Research Paper on the Aztecs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research Paper on the Aztecs - Essay Example Before settling near the southern edge of modern Mexico, the Aztecs were a group of semi-nomadic people with weak political powers and a notably fragmented identity1. A small part of the colorful politics of the area at the time, the Aztecs were actually driven into the highlands by other more powerful nations and for a few centuries they lived relatively peaceably with their neighbors, much differently than the society we envision now as the Aztecs: a violent and powerful group motivated by gold, wealth and bloodthirsty gods. In truth, it took at least 200 years for the Aztecs to work their way into a position of relative authority throughout southern Mexico, and this was accomplished with "judicious diplomacy, discreet military alliance, and well-timed royal marriages"2. Another factor in the rise of the nation was the capital city, Tenochtitlan, which now lies buried under Mexico City. Tenochtitlan was founded several hundred years before the Aztecs held control of their part of M exico, and as it grew so did the nation. The first grip the Aztecs held on their counterparts was via their city as an important marketing town, since people from all around would come to trade with each other and indeed relied on Tenochtitlan for their livelihoods. Through slow and deliberate state movement within the military, surrounding governments and the royal family, the Aztecs found themselves an undeniably powerful position within local and surrounding politics during the 14th and 15th centuries, thereafter undertaking a drastic change in policy that saw them become an unquestioned ruling force that we recognize from Spanish accounts. Ironically, the Aztec nation had only just become a society of an elite ruling class, with a vaguely centralized economy catering primarily to Tenochtitlan from countless surrounding villages and towns when the Spanish happened upon it. There is no telling where the society might have taken itself without the destructive influence of the Spanish, although given the history of the area historians are in a general consensus that like the Maya and Toltec nations, the Aztecs were doomed to fall victim to their own bad economic planning. In fact, such innately fragile forces have actually been cited as the rea son that the Spanish found their conquering party so successful3. One of the most persistent legends of the Aztecs is that of human sacrifice; the practice is often alluded to modern literature and television, and this is largely responsible for our contemporary view of the Aztecs as violent and barbaric. The stories come from the Spanish accounts of their enemies, with graphic scenes described where Aztec rulers marched their victims up the steep steps of a pyramid and laid them out, slitting their chests and pulling their hearts out by hand. The gruesome scene must have made some impression on the Europeans, and it does still affect us greatly today when we have hundreds of years safely separating us from the event. There can be little doubt that human sacrifice was carried out by the Aztecs since the remains of the victims is estimated at the hundreds of thousands by excavators and historic documents. What researchers really