Aztec Society Essay

Aztec: Indians of North America
Aztec people had a very rigid and highly well-defined society. The Aztec society was comprised of a system of classes identified as commoners, nobility, indentured workers and slaves. The indentured workers were landless laborers who did contract work on noble’s estates and the slaves served households of the wealthy. Since slavery was not an inherited status the children of slaves were often considered free citizens. All commoners were classified as large kinship groups known as calpullis. The calpulli were responsible for providing tax and conscript labor for the state. Each group consisted of a thousand members that were ruled by an elected chief. The elected chief served as an intermediary for the central government and ran its day to day affairs.
The Aztecs relied heavily on trade and it was an important part of their life. Their economy relied on agriculture and farming. The Aztec farmers grew a lot of crops which include beans, squash, avocados, tobacco, and hemp. Their most important crop grown was corn. The Aztec farmers produced more
They had to dress a certain way to reflect their social stratification. For example the commoners wore plain clothing with no type of embellishments. The nobility could wear vibrant and colorful clothing with jewelry. If they chose not to abide by the dress code they suffered from a severe punishment which resulted in possible death. The Aztecs were very serious about their religion and believed that human sacrifices would appeal to the gods. They believed that by not shedding blood the world and their lives would cease to come to an end. Fighting in the war was also a major aspect of their lives. The boys were groomed into becoming soldiers and started training very early. Since the war was very prominent in the society the Aztecs were stuck with a horrible reputation and local villages and townspeople were afraid of