Essay On Morality And The Aztecs Essay

, Research Paper

Many people claim that they understand morality, but what is the true meaning of morality. The dictionary states it to mean: The quality of being in accord with the standards of right or good conduct. A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct. Virtuous conduct. A rule or lesson in moral conduct. To understand morality a person must want to be and act moral. The process of being moral infers for a person to be virtuous in their conduct. This would call a person to act in a manner similar to God s plan. Only through acting moral and meditation on the subject can one truly established what the morality of it actually is. This reports the story of the Aztecs; their life, struggles, religion, and eventual confrontation with the Spaniards. This essay will explain the moral issue behind the facts and help the reader to establish a better understanding of the issue.

It is believed that groups of hunter-gatherers, known as the Native Americans, while hunting, crossed a land bridge where the Bearing Strait is, and arrived in North America. Once in the Americas these people migrated throughout the Southern and Northern continents (Macdonald 6).

The Aztecs are thought to have originated in the four corners area of the U.S. and started a migration southward in 1168 A.D. After the Aztecs began their migration from their native land, which the Aztecs called Aztlan, they traveled in search of a new home because Huitzilopochtli their sun and war god ordered them to make a pilgrimage to a new land. He stated that they were to settle in the first place in which they saw an eagle with a snake in its beak, sitting on a cactus.

In 1248 A.D. they where allowed to settle on an island in the middle of Lake Chapultepec, where they saw the eagle. Lake Chapultepec is located in the middle of the Central Mexican Valley. The Aztecs lived peacefully for about a century. Eventually conflict arose between the Aztec and the neighboring tribes. Three of the neighboring tribes, the Tepanec, the Culhua, and the Xochimilca, allied themselves against the Aztecs and defeated them. They enslaved the majority of the Aztecs but a small group managed to escape to an island on the nearby salt-water lake of Texcoco. There they established their capital Tenochtitlan. Later the Culhua declared war on the Xochimilca; the Aztec allied themselves with the Culhua and through this alliance the Culhua won. Tenochtitlan quickly became the capital of the Aztecs soon to be vast empire. The metropolis was decorated with great canals, colorful market places, and grand temples galore. The society that inhabited it was highly organized. The city was ruled by the king, but dominated by the noble priest and tax collectors. It also contained an elite warrior society, and an active and extremely vital merchant class (Baquedano 9).

After this brief alliance the Aztecs’ leaders refused permanent friendship with other tribes due to the fact that they believed they were the chosen people of their god Huitzilopochtli and that Huitzilopochtli had forbidden alliance. This commitment to war played a large part in the rise of the Aztec Empire. It caused many tribes to declare war on the Aztecs creating an opening for the Aztecs to start their era of conquest. The Aztecs would attempt war with neighboring tribes for to distinct purposes: to exact tribute for maintaining the society and to capture many prisoners to sacrifice for their gods.

In the Aztec religion their world-view stems from the idea that there were four previous suns before the present-day fifth sun. The five suns are part of the Aztec s long history of the universe. The Aztecs believe that there was a supreme creator of all, who they would call Ometeuctli, but often referred to as the lord of duality because he was both male and female. Ometeuctli’s cosmic coupling gave birth to four lesser, creator-gods. These gods would later create the five suns. Each creator-god struggles for supremacy over the others using his own unique cosmic force: earth, fire, wind, or water. When these cosmic forces are in equilibrium, there exists an age or sun from the balance. When the cosmic balance is disrupted, the result will be destruction of the sun, of the earth and of all men (Roberts 26).

Tezcatlipoca, the God of Earth, created the first sun. He mistakenly created men as giants and furthermore he created only half of a sun. The human giants were forced to survive only on a small amount of food: acorns and pine nuts. As a result of this they grew feeble and slow. Jaguars eventually devoured the half-sun, and in the darkness, they were able to kill the giants. Quetzalcoatl, the God of Wind, created the second sun. In this sun, man had to survive on mesquite tree seeds, but still the seeds were not enough nourishment for the men to survive the harsh winds that were to come. Hurricanes eventually blew the humans away and led them to their demise. However, some people were able to survive the great wind by transforming into monkeys.

Tlaloc, the God of Fire, was the creator of the third sun. During this age, men harvested grain for their survival. Huge volcanoes erupted, and their cinders rained from the sky to consume the entire world. However, a few men were able to change their form into birds which were able to escape the scalding heat (Roberts 32).

Chalchiuhtlicue, the Goddess of Water, created the fourth s