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Example research essay topic: Valley Of Mexico Source Of Power - 2,164 words

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In all the tomes of history, there were civilizations significant in their economic and cultural achievements. To begin conversation about those unique representatives of pristine periods of human development, it is worthy to warn about the limited knowledge that we possess about them. It is also hard to identify any boundary between larger civilizations or to tell where or when one begins and the other ends. All of the pristine civilizations, societies and cultures and also religions experienced transformation over time, that is change from one time to another. Like a flowing river, it is never the same from one moment to the next.

It looks like it is difficult to see clear picture of political economy within all the stages of development of these two civilizations. The reason that ancient history seems chaotic is that we are usually focusing on small regions and small time frames. Nevertheless, we will relax our vision, and let these details go vague, but the larger picture will come into focus. In my paper, I will discuss Maya and Aztec civilizations. Or, to be more precise, I will compare and contrast two states of their history with respect to the presence and use of each of the sources of power described by Michael Mann.

The history of the Tenochca (Aztec civilization) is among the best preserved of the Mesoamerican's. They date the beginning of their history to 1168. Their origins to an island in the middle of a lake north of the Valley of Mexico. Their god, Huitzilopochtli, commanded them on a journey to the south and they arrived in the Valley of Mexico in 1248. According to their history, the Tenochca were originally peaceful. But their practice of human sacrifice, revolted other peoples who united and crushed their tribe.

In 1300, the Tenochca's became vassals of the town of Culhuacan. Some people escaped to settle on an island in the middle of the lake. Unlike the cultures of the Valley of Mexico, Mayas cultural and economic welfare is dated from 300 to 900 AD during the Classic period. The culture of the Mayas has little changed from the classic period to the modern period. The Mayas were never a "true" urban culture. The urban centers were almost entirely used as religious centers for the rural population surrounding them.

This period saw an explosion of cultural creativity all throughout the Mayan regions. They derived many cultural forms from the north. But it also devised many cultural innovations that influenced all big cultures throughout Mesoamerica. Military The Aztecs was a state-based world-system, which had already seen the rise and decline of empires. Occupying the island, the Aztecs began their career as mercenary allies of the Tepanec empire. Their reputation as warriors grew with their successful conquests of close city-states in alliance with the Tepanecs.

Eventually they conquered their nearby allies. They went on to create an empire which extended far north and south of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec island capital. The military weapons and strategies used by the Aztecs were not significantly different from those of their opponents. But their "rationality" in waging wars leaves no doubt of their high advanced war skills.

The Aztec goal of war was to extract tribute through the maintenance of the perception of superior military power. The Aztecan strategy is compared with the more direct form of territorial domination theorized by Clausewitz. (Finley 1985: 118 - 121). When Aztecs conquered other peoples, they did not violate their cultures and religions. Instead, they demanded payments from the elite. Long distance trade allowed large commercial centers to rise as major economic establishments during the Classic and Post-Classic Periods.

As to the military power of Mayan civilization, it has to be said that their wealth was acquired through wide-spread warfare. The city of Sexual was especially involved in warfare. Dos Pilas attacked the city before it came under the militant Put's influence during the Terminal Classic Period. Violence and warfare prompted many inhabitants to seek refuge in the Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas highlands. (Asad, Total 1973: 91 - 95).

But excavation of some cities and the absence of defense walls have led experts to conclude that such great wealth was obtained through long-distance trade. Mayas made a series of alliances with any city-state that was the most powerful. They used the jade, obsidian, pyrite, quetzal feathers and other goods necessary for maintaining control over the common people. It also suggested that Maya kings could obtain great power through commerce instead of imperialistic warfare. In later times, Mayas enjoyed wealth acquired not through violence, but through commerce. Economic Whenever rulers and military classes robbed merchants as to inhibit trade and commerce, new potentialities of economic production could begin increasing human wealth.

These potentialities rose from regional specialization and economies of scale in manufacture. The mode of production at the family and village level was primarily based on obligations, although some market relations were also present. The political economy was based primarily on the extraction of tribute, both prestige goods and basic goods, from dependencies through the use of political-military force. There was also an important amount of market exchange of prestige goods among the separate states. the Aztec strategy was mainly one which intended to demonstrate superior military power in order to extract tribute payments from local elite. As it was already mentioned, the Aztecs did not usually attempt to reorganize the societies.

They conquered, but preferred a "hegemonic" form of indirect rule. Thus the maintenance of tribute payments depended on the "perception of power" as much as on direct coercion. (Johnson and Earle 1987 pp. 258 - 67). Concerning the other culture, Mayan economic accomplishments are worthy mentioning. In this case the economic power came from somewhat different approach on the way of development. The Mayan economic strategy also refers to expansion but of some other kind. They also used military power, but as we know about them from archeological fact, we cannot talk about them like about war crafts.

With a very sparse population and hard natural conditions, the Mayans built incredibly sophisticated urban centers, mathematics and astronomical science. They developed the among complex system of writing in the Americas. The priest classes lived in the cities, but the most part the Maya population lived in small farming villages. Economic stability was imperative for the success of ancient Maya city-states.

Agriculture was a vital contributor to the economy in many ancient Maya communities. In fact, the majority of scholars believe that decline in many of the central part populations during the Late Classic and Terminal Classic periods was partially due to agricultural deficiency. Many of the technological advances of the ancient Maya have to do with agriculture. The ancient Maya achieved high economic complexity. Extraordinary ancient cities such as Tikal and Carol are scattered through out eastern Mexico and Guatemala. These economic centers exemplify the economic might and wealth of the ancient civilization.

How did the ancient Maya attain such great success? The development of an extensive commercial network between neighboring Mayan city-states has recently has been accepted as a prime mechanism for economic growth in the ancient civilization. A well-documented and supported theory for the decline of the Maya central lowlands is the deterioration of trade routes. Geographic location was a major factor in the shifting of trade routes. (Finley 1985: 122 - 130). The historical records suggest that the further expansion of trade finally led to the decline of the entire civilization. It is a common notion that economics are largely dependent upon commercial relations with foreign settlements.

It looks like this is the state when the predominance of the source of power had to be changed. After expansion, politics and ideology become essential for further development. The distant regional had to be taken under control. This question also concern Aztec civilization. In their time, they scattered, chasing individual goals. Political The valley of Mexico already contained a relatively high population density and some form of production, when Aztecs rose to power.

Politically it was organized as a number of competing city-states, that formed alliances in wars against one another and extracted tribute from dependent regions. Earlier regional empires had dissolved into a decentralized "interstate system." Within this context, the Aztecs combined cultural and organizational features of the older core societies with elements of their own formerly peripheral society to create a new combination. It gave them a comparative advantage in the valley of Mexico. the Aztecs were a relatively unorganized group, when they began their career. They soon created a nobility by inter marriage with the king of a nearby allied city-state who was allegedly descended from the Toltecs, an earlier imperial dynasty. As with other semi peripheral marcher states, the somewhat less stratified nature of Aztec society was an advantage in warfare (Chase-Dunn, 1988).

The Aztecs, as we mentioned, like other successful conquerors, became more stratified within as their empire expanded. The acquisition of tribute made possible the expansion of the wealth of the nobility, and success in battle was an important means for commoners to move to other regions. In the same way, the rise of merchants, who expanded their trade, altered the political structure of many ancient Maya communities. It turned into resource control and wealth.

Relations among elite were vital in obtaining favorable trade. The Mayan society gained significant political strength in the result of wealth derived from commerce. It shows the case when political and economical success was achieved through trade. The role of elite in the Ancient Maya civilization is somewhat matter of argument.

The views of scholars differ as new evidence is uncovered concerning commerce's function in politics. The majority of experts believe the trade of luxury goods empowered elite with greater prestige and status. Mayan society had several strata: rulers, priests, commoners, and slaves. The extent to which the rulers were differentiated from the priests is unknown. But it seams that they played a very important part of the development of the society, the same as priest in the Aztec culture.

Possessing the ability to know what the gods wanted, they must have had influence on all the representatives of the power. Ideological Aztecs version of Mesoamerican religious ideology transferred to their barbarian origins. It is an advantage to have a reputation for brutality when the perception of power was based largely on military strength and fear of extreme punishment. War captives were the main source of human sacrifices. According to Aztec ideology, sacrifices were necessary to appease the gods and to keep the universe functioning.

This way, Aztecs justified sacrifices and the need for further expansions. Such justification turned to be the tool for the Aztec civilization, that made their success possible. The psychology of sacrifice is important in all moral orders. Human sacrifice on some scale is known to almost all societies including our own. I am thinking not only of warfare, but of capital punishment.

The Aztecs, however, intensified this aspect of Mesoamerican culture to a scale difficult to comprehend. Most scholars accept the estimate of 80, 000 war captives sacrificed for a single temple dedication. (Hassig 1988 p. 121). Practicing sacrifices turned to be the example of the symbolic demonstration of the power of the state to human life. The ideology was based on terror.

Later states were just as objectively hierarchical, but they did not rely on hierarchical symbolic means to power relations. Nevertheless, the moral order the Aztecs possessed was more important for these early states than it was for more complex societies afterwards. Mayan civilization also had a record of sacrifice practices. The gods required nourishment from human beings in order to live. Sacrifice often involved foodstuffs and some form of human sacrifice. The majority of this human sacrifice was blood-letting, in which a victim, usually a priest, voluntarily pierces parts of his body.

The higher one's position in the hierarchy, the more blood was expected. Some ceremonies demanded the living heart of a victim. The heart taken out of the chest of a victim and then burned in order to nourish the gods. (Silver 1992: 86 - 90). Many aspects of the ancient Maya Civilization can be examined by assessing the impact and effect of long-distance. I think it was essential for the young civilizations to show their strength to go further in economic expansion. Tracing the development of the civilizations, we can see the impotence of military source of power motivated by the economic goals of expansion in the early stages.

Meanwhile, in the last states of the development, political and ideological source become essential for the maintenance of the power obtained in war affaires. Sometimes, it seems as if ancient civilization followed similar instructions. Rise and fall. The history repeats itself again and again. The rulers, dynasties and peoples may change, but all seem locked into the same endless cycle of conquest and expansion, fragmentation and collapse. As the centuries fly by, civilizations may come and go, but civilization flourishes, growing in size and complexity.


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Research essay sample on Valley Of Mexico Source Of Power

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