Latin American History

2 Pages 409 Words

Latin American History


A brief description of the political structures of the Aztecs and Incas. Also describe the local and national level of politics.

The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had a population estimated to be between 150, 000 and 200,000. The majority of the population consisted of artisans, priests, civil servants, soldiers and entertainers. Other members of the population where the calpulli leaders, merchants and nobles. Their whole education system was based on the foundations that male children would follow in their fathers’ footsteps and have the best education depending on what their position in society is.
In a society with such a complex economic, political and social life, a hierarchy of courts was compromised with two high tribunals. The Aztec priesthood was the main integrating force in the whole society. The priesthood was called on to intervene in every private political crisis of the Aztec community. The priesthood shared power with the nobility a class that had gained power through war and political centralization.
The Aztec political system was a mixture of royal disposition and theocracy. Political power was centralized in a ruling class of priests and nobles, over which presided an absolute ruler resembling an oriental despot.

The Inca state also promoted self-sufficiency by allowing members of a given community to exploit the resources of different levels of the Andian “vertical” economy.
The Incas had a strong strategic situation in the valley of cuzco and some cultural superiority over their neighbors. This provided the Incas with instructive precedents for conquest and consolidation of conquest through a variety of political and socioeconomic techniques.
The Incas maintained their authority with an arsenal of devices that included the spread of their quechua language as the official language of the empire.




The Aztec and Incas first contact with the Span...