Why did the aztec civilization fall. Why did the Aztec society collapse? 2022-12-30

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The Aztec civilization, which flourished in central Mexico from the 14th to the 16th century, ultimately fell to the Spanish conquistadors in the early 1500s. There are several factors that contributed to the Aztec civilization's decline and eventual conquest by the Spanish.

One factor was the internal political instability of the Aztec Empire. The Aztec Empire was a loose confederation of city-states, each with its own ruler. These rulers were often in competition with each other, and this internal conflict made it difficult for the Aztec Empire to present a united front against external threats.

Another factor was the Aztec Empire's reliance on tribute and human sacrifice. The Aztec Empire was able to maintain its military and economic power through a system of tribute, in which conquered peoples were required to pay regular taxes and provide labor and resources to the Aztecs. However, this system was not sustainable in the long term, as it relied on the continual conquest of new territories and peoples. Additionally, the Aztec practice of human sacrifice, while central to their religion and culture, was viewed as barbaric by the Spanish and other Europeans, which further undermined their reputation and made it easier for the conquistadors to justify their conquest.

A third factor was the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, in the early 16th century. The Aztecs initially welcomed the Spanish as potential allies, but the conquistadors quickly turned against them and began their campaign of conquest. The Aztecs were no match for the well-armed and organized Spanish, who had advanced weaponry and tactics, including horses and guns. The Aztecs also suffered from diseases such as smallpox, which the Spanish had brought with them and which decimated the Aztec population.

In conclusion, the fall of the Aztec civilization was due to a combination of internal political instability, reliance on tribute and human sacrifice, and the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. These factors contributed to the Aztec Empire's vulnerability and ultimately led to its downfall.

Why did the Aztec society collapse?

why did the aztec civilization fall

How did Hernan Cortes bring down the Aztec Empire? Retrieved 30 August 2012. Scientists finally think they've figured it out, and you'll probably be stunned by their conclusions: It was likely a form of Salmonella enterica. The first three then formed an alliance in 1430, which gave rise to the so-called Aztec Empire. On the Lips of Others: Moteuczoma's Fame in Aztec Monuments and Rituals. The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology.

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Why did the Aztec empire fall in 1521?

why did the aztec civilization fall

These include the Culhuaque, Cuitlahuaque, Mixquica, Xochimilca, Chalca, Tepaneca, Acolhuaque, and Mexica. The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs. His son de Tultengo again added in 1992 by encomiendas in perpetuity by Hernán Cortes. The author, Boone, claims that Cortes presented Mexico to Europe as a country rich in resources, specifically gold. The Aztecs moved on from there, too. Translated by Bernard R.

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We Finally Understand Why The Aztecs Disappeared

why did the aztec civilization fall

She also details the richness of the city and the noble class, especially King Montecuzoma and his palace. Other vendors were professional merchants who traveled from market to market seeking profits. This situation has led some scholars to describe Aztec gender ideology as an ideology not of a gender hierarchy, but of gender complementarity, with gender roles being separate but equal. Van; Weeks, John M. This article was originally published on The Conversation.


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How Did the Aztec Empire Fall?

why did the aztec civilization fall

In this essay, I will argue that the fall of the Aztec Empire was significantly contributed by the invasion by Cortes and his troops. There were also dramatic presentations that included players, musicians and acrobats. The Pursuit of Ruins: Archaeology, History, and the Making of Modern Mexico. Spanish weaponry and tactics played a role, but most of the destruction was wrought by epidemics of European diseases. Only a real optimist could witness such a thing and not see it as the beginning of the end, and it's probably safe to say there weren't a lot of Aztec optimists left in the world at the time. University of California Press.

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How the Aztec Empire Was Forged Through a Triple Alliance

why did the aztec civilization fall

The Atlantic says it's possible that Spanish-style agricultural practices contributed to the spread of the disease, so its unlikely that a similar outbreak could happen today, since we live in a system of tightly regulated agriculture that makes it a lot easier to prevent Salmonella outbreaks and control them when they actually do happen. There were local variations on each of these styles, and archeologists continue to refine the ceramic sequence. There has never been found enough skulls in the capital to satisfy even the most conservative figures. It was written in Britain, Duke University. Vessels were fired in simple updraft kilns or even in open firing in pit kilns at low temperatures.

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Why did the Aztec empire fall

why did the aztec civilization fall

Law and Politics in Aztec Texcoco. University of New Mexico Press. Retrieved 5 January 2016. And after Smallpox was a bad disease among Europeans, but it was even worse for the Aztecs because no one on the continent had ever been exposed to the virus, and therefore, they had no natural immunity to it, nor did they have medicine to help them combat it. This was a valid reason for killing those who refused to worship the true God. First, Europeans unknowingly transmitted the smallpox virus to the Native Americans, who had no immunity for the disease.

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What were 3 major reasons for the fall of the Aztec Empire?

why did the aztec civilization fall

What factors weakened the Aztec Empire? Aztec society has also been depicted in cinema. The current Sun, the fifth, was created when a minor deity sacrificed himself on a bonfire and turned into the sun, but the sun only begins to move once the other deities sacrifice themselves and offers it their life force. The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs. This research identified cocoliztli as a probable cause for the final collapse of Franciscan friar Fray Juan de Torquemada, who witnessed the epidemic first-hand, described the fevers as "contagious, burning, and continuous, all of them pestilential, in most part lethal. In many places it happened that everyone in a house died, and as it was impossible to bury the great number of dead, they pulled down the houses over them, so that their homes became their tombs.

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Aztecs

why did the aztec civilization fall

Retrieved 17 February 2018. The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs. Power dynamics in 14th-century Mexico were complicated to say the least. In November 1519, Hernán Cortés reached the Aztec Empire. The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. However, there is a difference in the accounts of the first meeting between Cortes and Motecuzoma.

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How smallpox devastated the Aztecs

why did the aztec civilization fall

This meant that women could own property just as men, and that women therefore had a good deal of economic freedom from their spouses. When his small fleet landed, he ordered his ships scuttled, eliminating any possibility of retreat and conveying the depth of his resolve. The Atlantic, it's possible that other diseases making the rounds at the time exacerbated the Salmonella, or even that the Salmonella exacerbated some other as yet unidentified disease. Among the nobles, marriage alliances were often used as a political strategy with lesser nobles marrying daughters from more prestigious lineages whose status was then inherited by their children. Later, the Aztec ruler But in 1520, Cortés briefly left the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlán, which at the time was one of the largest cities in the world, in order to deal with of all things another conquistador.

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why did the aztec civilization fall

Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology. Naturally, we're going to want to blame Europeans for the introduction of this particular strain of Salmonella, because duh. Quetzalcoatl to an early draft of his novel Aztec Autumn 1997. One of these tribes was the Mexica, who, according to legend, came to central Mexico from Aztlan, probably from the area of today's northern Mexico or the southern United States. The death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the life of México City.

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