The Inca and Aztec Empires
The Inca and Aztec Empires were two of the most prominent civilizations in the Mesoamerican and South American region. While both the Aztec and Inca Empires are well-known for human sacrifice, both civilizations made numerous accomplishments that have continued to influence human development in Latin America, if not the world (Cóttrill; MacQuarrie; Schwartz). These accomplishments included concepts that might appear quite modern to present day peoples (Cóttrill).
Regarding political developments, the two civilizations maintained an Imperial structure that, in terms of overall centralized control, was not too different from most civilizations who practiced monarchical or autocratic governments (Cóttrill; Schwartz). However, both Aztecs and the Inca allowed the
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The Inca would build roads for conquered territories and ensure that they had access to rare goods that were not normally available to those areas (Schwartz)/ The Inca would also recruit warriors from local populations to improve integration into the Incan army and general Incan society
(Schwartz). Each conquered region was intended to eventually become self-sufficient, and this along with the frequency of the Inca establishing alliances to acquire new territory instead of violence contributed to the Empire growing so large (Schwartz). As Schwartz states: “With few exceptions the
Incas, unlike the Aztecs, did not demand tribute in kind, but rather exacted labor on the lands assigned to the state and the religion. Communities were expected to take turns working on state and church lands and sometimes on building projects or in mining.” (World of the Inca). Thus the Inca expected conquered communities to work on certain projects instead of demanding tribute out of them.
Culturally, the Inca were notable for developing great skill at stonecutting without masonry,
1. Before Francisco Pizarro began the Spanish conquest in 1532, the Incan empire dominated the Andes Mountain region. An emperor who demanded strict obedience ruled the land. All business was run by the state, which could draft citizens for its projects. The Inca, terracing the landscape and irrigating the crops, farmed the mountainsides. The Inca were brilliant engineers, whose roadways included bridges. The city of Machu Picchu is an example of their skill with tools like the plumb bob and wooden roller, which they used for in heavy construction. Hundreds of years after their civilization was subdued by the Spanish, the descendants of the once-dominate Incas make up about 50 percent of Peru’s population.
DBQ 5- Inca and Aztec Comparison Throughout the early fourteenth and fifteenth centuries C.E., empires such as the Chinese and Byzantine thrived and prospered. South and Mesoamerican cultures such as the Aztec and Inca arose at this time. These cultures grew to become very advanced, each inventing a wide selection of technologies to suit their social and economic needs. The economic characteristics of the Aztec and Inca Empires were similar in agricultural focus and an importance of trade; however, they differed in their governmental organization.
of the Aztec and Inca Empires created two great cultures that are still present in the world
The Aztec and Incan empire in Mesoamerica and the Andean Regions differed in their religious, cultural, and political traditions. Although both empires were located in the area of Mesoamerica, they were only similar in few ways. These two cultures were very influential to the nurturing of Mesoamerica and the Andean Regions.
During the Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire the role of the Kuraka was crucial in gaining control over the Andean society. The role of the Kuraka could be thought of as “provincial nobility”[1] whose main job was to control the labor and tribute made and delivered from the natives to the state. In order to do this job the Kurakas had to maintain respect from the natives while maintaining good relations with the colonial state. This could be difficult considering that too much affiliation with the state could lead to a loss of status to the natives, and a loss of respect from the natives would make one useless to the state. “The Indian who broke entirely with his own culture
empire and the Inca empire were two of the first civilizations in what is now Mexico and South
The Aztec and Inca Empires arose 1000 to 1500 century C.E. in Mesoamerica and South America. The Aztecs arrived in central Mexico approximately the fifteenth century. The Incas settled in the region around Lake Titicaca about mid-thirteenth century and by the late fifteenth century, the Incas had built an enormous empire stretching more the 4,000 kilometers. Both empires were enormous, the Incan Empire ended up being the largest state in South America. Neither empire had developed a written language, but they did come up with a way to remember things and keep records.
With the Aztec and Inca having populations of six million and fifteen million respectively, these two civilizations had too many people for me. Not only that, but both were more war-orientated
During the 15th century, there were two leading empires of Mesoamerica. The Inca Empire, which was located in what is now Peru and the Aztecs, whose area was located in what is now Mexico. Both the Aztec and Inca empires were advanced civilizations with a good economy, agricultural developments, and religious practices that spread across the region of Mesoamerica.
The Aztecs were warrior people who lived in the Valley of Mexico, with the capital at Tenochtitlan, during the 1400s. Under their authoritarian state, the Aztecs worshipped their patron god, Huitzilopochtli, among other deities. Despite their warrior tactics and developed belief system, the Spaniards conquered them in 1519. The Incas (or Inkas) were the people who lived throughout the Andes Mountains from southern Peru to central Chile. With a society based on agriculture, the Incas farmed the terrain of the Andes Mountains west of their capital at Cuzco. The Incas suffered a fall to the Spaniards in 1532. The Aztecs from the Valley of Mexico in the 1400s and the Incas from throughout the Andes Mountains during the 1400s are similar and different because of their ideological and intellectual values, their rise and fall by conquest of their empires, and the way they applied the characteristics of their economies to their lifestyles.
The Inca society believed that the rich and the poor shouldn’t interact with each other because of their social differences and was despised of by the emperor. At that time education was only available for the rich and it was considered a privilege to wear clothes; the
The Inca Empire, the massive nation that extended 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America and had a population of over 7 million at its peak. It included all of what is now Ecuador and Peru and most of Chile. Known as “The Children of the Sun”, they excelled at craftsmanship, weaving, and culture (“Children of the Sun”). A very religious people, they worshiped the Sun as their supreme god and held religious festivals monthly to appease these gods. Although they did not value it aside from its beautiful appearance, the Inca Empire was home to millions of pounds of solid gold and silver. The Inca had no use for it except to use it to craft decorations and statues. In fact, an Inca citizen valued cloth more than they valued gold
Would you rather be enslaved by the government or free to do whatever you please, as long as it follows the law? The lack of slaves is one of the many things that makes the Incan civilization the ebst to live in. Of the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan civilizations, the best possible civilization to live in would have to be the Inca, mainly because they didn’t practice slavery. The Mayans and Aztecs were worse because they had slaves, which didn’t have many rights or privileges. Of the three Mesoamerican civilizations - Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans - I’d prefer to belong to the Inca because the Inca lived in a completely different area, didn’t practice slavery, and had an established government with only one ruler all throughout.
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.
The Aztec and Inca empires are very similar. The Aztec rise to power and formation of