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Table of Contents
Heading
1.
(1)
2.
Introduction
Sources
a. Summary of Evidence
b. Evaluation of Sources
3.
Page
(2)
(5)
a. Analysis
b. Conclusion
(12)
4.
Reflection
(13)
5.
Bibliography
(14)
Introduction
What role did the annihilation of the Aztec Empire play
in the destabilization of the Yucatan? Was the Aztec
Empire as backwards as many people today think it was?
Would it have become a regional power if the Spanish had
not destroyed it or would it have collapsed into nothing
with the introduction of western ideas? Moreover, how
of
North
Yucatan
and
South
Mexico?
In
this
of
Europe
in
development.
Conquistadores
changed
terms
I
of
will
the
economic,
show
cultural
how
social
that
heritage
and
Spanish
of
the
Sources
Here we will summarize and evaluate the
sources that was used in this investigation.
Summary of Evidence
Source A:
Source B:
Source C:
Source D:
Edition)
Source E:
Article: Aztecs
Content: A discussion of the high level of
technological,
architectural,
astrological,
social
and
agricultural
development
of
the
Aztecs.
Usefulness to the investigation:
It
illustrates
the
point
of
this
investigation perfectly.
Source F:
Colliers Encyclopaedia
Article: Aztecs
Content: A description of the great market in
Tenochtitln by a Spanish soldier and chronicler
that accompanied Corts.
Usefulness to the investigation: This account
gives us a picture of the type, extent and
magnitude of Aztec trade, proving that the Aztecs
had a large and well-structured trade network and
markets.
Source G:
August 1939
Source B:
Source C:
Source D:
Edition)
Origin:
Computer-based
encyclopaedia,
two
articles: Aztec culture to the time of the
Spanish Conquest- William T. Sanders and Jacques
Soustelle and Conquest of Meso-America-David
Bushnell
Purpose: Aztec culture to the time of the
Spanish Conquest: This is a discussion on the
biasness of different sources from that period to
make us aware of the existing biasness. Conquest
of Meso-America: Information on the conquest of
the Aztecs.
Value: Helps identify potentially biased
sources and provides more information for a
fuller total picture.
Limitation: No evident limitations, it is a
very good, unbiased source
Source E:
Limitation:
It
was
taken
from
an
old
encyclopaedia (1958), so the information might be
outdated to some extent.
Source F:
Colliers Encyclopaedia
Source G:
August 1939
Origin: An article in the National Geographic
Purpose:
Informative
article
about
the
Yucatan
Value: Extra information
Limitation: The article only mentions this
small piece of information about the Aztecs, as
it is actually about Maya ruins.
to
the
Universal
Standard
Encyclopaedia:
Aztec
The
of
the
well-known
headdress
of
Montezuma
II
and
other
of
particular
story/event/recipe/spell),
all
of
The Aztecs had complete records of all the events in there Empire
that rivalled those of Rome. According to William T. Sanders and
Jacques Soustelle:[Aztec] Sacred books were written (or rather,
painted) on deerskin or agave-fibre paper by scribes, who used a
combination of pictography, ideograms, and phonetic symbols and
dealt
with
speculations
the
on
ritual
the
calendar,
gods
and
divination,
the
ceremonies,
universe.
Other
and
native
medicinal plants;
and the
Codex Mendoza
and the
Matrcula de
on
picture5
Lake
The
shows
the
district
of
alongside
sacred
temple
Tenochtitln.
too
Texcoco.
large,
Aztecs
anchored
the
bottom
create
more
of
the
land.
lake
The
to
city
much
like
Venice.
Spanish
soldiers
Tenochtitln: Venice
called
of
the
New
city,
so
that,
by
the
time
that Cortes got there, it was home to about 200 to 300 thousand
residents, making it one of the biggest cities in the world at
that time, London only having about 100 thousand and Paris about
the same.
Tenochtitln was also a regional centre of trade, with markets the
size
of
following
which
is
the
an
Spanish
excerpt
Conquistadores
from
the
diary
had
never
seen.
The
of
Bernal
Daz
del
cloth and cotton and articles of twisted thread and those who sold
4
we
can
see
that
the
Aztecs
were
not
just
lot
of
Aztec
religion
architectural
wonders
They
of
destroyed
most
Tenochtitln,
and
records,
anything
the
great
else
they
fancied to destroy. They stole the Aztec gold and shipped it off
to Europe, giving rise to Piracy. They force their own culture on
the
people
of
the
Yucatan,
giving
rise
to
the
modern
Latin
COLLIERS ENCYCLOPAEDIAp.414
Conclusion
So, what can we conclude from all this? The Aztecs were cultured,
civilized and organized enough to have become a regional leader
and contributor to regional stability, and to an extent it did
bring stability to the region. The Spanish, greedy for gold and
power,
destroyed
the
Aztec
civilisation,
destroying
the
by
warlords.
In
addition
to
creating
this
political
culture-crisis
experienced
by
many
Central
Americans
today.
Reflection
I conducted this investigation by first checking all the
encyclopaedias on my computer for anything that could
prove that the Aztecs were an advanced culture. After
that I asked some friends of our family if they could
lend me some book-based encyclopaedias and I looked in
there. As the library was closed for the holiday I could
not
use
it,
so
the
only
sources
used
were
those
available
to
Unfortunately
me,
the
which
real
turned
codices
out
are
to
not
be
enough.
available
to
the
Europeans,
especially
Spain
and
the
Roman
Bibliography
1. The Oxford Interactive Encyclopaedia
Developed by The Learning Company, Inc.
Copyright 1997 TLC Properties Inc.
All rights reserved.
2. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004
1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
Product ID: 73514-442-5000196-66422
Version: 13.0.0.0531
3. World Book Millennium 2000
(International)Multimedia Edition