An Essay On The Aztecs

The Aztecs The Aztecs were a complex and interesting people. They are known as a violent and warring people famous for human sacrifice, but they were also ecologist and artist. They were nomads for hundreds of years before settling and building one of the largest cities and empires in the world. They were famed warriors, but inside their own cities knew great peace. The Aztecs are often portrayed as wild savages, but in truth were far from it. The Aztecs, like many ancient cultures worshiped many gods, each ruling over different aspects of life, and the environment. Gods like; Chalchiutlicue, goddess of water, Ehecatl god of the winds, and Huitzilopochtli warrior sun god; just to name a few. The Aztecs are not famed for their gods themselves, but for the sacrifices made to them. To the warrior sun god, Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs made sacrifices of human hearts and blood, believing that he would in turn keep the sun moving. Huitzilopochtli was not the only god the Aztecs gave such sacrifices to; they paid tribute to many gods, not only human , but animal sacrafices as well. They believed they had to make these sacrifices to keep nature in balance. Without sacrifice, the gods couldn’t move the sun, bring the rains, or insure fertility, and thus the people would parish. The Aztecs also had …show more content…
Many factors contributed to this fall, but ultimately it was the Spaniards who were their undoing. The human sacrifices that were so important to the Aztecs angered many surrounding civilizations, and gave the Spaniards an excuse to conquer them. The Spaniards also brought with them smallpox which the Aztecs had no resistance to, and killed their commanding emperor, Cuitláhuac. And finally, though the Aztecs put up a great fight, they were simple not prepared to fight against European war tactics. So, after many altercations, the last Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc surrendered to Cortes and the Spanish