How Did Religion Affect Pre-Colonial American Society

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acceptance, they take many girls and boys and even adults, and in the presence of these idols they open their chests while they are still alive and take out their hearts and entrails and burn them before the idols, offering the smoke as sacrifice. Some of us have seen this, and they say it is the most terrible and frightful thing they have ever witnessed." Cortes was one of the many people disgusted at the religious practice of the Mesoamericans and like other religious changes the Spaniards were the cause of the termination of human sacrificing admits the end of polytheism. As the conquered people began to be converted,by the Catholic Church and the Jesuits this brought about a forced end to all other previous religions and religious practice, amongst these conclusions was the practice of human sacrifice. …show more content…
The basis for the totality of the changes after the years of 1450 was the introduction of Christianity, a slow but fulfilled process, into a polytheistic society. Forced conversions and consequences for the continuation of pre-colonial religious practices terminated many previous religions and minimized continuities of previous beliefs and practices. However in the 1560s the Amerindians revolted the church hierarchy, terminating the turbulent suppression of Amerindian religious beliefs and practices, and the venture for Amerindian clergy recruits. This revolt allowed for a continuation in some pre-colonial religious practices. Other pre-colonial religious continuations were gone about through the infusion of the new religion, Christianity, and old beliefs and