The Aztecs and Mayans were both societies that dominated the world in agriculture and trade in Mesoamerica right up until the fall of both civilizations at the hand of the Spanish, during the Age of Exploration. They were advanced in many different areas which helped them succeed as an economy, but all their progress and achievements were diminished the moment the Spanish took over. This essay will cover the similarities and differences between how the Aztec Empire and the Mayan Civilization operated before and after the Europeans contacted them.
To begin with, the knowledge distribution between the Aztecs and the Mayans were quite similar. Starting at a young age, children would begin to do household chores. Later on, the boys would learn their father’s trade skills at some point in their childhood, while the girls would learn household skills from their mother. For girls, weaving was included in their required skillset. There were specific special schools for noble children where they were taught math, astronomy, and science, however, all children were taught how to play music and dance for religious ceremonies. Lastly, all children had a set of certain values instilled in them beginning at a young age.
For the Aztecs, education was compulsory for all children, no matter what their class was, despite commoner children’s schooling beginning in their early teens. Commoner children would attend schools called Telpochcalli. Boys would go to separate schools than girls, and get military training while girls were taught how to conduct duties performed in religious ceremonies. They were both, however, taught public speaking, recital skills, history and fundamental moral and religious lessons. Noble children attended schools called calmecac where they learnt essential skills for a career in the military, politics, or state religion. Gifted students from the lower classes were also given the opportunity to attend calmecacs. Subjects taught in the calmecacs included music, poetry, law, rhetoric, history, agriculture, and warfare. Priesthood candidates would further extend their education at a special school called a tlamacazcalli where they endured severe education and a life of austerity. Some girls would also be chosen to continue their education to become a midwife or an educator if people found them suitable for the job. Together, all the children also were taught a collection of sayings that would incorporate Aztec ideas and beliefs which they would later be tested on every few years at a temple.
Mayan noble children were the only kids that were taught as the commoner children weren’t given any type of formal education. In school, they were taught by priests, who taught them writing. All children helped around the house until the day when they were marriageable. Commoners’ children were given daily jobs to do starting from the age of five. They would learn how to be a farmer, or his wife. There were orally passed down stories which give light to knowledge and experiences, helping the children learn by seeing, hearing, and observing. The last possibility to get educated was to become a midwife which was a daughter’s destined path. She would first begin to have visions about it and then take the job, learning and doing at the same time.
The similarities for working together in a community for the Aztecs and the Mayans were sparse with little to no information, however, individually, they both seemed like they had a great sense of community and valued it to come together and help each other. The Aztecs had class status and social status which was important to maintain society. Community wise, family was the base unit of togetherness. From on, it built up into the Calpolli system which was a small clan/tribe, often including your closely related family into a community where there was a chief, a school, and a specialized trade. For the Mayans, there were many opportunities to collaborate, especially when planning large social events/gatherings like festivals, marketplaces, and construction. One specific place where working together really mattered was the Milpa system, in which it required a communal effort to take care of the crops and plants on the farms.
The Aztec and Mayans were quite similar when it came to their religion and the different rituals they performed to stay loyal and sin-free. Religion itself was a big aspect in both civilizations’ lives, as it controlled almost every aspect of it. A large part of why God controlled many aspects of both their lives were because they followed a polytheistic religion where there were numerous Gods controlling different parts of their lives. To commemorate and thank their Gods, they both participated in the ritual of human sacrifice, which they thought was an important part of society, but is something that we today, still have a hard time understanding. They believed that human blood provided Gods with nourishment. These sacrifices along with ceremonial rituals, would take place on top of pyramid temples which were the key sacred places to worship the Gods. Both the groups also believed in supernatural forces, animism, and afterlife, and additionally thought that chocolate was a gift from the Gods.
When it came to religion for the Aztecs, they believed the most important deity was Huitzilopochtli, the God of the Sun and War and Tlaco, the God of Rain. Because of this, on top of the Mayor Temple, there were two tempo-shrines dedicated to them. The Aztecs believed that human sacrifice was necessary to preserve the life of the Sun, keeping darkness away from it and the Empire. This ritual was most often performed with the lives of women, children, and wartime prisoners. Since the Aztecs furthermore thought that the Gods lived in the sky, they viewed mountains as sacred places, as it was the only way to physically get closer to reaching them. Lastly, their belief in God led them to establishing a society Mesoamerica because they saw that God sent them a sign to do so.
Regarding religion, the Mayans had more hierarchy politically and religiously depending on the position of the people. The King or Chief assumed the role of the divine interpreter and therefore held ultimate political and religious authority within the city-state. For religious festivals and ceremonies, elements of bloodletting, feasting, dancing, incense burning, and human sacrifice all played a role. However, the practice of human sacrifice wasn’t performed often. Out of all the Gods, Huracan, the God of the Wind and Sky was the most notable, as he was the creator of the Earth and animals. The temples created to worship him, and the other gods were also used to help with navigation.
When choosing leadership, the Aztecs and Mayans both followed a monarchy-style government with priests being high up in the system, assisting with many other roles that needed to be taken care of. Both civilizations agreed that the Gods appointed each ruler himself and gave them the right to rule. When one leader passed away, another one would be appointed with the help of a council of advisors who would choose from the family of the previous king. If there wasn’t a suitable ruler, the council would decide to choose someone else who was. In this sense, both societies had a clear hierarchy. Fascinatingly, the Aztecs and the Mayans also had a legal system with judges and trials and had strict laws that were enforced on everyone. Those who didn’t follow the laws had to face the legal system. However, there was never a prison to hold people as the punishments were often more physically permanent. Both civilizations also were ruled in a prominently desert-ish place in the Americas.
The Aztecs had a ruler called Huey Tlatoani who ruled around six million people at the peak of the civilization. He, however, didn’t have direct rule over the Empire as it was broken up into three city-states. Each city-state had a tlatoani who was appointed that ruled over the city-state. The tlatoani had to pay tribute to the Huey Tlatoani as a form of payment to keep their city-state somewhat independent from the Empire. This was often given in the form of cotton, textiles, feathers, and human sacrifice candidates. These city-states that made-up the Empire were in small islands in Northern Mexico.
The Mayans had a more independent ruling system than the Aztecs. With each city-state came their own king, Halach Uinic, and their own, independent government. With the Mayans, religion was an essential part of their power system, as priests played important roles in the government and kings were often viewed as an intermediary between God and the people. In this light, kings were also viewed as a priest. With this system came a council as well which were chosen from the noble class. They helped to run the government and helped to appoint the new king, who was often the eldest son of the previous king. The Mayans and their city-states were in Central America.
Since the Aztecs and Mayans were located relatively close to each other, they had similar food and trading partner options. They both had staple items like maize, beans and squash used often in cooking for maize tortillas and porridge, and similar protein sources, including deer and fish. As for vegetables, they both grew and harvested pineapple, avocado, chilies, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Agriculture was one of their specialties and were both very advanced in the trade skill. On top of harvesting produce, they also grew medicinal herbs. When it came to trade, they traded goods like ideas, people, and material goods with each other and both participated in long-distance trade with far away civilizations. Bartering was their preferred choice of trade. They both regained wealth by holding markets which acted as redistribution sites.
For the Aztecs, farming became a central part of their economy, and they were very advanced at it, using chinampas, floating gardens, as a place to grow their crops including amaranth, cotton, peppers, and flowers. As for hunting and fishing, they caught and ate iguanas, snakes, rabbits, and dogs, and fished for white fish, spotted fish, gourd fish, and shellfish. Trade was another central part to the Aztecs as they even had a God for it. They often used marketplaces to distribute their goods. They also traded with the people along the coasts of Mexico. Gaining wealth was through the taxation system and the tribute system in which all conquered lands had to participate in, providing the “Capitol” with the best goods which were then redistributed throughout the community.
The Mayans were also skilled with agriculture and had successful mechanisms in place to ensure crop growth. They grew cacao and tobacco in these terraces which would get raised during flooding periods to keep the crops safe. They also hunted for turkey, pheasants, wild boars, raccoons, ducks, and monkeys. Fishing would bring them tuna, jack grouper, shrimp, lobster, turtles, and snook. With trading, they mainly bartered tobacco, maize, and feathers. They took canoes and went overseas as well to trade with other civilizations. They also traded with the Teotihuacan, Zapotec and other groups in central/ gulf-coast Mexico. To gain wealth, the Mayans had successful trade with prestige items like jade, gold, copper, obsidian, and other raw materials.
After the Europeans made contact and the Spanish fought and won over the Aztecs and the Mayans, a lot changed for them and their way of life. Both civilizations strongly felt the impact of the European disease which had spread throughout their economy. Smallpox and Typhus eliminated a large amount of their population. Their religion and culture were stripped away from them, as much of it was being destroyed; breaking down temples and burning codices. This act lost a lot of the native knowledge and traditions. The Spanish implemented a rigid social hierarchy based off ethnicity and race, causing inequality and discrimination, shaping the social dynamics for centuries. These invaders also forcibly converted the Aztecs and Mayans to Christianity, however, through syncretism, they were able to blend their beliefs and practices with Christianity. The one ethical positive out of this invasion, however, was the ending of the human sacrifice ritual. Aside from that, there wasn’t much positive.
Repercussions that just the Aztecs were affected by included how the Spanish broke the social order, by killing an entire community (Cholula people), and banned the learning of Aztec religion, writing, language, and culture. They aimed to eradicate Aztec culture completely. They established schools with Christian priests where the children were forced to learn to read and write in Spanish while simultaneously relying on Aztecs to create bilingual religious text so that priests could teach Catholicism to the natives in their mother tongue.
The Mayans also faced repercussions that didn’t relate to the impact the Aztecs felt. The Mayans artifacts were destroyed including their codices, with only three remaining. They were relocated to new land and were also marginalized on so many accounts. Their population was being displaced and another impact that sprouted because of this was the cultural and traditional livestock being no longer available to the farmers. The Spanish also introduced a new way of weaving using the treadle loom, which cut off the traditional ways of doing things. Lastly, the Spanish also took advantage of the resources of the Mayan environment and required that each resource be produced in a surplus amount.
The Spanish forced the Aztecs and Mayans to work in mines, plantations and other enterprises for the Spanish colonizers benefit. They imposed a system of encomiendas by granting rights to extract labor and tribute from the native population while also exploiting natural resources like mining gold and silver, which led to significant ecological changes. The Spanish also rebuilt towns and cities using European styles and planning principals. They modernized society, introducing domestic animals, sugar and grains while additionally beginning to use European farming practices, disrupting the traditional practice of agriculture. Lastly, they confiscated land from the Aztecs and introduced European tools and goods.
To the Aztecs the Europeans thinned out their population to a staggering 60,000 people and began to implement a new governing system that better aligned with the Spanish’s beliefs. They assigned the natives with labor intensive work, severely disrupting the traditional economic systems and confiscated land which was then redistributed to the Spanish settlers and the Catholic Church, leading to the displacement of native communities.
For the Mayans, the Spanish immediately established colonist rules and forced Mayans to live in villages where the government could better control them. They dismantled the political and social structure of the society with the destruction of the city-states, the overthrowing of leaders, and imposition of the Spanish colonial rule. The Spanish also confiscated vast tracks of land for themselves, pushing natives off their ancestral land, which ended up disrupting their traditional agriculture practices/livelihoods.
The Aztecs and Mayans truly had a complexly advanced society especially regarding their agriculture systems and their trade systems which brought them lots of wealth. The Spanish envision affected them in many ways, some positive, most negative, but despite that, they had have continued to prosper and blend their ways with the Spanish, showing immense resilience and adaptability. They are both so intricately connected through traditions and economic ways of life yet so distant from daily life and hierarchy in certain aspects. Both, however, deserve to be acknowledged as individuals who have succeeded through hard work and unlimited curiosity.