РефератыИностранный языкThThe Aztec Indians Essay Research Paper The

The Aztec Indians Essay Research Paper The

The Aztec Indians Essay, Research Paper


The Aztec Indians, who are known for their


domination of southern and central Mexico, ruled between


the 14th and 16th centuries. Their name is derived from


Azatlan, the homeland of the north. The Aztecs also call


themselves Mexica and there language came from the


Nahuatlan branch of the Uto-Aztecan family. The Aztecs


were formed after the Toltec civilization occurred when


hundreds of civilians came towards Lake texcoco. Late


families were unfortunate and were forced to go to the


swamp lands. In the swamp lands there was only one piece


of land to farm on and it was totally surrounded by more


marshes . The Aztec families some how converted these


disadvantages to a might empire known as they Aztec


Empire. People say the empire was partially formed by a


deeply believed legend. As the the legend went it said that


Aztec people would create a empire on in a swampy place


where they would see an eagle eating a snake while perched


on a cactus which is growing out of a rock in the


swamplands. This is what priests claimed they saw while


entering the new land. By the year 1325 Their capital city


was finished. They called it Tenochtitlan. In the the capital


city aqueducts (piping) were constructed, bridges were built,


and chinapas were made. Chinapas were little islands


formed by pilled up mud. On these chinapas Aztecs grew


corn, beans, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, and tobacco.


Tenochtitlan (the capital city) was covered in giant religious


statues in order to pay their respects to the gods. In the


Aztec religion numerous gods controlled an Aztec?s daily


life. Some of the

se gods include: Uitzilpochtli (the sun god),


Coyolxauhqui (the moon goddess), Tlaloc (the rain god),


and Quetzalcoatl (the inventor of the calendar and writing).


Another part of the Aztec religion was human sacrifices. For


their sacrifices the priest would lay the man or woman over a


convex (rounded) stone, then he would take a sharp knife


and cut the victims heart out. They did this because they


believed that good gods could prevent bad gods from doing


evil things and they also believed that good gods got their


strength from human blood and hearts so they had sacrifices


in order to keep their gods strong. For major rituals warriors


were sacrificed, for the warrior this was one of the greatest


honors and for minor rituals prisoners were used. In an


Aztec marriage the grooms shirt is tied to the brides dress in


order to express there bonding and after the wedding incents


were burned for 4 days before proceeding with the


marriage. In 1519 Hernando Cortes, a Spanish explorer, led


over 500 men into Aztec territory to search for gold. Aztecs


thought he was a representative for a certain white skinned


god so they respected him. It all changed when the Aztecs


saw that Hernando was melting down their golden statues


and shipping them back to Spain. The Aztecs decided to


attack Hernando and his men. The Aztecs were successful


and drove the Spanish away. In 1520 the Spanish attacked


the Aztec?s capital city and destroyed their civilization. That


was the end of the Aztec?s mighty empire had built so long


ago. Work Cited 1) ?Aztec Indians?. Young Students


Learning Library. 1993 2) Encarta ?96. CD-ROM. U.S.


Microsoft, 1996 .

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