Table of Contents
What bad things did the Aztecs do?
Victims had their hearts cut out or were decapitated, shot full of arrows, clawed, sliced, stoned, crushed, skinned, buried alive or tossed from the tops of temples. Children were said to be frequent victims, in part because they were considered pure and unspoiled.
Were the Aztecs good or bad?
The Aztecs, on the other hand, are viewed as a uniquely vicious and evil people, ranking alongside the Nazis in the popular imagination. In reality, though, Tenochtitlan was not an especially violent place. Interpersonal and illegal violence, such as assault and murder, seems to have been quite rare.
Why did people hate Aztecs?
They hated the Aztecs because they had raided their cities for people to sacrifice to their gods. Montezuma II tried to keep Cortés from getting all the way to Tenochtitlan, but Cortés continued his march.
Who were more violent Aztecs or Mayans?
Both the Maya and Aztecs controlled regions of what is now Mexico. The Aztecs led a more brutal, warlike lifestyle, with frequent human sacrifices, whereas the Maya favoured scientific endeavours such as mapping the stars.
Why did conquered people rebel against Aztecs?
The Aztecs offered human blood from conquered people (enemies and prisoners) in worship to the sun. Why did conquered peoples rebel against the Aztecs? Conquered people rebelled against the Aztecs because they did not support human sacrifice and were religiously persecuted.
How did the Aztecs eat?
While the Aztecs ruled, they farmed large areas of land. Staples of their diet were maize, beans and squash. To these, they added chilies and tomatoes. Meat was eaten sparsely; the Aztec diet was primarily vegetarian with the exception of grasshoppers, maguey worms, ants and other larvae.
What were the Aztecs really good at?
Although the Aztecs were fierce fighters they were also skilled people. They were very good at hunting, gathering, fishing and trading and they were clever at gaining land which they used for farming. They gained land in battle but they also built small artificial islands in Lake Texcoco, where they had settled.
Do Aztecs still exist today?
Today the descendants of the Aztecs are referred to as the Nahua. More than one-and-a-half million Nahua live in small communities dotted across large areas of rural Mexico, earning a living as farmers and sometimes selling craft work.
How did the Aztecs decline?
Disease. When the Spanish arrived, they brought with them smallpox. Smallpox spread among the indigenous people and crippled their ability to resist the Spanish. The disease devastated the Aztec people, greatly reducing their population and killing an estimated half of Tenochtitlán’s inhabitants.
How did the Aztec culture end?
Invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés overthrew the Aztec Empire by force and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to Mesoamerica’s last great native civilization.
Did Mayan and Aztec fight?
They were a collection of city-states and small kingdoms, so while the Aztec may have fought some Maya, they never fought “the Mayans,” implying that it’s a war with all of them.
Why did the Aztecs have no chance against the Spanish conquerors?
This made it easier to conquer the remaining Aztecs. The Spaniards’ victory is attributed to their technological advances and the Aztec empire’s vulnerability due to the smallpox spread. As a result, the Aztec’s tactics countering the Spaniard’s advanced technology is understated.