Aztecs Dbq Essay

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When one thinks of the Aztecs, the first thought that comes to mind is their tendency towards ritual sacrifice and the many people that died in the name of it. Although these events should not be ignored, they are clearly insignificant once compared to the Aztecs’ many achievements. Reigning over Central America from 1350-1519, these people as a whole should be remembered for their engineering accomplishments, strong military, and complex culture. To begin, the architectural and agricultural accomplishments achieved by the Aztecs were incredibly innovative for their time. An example of this can be seen in Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs’ capital city, which is one of their greatest architectural accomplishments. This settlement was built on an island …show more content…
The Aztecs as a whole were very invested in their beliefs; most of the their actions were either for their gods or dictated by them. An example of this is how the Aztecs chose Lake Texcoco for the site of their capital city, Tenochtitlan, because their gods gave them a sign (Doc. 2). This was extremely risky because Lake Texcoco was a swamp that was completely unsuitable for living, but the Aztecs still settled there and thrived immensely. Another interesting aspect of Aztec culture was their treatment of sacrificial victims. The Aztecs believed their gods deserved nothing but the best human sacrifices, so the soon to be victims were treated like gods themselves leading up to their demise. This is exemplified in Friar Bernardino de Sahagun’s account of a sacrifice where the warrior was treated as if he was a king, given “all the finest luxuries from the nobles’ storehouses” during the year leading up to his sacrifice (Doc. 5). The last detail of their culture worth remembering was their family life. Children in Aztec families were given chores at the early age of three and toys made to look like looms or grinding stones (Doc. 12). On account of that, home life was greatly centered around working, which established a diligence within the Aztecs that caused them to be so
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