Social organization of the Aztecs

The human being is by nature a social being and, therefore, since the beginning of time we have tried to group ourselves in societies in which We differentiate ourselves by what is called social classes, and can be of one or the other depending on certain factors such as money or money. source. To talk about the social classes of one of the main American cultures in this lesson from a TEACHER we will talk about the social organization of the Aztecs.

Index

1. Who were the Aztecs?
2. The Aztec upper classes
3. The Aztec lower classes

The aztecs, also known as mexicas, is how the people who inhabited a great empire that extended its influence over most of the area called as are called Mesoamerica before the arrival of the European colonizers.

The influence and power of the Aztecs became that of one of the greatest powers in the entire American zone, their dominance in the post-classical stage being greater than that of the maya

Regarding its influence, we must speak of the area called as Mexico's valley, being in a place where the power of the Aztecs was greater, although the reality is that their great power made them gain importance in almost the entire Mesoamerican area to a greater or lesser extent.

Image: History of Spain

To know the social organization of the Aztecs we have to be clear about the differences according to social classes. As in most cultures throughout history, there are mainly two groups when it comes to talking about social classes, these being the upper classes and lower classes. The former tend to be those with the greatest power, either politically or economically, while the casualties tend to be the least relevant and those who suffer the most.

The upper classes in the Aztec world were the nobles, these being the ones who occupied tasks such as governing, owned most of the farmland, led the armies in battles and also had under their possession a large number of slaves and servants who were part of the lower classes.

As in other cultures, the upper classes of the Aztec culture they were the most privileged, enjoying great benefits such as eating highly relevant products such as cocoa, forming part of the Grand Council or pay much less tax than the rest of the lower classes on the scale Social.

We must bear in mind that not all the upper classes were equal, since depending on the situation the privileges that one or the other had could vary greatly. Some main upper classes were the following:

• Huey TlatoaniCalled both ruler and great orator, he was the person with the greatest authority in Aztec society, possessing all possible privileges.
• Tlatoani: He was the leader of each city, being the central figure that controlled power in aspects such as politics, economy or religion. On certain occasions he was under the orders of Huey Tlatoani, this being more common in the last stage of the Aztecs.
• Tetecuhtin: Also called lords, they were a kind of middle class within the nobility, not possessing the political or religious power of the Tlatoani but possessing much more wealth and influence than the pipiltin. They owned lands and servants, being their task to rule over them, although they received other tasks such as judging, being military leaders or being priests.
• Pipiltin: The lower zone of the upper classes, among its members were great soldiers from the conquest campaigns, tax collectors or members of the justice system. It was to this class that members of the lower classes who made merits to change their social stratum used to ascend.

Image: Aztec Culture

To conclude this lesson on the social organization of the Aztecs we must talk about the lower classes in the Aztec world, to understand how all those people who made up the great Empire were organized Aztec. To talk about the main elements of these classes we must divide them into 3 groups of different importance.

Merchants and peasants

They were people with less privilege than the upper classes, but they had many more freedoms than the rest of the lower classes. They could live freely and in some cases they could even reach the upper classes through some mechanisms, although the reality is that it was very difficult to move up the social ladder, the few exceptions being marriage with someone from the upper classes or getting merits in life military.

Tlacotli

One of the most interesting classes of the Aztec organization, being people who for some crime or debt owed serve a person or family, becoming a kind of slave. The biggest difference from slaves is that the Tlactoli could become free citizens again if they were well behaved or their sins were considered paid for.

Slaves

The lowest class of any society, being people without almost any type of freedom and who worked for their masters, generally noble, without receiving any money for their service. Slaves were like this all their lives, there being no way to pass to another social class, and their origin It was very varied, from prisoners of war to people who no longer had anything to be able to to live.

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