The Aztecs and the Incas

If you order your research paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on The Aztecs and the Incas. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality The Aztecs and the Incas paper right on time.

Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in The Aztecs and the Incas, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your The Aztecs and the Incas paper at affordable prices!

The Aztecs and the Incas are two of the most memorable ancient Indian tribes

because of their accomplishments and the way that they flourished and became two of the

most prominent tribes in the Americas. The Aztecs, also known as the Mexica, dominated

Order Custom The Aztecs and the Incas paper

central and southern Mexico from the 14th to 16th centuries and are best known for

having established an empire based on conquest, tribute paying and the religious sacrifice

of humans and animals. The Quechian-speaking Incas established an extensive Andean

empire in South America shortly before the conquest of the New World by the Europeans.

These two empires arose from lowly beginnings. The Aztecs were forced to

occupy the swampy area the western side of Lake Texcoco after the fall of the Toltec

civilization. They converted their disadvantageous beginning into a powerfully advanced

empire within two centuries, partially because of their belief in a legend. The legend goes

on to say that they would establish a great civilization in a marshy area where they would

see a cactus growing out of a rock and perched on top, an eagle eating a snake. Priests

supposedly saw this in 15 upon arrival and founded the great city of Tenochtitlan. As

the Aztecs grew in number, they established superior military and civil organizations.

The Incas, on the other hand, had no legend to guide them. They were originally a

small warlike tribe inhabiting the south highland region of the Cordillera Central in Peru.

They moved into the valley of Cuzco in at about 1100 and for roughly the next 00 years,

raided and whenever possible, imposed tribute on neighboring peoples. Until the middle of

the 15th century, however, the Incas undertook no imperialistic expansion or political

consolidation. The empire reached it's greatest extent in the reign of Huayna Capac. By

this time, the Incas controlled a territory roughly the size of the Atlantic Coast states of

the US.

The capital city of the Aztecs was an artificial island, formed by piling up mud

from the lake bottom, called Tenochtitlan, inhabited by over 100000 people, twice the

population of any European city at the time. Tenochtitlan means "Place of the Cactus" and

under Montezuma, it became the most powerful city in Mexico. It had an advanced water

supply system, with public fountains and reservoirs throughout the city. Laid out into a

grid pattern, it was divided by canals- "roads" for canoe traffic- and into four districts,

each with it's own temples, schools and markets. The edges of the city had simple housed

for the poor; the center had grand houses for the rich. Markets were held every five days

and people from everywhere came to sell goods, exchange gossip and news. Officers

patrolled the streets and thieves would be tried and punished on the spot. Tenochtitlan was

indeed a very organized city.

The Incan empire was an agriculturally based theocracy rigidly organized along

socialistic lines. The entire domain was also divided into four great regions or quarters and

these regions were subdivided into provinces and various other lesser socioeconomic

groups. While Tenochtitlan had a system of canals and paved roads to keep the city

together, there was a great network of stone roads connecting all parts of the realm to the

capital city of Cuzco. Trained runners, working in relays, covered up to 400 km a day

delivering messages. Like the Aztecs, who often traveled around their city in canoes, the

Incas had Balsa wood boats which provided a rapid means of transportation along rivers

and streams.

Although the Incas had neither horses, nor a system of writing, authorities in

Cuzco were able to keep in close touch with developments around the empire with this

system. Communication was also enhanced by keeping numerical records of troops,

supplies, population data, and general inventories by means of knotted and colored string

called quipus. The imperial administrators had everything under control.

While the Incans had no form of writing, the Aztecs used pictographic writing,

hieroglyphics, recorded on animal hides. Some of these writings still exist today. The

hieroglyphics can also still be found on the ruins of ancient temples. They used a calendar

system developed by the earlier Mayan civilization.

Both civilizations had numerous gods and paid sacrifices to them. The Incans had

the gods of sun, stars and weather. Their goddesses were of the earth, moon and sea. They

had numerous and elaborate ceremonies and rituals, primarily centered on health and

agricultural concerns. Live animals were often sacrificed at important ceremonies; humans

were sacrificed occasionally to the gods.

The Aztecs also had gods which ruled over daily life. Among these were

Uitzilopochtli, the sun god, Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess, and Tlaloc, the rain god.

Prisoners were often used for less important sacrifices and captured warriors of conquered

tribes were also sacrificed. Note how the Aztecs had a sun god, a rain god, and a moon

goddess, and the Incas had a moon goddess, sun god and a weather god, which obviously

relates to the rain.

Both civilizations used a form of caste system. The Incans had three general

categories Incas by blood-relatives of Incans; Incas by privilege-people ruling in

conquered lands; and peasants-commoners. The Aztecs had a bit more complicated

system Tlahtoana-rulers; Pipiltin-nobles; Macehualtin-commoners; Mayehqueh-serfs

attached to private estates; and Tlatlaclohtin-somewhat like indentured slaves.

Both of these societies flourished greatly and fell under the conquest of the New

World by the Spaniards. The Aztecs were easily conquered by Cortes in 151, who was

naively welcomed by Montezuma, who thought he was the god Quetzalcoatl, "the plumed

serpent." The Spaniards beheaded the last so-called ruler of the Incas, and with his death,

the Incan history became part of Peru's history.

Every civilization has parallels, and every civilization has differences. What's been

covered here is just a small bit of the many similarities and differences that could possibly

be found. Some of the similarities and differences are plainly visible while some are a bit

harder to find. There could be more that even the most knowledgeable historians don't

know about because of one simple aspect- we were never there. No matter how much we

know about any ancient civilization, I believe that for every secret found, ten more are

Please note that this sample paper on The Aztecs and the Incas is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on The Aztecs and the Incas, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on The Aztecs and the Incas will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!