Ian LeComer
HIST-122-04 Midterm Essay
Part I.
1. The Aztec Empire was one of the most successful empires during the 14th and 15th centuries. Some may argue that they were the most powerful Meso-American empire at the time. The Aztecs were a very diverse ethnic group that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf Coast. The success of the Aztec can be accredited to their religious beliefs, which drove them to conquest, to develop regions and build temples. The Empire's agriculture, religion, trade, and societies were of the major factors in the Aztecs' ability to survive and build a legacy based on leadership and livelihood. The Aztec Empire was comprised of two social classes. The upper classes were called Pilli, the lower class was called the Macehalli. Social classes were not set at birth like many other civilizations across the Atlantic, a person could rise to the level of Pilli if they had great skills in one of many fields of craftsmanship and/or trading. All the male children in the Empire were known as “Telpachalli”. The women were considered subordinates to their man, it was a requirement to behave with sexual abstinence and high moral. Aztec religion was a melting pot of many beliefs. The Aztecs worshiped about 1,000 gods altogether, however they worshiped their Sun God more than any other. They believed that the sun fought the darkness every night and rose to save mankind. The Aztecs believed that the earth was flat, they also believed that if they fed the sun blood, it would rise the next day. They often took prisoners of conquest to take part in a huge part of their religion, human sacrifice to their sacred sun god so it would rise the next morning. However this sort of sacrifice did not occur on any day, the Aztecs had a day called “God's Feast Day”, in which they killed their prisoners and slaves as offerings to the sun and earth so that they would continue to see the light of day and crop yield. The priests would stretch the captive over...