'Intellectual and cultural life of colonial Mexico Essay\r'

'Mexico is a landed estate whose history is as rich and diverse as its people. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards to Mexico the natives enjoy great happen and technology. They’ve printed books, do paper and pigments, painted murals and manuscripts, cultivated crops, made structures and lavish designs in architecture that some historians introduce even outdates that of Egypt, engaged in medical act and planted botanical crops.\r\nHowever with the invasion of the Spanish Empire that happened between the year 1521 to 1600 the natives who posses such technologies were hold by the Colonialist. Various indigenous assorts disappe bed since the Spaniards pushed to promote universality in the country in their attempt to top anything that links the people from their â€Å"Pagan past”. They in any case brought with them superior technology from Europe which hindered the progress of technologies that they throw away developed before.\r\nThe diversity and development of Native Mexico is shown as manuscripts of maps of the different atomic number 18as in Mexico are found in â€Å"the six Relaciones Geograficas maps”. The rich text combines native and European colorants a clear manifestation of their rich technology even before the colonialist came to the country. The inhabitants of Mexico today erect be classified into two groups, the Indigenous Peoples who lived before the fourteenth century and the Immigration people who arrived with the Spanish conquest.\r\nThe former, which are the indigenous peoples are the Toltec, Omeca, Zapotec, Maya, Aztec, Huichol, Purapecha, Tarahumara and etc. The later on the other hand are a compound of different cultures due to the wave of migration brought about by the Spanish Conquerors. For us to fully understand the doctor that colonization has brought to the natives, we need to discuss their culture and practices in terms of social stratification, culture, religion and economy antecedent to the comi ng of the Spaniards. Native Mexico\r\nMexico was the site of some of the soonest and most advanced civilizations in the western hemisphere. Its gentle history began with the aboriginal people we call American Indians or Amerids. Archeological records date back to aged than that civilization of Egypt. They were scattered groups of nomadic hunters. The Amerids thusly became diverse and separated into sub classes differentiating in culture, legend and practices. These are the Toltec, Maya, Omeca, Zapotec, Aztec, Purapecha, Huichol, Tarahumara and etc.\r\nClash of cultural minorities happened and led to the reconcile of different empires. When the Spaniards came to Mexico the Maya and Aztec groups where predominant in the region. Their economy greatly relies on agriculture and herding. It was a alliance divide into three classes: slave, commoner and nobility. However, far different from that of the Spaniard, the slaves can buy their freedom and when he manages to escape from his mortify and makes his was safely to the royal palace he is then given immediate freedom.\r\nSocial mobility was excessively just by all the classes regardless of race as long as one has enough bullion and resources to do so. With regards to religion, they have numerous Gods. In Aztec society in particular, their gods are Uitzilopochtli (sun god), Tlaloc (rain god), Coyolxauhqui (moon goddess), and Quetzalcoatl (inventor of writing and the calendar and alike associated with the planet Venus and with resurrection) . Animal and human sacrifices were alike made to honor warriors during the war and for religious ceremonies.\r\nPrisoners were also sacrificed for less important rituals. The Spaniards found the ritual horrendous since it involves human sacrifices which are against Catholic faith. The ritual would gull place on top of a pyramid where the human sacrifice is placed on a convex stone and the priest would reap their patrol wagon out using a knife (Almanac, 2005). As of p ress time, the modern Aztecs people number for everywhere a million and are the largest aboriginal group in the country. Most of them are farmers who have no access to education and most are illiterate.\r\n'