Aztecs - Society

The Aztecs:
Society:
In short, Aztec society was made of 8 distinct social classes: rulers, warriors, nobility, priests and priestesses, free poor, slaves, servants, and the middle class. The most important of these were the tlatoani (rulers), warriors, nobility, and the high priests and priestesses. The lower class composed by the free poor, slaves, servants, and the middle class. (Steenberge, 2009)
Warriors:
The Aztec men were exceptionally brave and strong group of chosen men. They were stupendously trained in the use of weapons for combat, battle and war; basically becoming the equivalent to our military nowadays. Few Aztecs were as privileged as the military men and even young cadets had the respect of royalty and the priesthood. This career was made rewarding by rank, land, and good wages given by the emperor.
Aztec Nobility:
The nobles were firmly in control of society. They ran the government, owned the land, slaves, and servants. They also commanded the army. Power and wealth of Aztec nobility rested on control of land, labor, and tribute. There were three ranks of nobles. The tlatoani, or ruler; Tetecuhtin, the high lords and the Pipiltin who were the regular lords. Each had a different position in society. The nobles enjoyed great wealth and privileges which were rigidly specified by law.
Priests and Priestesses:
Aztec priests had many responsibilities including: watching the planets and stars to prophesize and sound the time, keeping track of eclipses and other planetary events, naming certain constellations, computing the movement of stars and planets for predictions of their future positions in the sky, reading the calendar, divining the incantations to the gods and horoscopes, divining horoscopes for newborns to see if their sign was lucky or not, and checking the horoscopes of engaged couples to see if they were compatible, making offerings and sacrifices to the gods, sacrificing victims on the sacrificial stone, and drawing blood. A lot isn’t it? It is easy to see that even though they were higher nobility, they had very hard and uncomfortable lives. Yet, they were very vital to Aztec society.
The life of an Aztec priestess was equally very hard and uncomfortable. Priestesses also performed many ceremonies, prayers, songs, incantations, and divinations in honor of the gods as well. Their responsibilities included reading the calendar and interpreting the Sacred Calendar, divining the incantations to the gods, reading horoscopes, and making sacrifices and offerings to the gods. (Steenberge, 2009)
Poor Free:
Although these people were poor and of a lower class than those who belonged to what we would call the aristocracy, there was one thing, however, that they did have, and that was their freedom. They did have their families and each other. It was not unheard of, though, for someone of the lower class to become a noble through bravery in the military service or even marriage.
Slaves:
The servants were for the better part, owned by the nobility class. Unlike the servants, they were considered property and could be sold over and over again. A slave was considered to be the legal property of their master who could do whatever he wanted with them within certain limits because even slaves had certain rights. If slaves chose to marry, they could with their master’s permission, and any children they had were born free unless their spouse was also a slave. A slave could buy his or her freedom, or his master could write a letter releasing the slave from bondage. This reminded me of the slavery that happen to the blacks of the world, they were sold over and over again as they worked hard in cotton fields in horrendous conditions.
Servants:
Servants were people who, although the nobility owned them, were not considered to be property the way a slave was, for they were free to marry and their children were born free. However, they could be sold just as easily as slaves unless the owner had a document written freeing them from their bondage. As you can tell, the proper documentation was very important to the people as it is for us today. Without the correct papers, we can be quickly mistaken and put into a lot of trouble with the law.
Middle class:
Just like today, the middle class made up the largest part of the population in Aztec society. It consisted mainly of accountants, lawmakers, merchants, quarriers, feather workers, potters, weavers, sculptors, painters, goldsmiths, and silversmiths. Merchants: The merchant class in the Aztec empire was a special subgroup. Although they were below the nobles (mainly priests and warriors), they were above the common farmers. This special merchant class was called pochteca, and was mostly hereditary. The pochteca class was somewhat removed from the rest of Aztec society. So much, in fact, that the pochteca often had a separate section of the city. They also formed their own guilds (the Aztec precursor to today 's trade organizations and unions) and often enjoyed special privileges. (ThinkQuest, n.d.)

Economy:
Agriculture and Trades: The Aztec economy was based on agriculture and trade which was provided by the citizen on outstanding lands (the middle class). The Aztecs utilized all arable land, and practiced advanced agronomy techniques, such as crop rotation. Another example is the chinampa farming system; beds of reeds were placed in a lake, covered with soil, and then cultivated. This way, not only did they farm the land, but also reclaimed the water, which provided constant nourishment for the crops.
They were able to plant and harvest lots of crops like sweet potatoes, maize, tomatoes, avocados, beans, squashes and other kinds of plants. While in the lowlands, tropical crops like papaya, cotton and cacao were planted and harvested. Chocolate, which is consumed both in liquid and solid form, made the Aztecs famous worldwide. When the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, they found out about chocolate and thus chocolate was discovered and spread across Europe. The crops that they planted and harvested were their main source of food since they rarely hunted animals as food, only eating turkey as some sort of special occasion food.
Currency: The Aztecs were definitely an advanced people since they knew about the value of money. Several kinds of money were used by the Aztecs and the cacao bean was one of the regular money used by the Aztecs. For example, a small rabbit would cost a person around thirty cacao beans, but if a man were to sell his own child (especially a daughter), that man would gain about 600 cacao beans. Remember that selling one’s own child was common for them and they even regarded self-sacrificing one’s self as the highest honor a warrior can get.

Other than the cacao beans, the Aztecs used quachtli; a type of cloth that the Aztecs really treasured. It is said that this type of cotton cloth was more valued than the cacao beans and if a common man were given ten quachtli, than man can live for half a year in Tenochtitlan.
Life at home: The average Aztec probably lived much like Indians in the more remote villages of Mexico today. A family lived in a simple house made of adobe or poles. The husband worked in the fields with his older sons. The wife managed the household and trained her daughters. Women spent much time grinding corn on a flat stone metate and making unleavened cakes called tortillas. They also spun and wove cloth for clothing.
Location:

Citations:
Author, Unknown. (n.d.). Aztec economy. Retrieved from http://www.aztec-history.net/aztec_economy

Nosotro, Rit. (2000-2010). Economic system of the Aztecs. Retrieved from http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t4aztecra.htm

Steenberge, A. Zoe. (2009). Aztec Social Classes. Retrieved from http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=you&id=429&typ=reg

ThinkQuest Team 16325. "Empires Past: Aztecs: Trade, Economy and Merchants" 31 August 1998. http://library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-eco.html?tql-iframe

Citations: Author, Unknown. (n.d.). Aztec economy. Retrieved from http://www.aztec-history.net/aztec_economy Nosotro, Rit. (2000-2010). Economic system of the Aztecs. Retrieved from http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t4aztecra.htm Steenberge, A. Zoe. (2009). Aztec Social Classes. Retrieved from http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=you&id=429&typ=reg ThinkQuest Team 16325. "Empires Past: Aztecs: Trade, Economy and Merchants" 31 August 1998. http://library.thinkquest.org/16325/y-eco.html?tql-iframe