards gave, at the Aztecs.2 All three “outsiders” went to lengths to learn about the cultures they were writing about, and their personal viewpoints were not central, they made the cultures central, and this is why these accounts are more like reports from the societies than the views of the Spanish.

Religiously, the two societies were very different. The Aztecs had hundreds of gods and goddesses although they praised their sun god, Huitzilopochtli, more than any other god. They Aztecs would sacrifice people (usually prisoners of war) to help give the sun energy to sustain its life. Many of the gods that the Aztecs worshipped were gods of agriculture because of how deeply their society relied on agriculture. The Mongols did not have as many gods as the Aztecs. The Mongols were very open with religion; they were much more tolerant than the Aztecs. Although when the Mongolian great leader, Genghis Khan, opened his mind to Shamanism, the rest of the Mongol society followed him although it was never mandatory to be Shamanistic.

The Aztecs and Incas possessed different ideological and intellectual values or developments throughout their powers. For instance, an image of the Aztecs shows their practice of human sacrifice through a ceremony and the building of large temples to honor the gods (Fefferman, “Human Sacrifice Mendoza”). Ideology was a major interest of the Aztecs for they sacrificed themselves for their many deities and cared more about them, unlike the Incas who did not practice sacrifice for their gods. Aztec

In “Aztec temples priests guarded the temple fires, made offerings, prayed and cleaned whilst female priests accompanied male tasks by spinning, weaving clothing and sweeping the temple.”Although these tasks may be considered trivial in a modern/ western perspective, her responsibilities were equally important because cloth was used as currency/tribute in markets and sweeping was highly valued since the Aztec’s believed this was purifying the world. Furthermore, whilst head male priests performed many sacrificial rituals, priestesses were also essential to many rites because only they could perform certain rituals/feasts such as the Ochpanizli – Important feast – dedicated to the mother goddess known as Toci. This may be because this was a female deity however priestesses’ had certain responsibilities that made them different than male priests but equal because these were highly valued. These ideas on gender complementarity or equality may have developed from religion. For example, male and female deities were two distinctive parts as Goddesses were responsible for sustaining life however both equally created human life. Regardless the Aztec priestess shows historians that her responsibilities were different because she was a distinct part of the gender complementarity structure, however her roles and responsibilities were as equally valuable as male priests.

There were many American Indian tribes living in the Americas before Europeans “discovered” the continents; some of these tribes had very distinguishing cultures unique to their tribe. A few of these cultures are those of the Aztec, Mayan, and Inca empires and of the Pueblo people of the Southwest. These cultures are very unique and recognizable by their way of life. The Aztec, Mayan, and Inca empires and the Pueblo peoples; with their geographic location and architecture, their religion and governments, and their notable innovations became some of the most recognizable American Indian tribes to date.

An emperor ruled the Aztec empire. He was obeyed without question and treated like a god. At the same time, a king and/or queen ruled the Spanish empire. A similarity was that on both hierarchies, the religious officials came next. This is because religion was very important to both cultures. Nobles were ranked the same as religious officials on the Aztec hierarchy, but on the Spanish hierarchy nobles and knights were less important than religious officials. A second similarity was that both the Aztecs and Spanish had about 15% of their population belong to the upper class. Those are the differences and similarities between Aztec and Spanish upper

resided. The Aztecs had significant wealth from trading and heavy payments of tribute from the conquered natives. From the years 1200-1520, the Aztecs prospered and expanded their empire immensely. However, all of this was going to change when the Spanish landed on the Yucatan Peninsula in 1519. Following Christopher Columbus' foundation of permanent settlement in the Caribbean, the Spanish were seeking conquest, expedition and colonization of new territory. Although there were multiple factors that contributed to the remarkable victory by the Spanish in the sixteenth century such as religion; it was the indigenous alliances, technological superiority, and disease that was most impactful.

At the very top of Aztec society was the Tlacatecuhtli or "chief men" that dominated all religious ceremonies and was the military leader of the Aztecs. Below him were religious offices that served as military generals.

Mesoamerica was once a place filled with expanding, ruthless empires and civilizations, although none was like the Aztecs and their empire. Although they started off with a humble beginning, they quickly grew into a great civilization that dominated present day Central Mexico. They conquered and expanded into an empire stronger than the other neighboring empires. The heart of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, was a grand capital filled with many people and astounding temples. The Aztecs were also ahead of their time with fully-functional government and irrigation systems. They continue to astound many historians with their diverse way of life. They impacted the way of life for many people today with their customs and ways of life. Throughout the years, the Aztecs were able to grow and prosper with their sufficient supply of agriculture and blessed fertile lands of the Mexican Valley, and demonstrated to be an important part of Mexican heritage. The Aztec civilization was truly one of Mesoamerica’s most influential empires because of their history, vibrant culture, and unique architecture.

Throughout the previous time, pre-European civilizations in the Americas, the Aztec and Inca empires were separate and distinct civilizations. The two civilizations stayed with no question very progressed and had their own intricated but very efficient society. Polytheism (who beliefs in multiple gods) dominated both empires. They adored ideals broadly and fascinatingly, the Sun God maintained the high place in mutually civilizations. However, both civilizations shared some similarities, there were remarkable differences among the two empires. These contrasts and similarities could be observed in many significant ways.