Should Historians Emphasize Human Sacrifice Or Agriculture

What Should Historians Emphasize: Human Sacrifice or Agriculture?

What if: Your town was invaded by the Aztecs and they took you prisoner. You are taken out of your cell and the Aztecs tell you that you are going to be treated like a living god. You are going to be treated like royalty… but there’s a catch. After one year you are going to be sacrificed. You are not given a choice to say yes or no so you go with the guards. This is such a good year that you forget that you are going to be sacrificed. A lot of the young women have become attached to you. One day you are just wandering the streets and you hear something… Chanting. You turn around suddenly remembering the deal you made one year earlier. You are to be sacrificed. You turn around to see posters and out of nowhere you are being led to the chanting. Before you know what’s happening to you, you are with the priest at the top of the temple. The priest says somethings and it is quiet. Next thing you know the priest is swinging the knife down at you and there is a sharp pain in your chest. Then everything goes black and silent. The crowd starts cheering but some of the young girls

The final reason for emphasizing Human Sacrifice is their motive for war and expansion. The Aztec Empire at its height was twice the size of Ohio. When the Empire was smaller they wanted to get bigger. On the unequipped land the Aztecs would have “flower wars”. The flower wars gave the Aztecs more land and also gave them “flowers”. Flowers were the Aztecs future sacrifice victims. “Independent territories on the map were sometimes the result of a deliberate policy that unoccupied lands remain available for “flower wars”.”(According to the map in document A) This evidence supports emphasizing human sacrifice because the Aztecs needed to get more sacrifice victims and that drove them to conquer more land. How they got their land and sacrifice victims is a very important aspect of the Aztec