The History of Mexico Before The Spanish Arrived (3000 BC - 1521 AD)
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Date: 2025-05-31
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Comments and reviews: 20
bwhog
01: 30 Wheels. in parts further south and in the mountainous regions more generally, wagons for transporting cargo aren't especially useful. Without horses or cattle (these were initial brought by the Spanish in the 1500s, the most practical method of transportation, as I envision it, would have been backpacks of some form or shoulder yokes for larger loads carried by two or more people.
01: 40 I have napped obsidian into arrow heads and knives as an experiment, quite some years back. The statement about their sharpness is quite accurate, although they are also very brittle.
03: 00 It should be noted that much about the ball courts and related games is conjecture, as no actual documentation of the specifics of the events survives.
04: 20 It is worth nothing that, throughout this video, that the rise, fall, transformation, and movement of societies neglects to mention the potential causes of conflict, depletion of game or soil, simple expansion in one area and decline of the prior area, resulting in an unexplained displacement of a group or groups.
14: 00 The account that Cortez gave stated that the lower portion of the priest's hair was matted with the dried blood of their victims. (I presume they either did not cut their hair or wore it quite long as part of their religious tenants) The cannibalism here was mostly in a ritual form, practiced by the priest class. I presume that this was viewed as them acting in proxy for their god in consuming human flesh, in character with the blood offering they made. Cortez also noted that there were a great many individuals being held prisoner in various parts of the lands he traveled through, awaiting their turn on the altar. These, it would seem, were mostly from either conquered peoples or sent by the outer tribes as tribute to the Aztec kings in order to preserve their own kingdoms. It was also stated that there were essentially large monuments composed entirely of skulls throughout the Aztec capital city. Now, doubtlessly, aspects of Cortez's writings were exaggerated, but even taking a conservative view, what they saw must have horrified them beyond words. During their time among them, the Spaniards also made a record of the rituals of the Aztecs, documenting most aspects of them. This was taken back to Rome later and, some decades afterwards, when it was rediscovered in the archives, was destroyed in order to prevent them from ever being re-instituted. You're free to form your own opinion about this action.
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01: 30 Wheels. in parts further south and in the mountainous regions more generally, wagons for transporting cargo aren't especially useful. Without horses or cattle (these were initial brought by the Spanish in the 1500s, the most practical method of transportation, as I envision it, would have been backpacks of some form or shoulder yokes for larger loads carried by two or more people.
01: 40 I have napped obsidian into arrow heads and knives as an experiment, quite some years back. The statement about their sharpness is quite accurate, although they are also very brittle.
03: 00 It should be noted that much about the ball courts and related games is conjecture, as no actual documentation of the specifics of the events survives.
04: 20 It is worth nothing that, throughout this video, that the rise, fall, transformation, and movement of societies neglects to mention the potential causes of conflict, depletion of game or soil, simple expansion in one area and decline of the prior area, resulting in an unexplained displacement of a group or groups.
14: 00 The account that Cortez gave stated that the lower portion of the priest's hair was matted with the dried blood of their victims. (I presume they either did not cut their hair or wore it quite long as part of their religious tenants) The cannibalism here was mostly in a ritual form, practiced by the priest class. I presume that this was viewed as them acting in proxy for their god in consuming human flesh, in character with the blood offering they made. Cortez also noted that there were a great many individuals being held prisoner in various parts of the lands he traveled through, awaiting their turn on the altar. These, it would seem, were mostly from either conquered peoples or sent by the outer tribes as tribute to the Aztec kings in order to preserve their own kingdoms. It was also stated that there were essentially large monuments composed entirely of skulls throughout the Aztec capital city. Now, doubtlessly, aspects of Cortez's writings were exaggerated, but even taking a conservative view, what they saw must have horrified them beyond words. During their time among them, the Spaniards also made a record of the rituals of the Aztecs, documenting most aspects of them. This was taken back to Rome later and, some decades afterwards, when it was rediscovered in the archives, was destroyed in order to prevent them from ever being re-instituted. You're free to form your own opinion about this action.
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y4lnux
Another Mexican here, cutting the cheese, modern Mexicans are descendant of the allies that defeated the Meshicas/Aztecs. most of the actual meshicas perished during the siege to tenochtitlan, so Modern Mestizo Mexicans are the mix of Mesoamerican and Europeans conquerors. Long explaination: There were no ancient Mexicans, also Meshica (Aztec) Civilization was not a consolidated empire, was similar to Rome when this was setting its domain in Italian peninsula, When Meshicas Arrived to what is now Mexican Central Valley there were other Nahuas Tribees with its own civilization. the last one is that Modern Mexicans descend from the Conquerors, I mean the people that allied with Castillians (Spaniards) to defeat the Meshicas, these tribes reamained as independent kingdoms vassals to Castilian Crown, one Example of this is Tlaxcala. Mexico started to exist as contry after the independence of Spanish empire, before that New Spain was a Kingdom inside the spanish empire
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Another Mexican here, cutting the cheese, modern Mexicans are descendant of the allies that defeated the Meshicas/Aztecs. most of the actual meshicas perished during the siege to tenochtitlan, so Modern Mestizo Mexicans are the mix of Mesoamerican and Europeans conquerors. Long explaination: There were no ancient Mexicans, also Meshica (Aztec) Civilization was not a consolidated empire, was similar to Rome when this was setting its domain in Italian peninsula, When Meshicas Arrived to what is now Mexican Central Valley there were other Nahuas Tribees with its own civilization. the last one is that Modern Mexicans descend from the Conquerors, I mean the people that allied with Castillians (Spaniards) to defeat the Meshicas, these tribes reamained as independent kingdoms vassals to Castilian Crown, one Example of this is Tlaxcala. Mexico started to exist as contry after the independence of Spanish empire, before that New Spain was a Kingdom inside the spanish empire
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RMMHSTejaswiRoy
The native Mexican people had a complex culture. Civilizations like
Olmec civilization started in around 900 bc and ended in 300 bc and civilizations like the mesoamericans, the Honduras, the gautemalas, the mayas and the aztecs ruled territories of modern day Mexico, gautamela,
El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and ruled southern United States (modern states of arizona, texas, New Mexico and texas.
However the Spanish defeated the native American tribes and people of both North America and South America by 1500s and conquered entire Mexico, central america, west brazil, Peru, chile, argentina, new guinea, bolivia, columbia,
Much of the USA, like the states of Louisiana, california, orgeon, nevada, Arkansas, Kansas, nebraska, utah, ohio, florida, colorado, wyoming, texas, New Mexico, arizona, california, orgeon, Washington and conquered as far as Alaska and conquered the southwest Canada as well.
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The native Mexican people had a complex culture. Civilizations like
Olmec civilization started in around 900 bc and ended in 300 bc and civilizations like the mesoamericans, the Honduras, the gautemalas, the mayas and the aztecs ruled territories of modern day Mexico, gautamela,
El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and ruled southern United States (modern states of arizona, texas, New Mexico and texas.
However the Spanish defeated the native American tribes and people of both North America and South America by 1500s and conquered entire Mexico, central america, west brazil, Peru, chile, argentina, new guinea, bolivia, columbia,
Much of the USA, like the states of Louisiana, california, orgeon, nevada, Arkansas, Kansas, nebraska, utah, ohio, florida, colorado, wyoming, texas, New Mexico, arizona, california, orgeon, Washington and conquered as far as Alaska and conquered the southwest Canada as well.
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knowledgia
Many people mistakenly believe that Native American societies in Mesoamerica remained primarily hunter-gatherers until European contact, but this is far from the truth. Long before the 16th century, these regions were home to sophisticated city-states, kingdoms, and empires with complex social hierarchies, taxation systems, and remarkable achievements in infrastructure, mathematics, and metallurgyaccomplished without the use of significant draft animals. By the time of its fall in the 1500s, Tenochtitlan stood as a marvel akin to the Venice of the New World, with the Aztec civilization rivaling the sophistication of ancient Greece.
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Many people mistakenly believe that Native American societies in Mesoamerica remained primarily hunter-gatherers until European contact, but this is far from the truth. Long before the 16th century, these regions were home to sophisticated city-states, kingdoms, and empires with complex social hierarchies, taxation systems, and remarkable achievements in infrastructure, mathematics, and metallurgyaccomplished without the use of significant draft animals. By the time of its fall in the 1500s, Tenochtitlan stood as a marvel akin to the Venice of the New World, with the Aztec civilization rivaling the sophistication of ancient Greece.
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knowledgia
I feel like there's still a misconception that some people have thinking that the Native American societies in Mesoamerica were predominantly hunter gatherers all the way until European contact but that just wasnt the case. There were many city states, kingdoms, empires that had class structures, collected tax, had impressive infrastructure, mathematics, metallurgy etc. All without important draft animals. By the time it all came to an end in the 1500s, Tenochtitlan was essentially like the Venice of the New World and the Aztecs had a civilization that was comparable to the ancient Greeks
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I feel like there's still a misconception that some people have thinking that the Native American societies in Mesoamerica were predominantly hunter gatherers all the way until European contact but that just wasnt the case. There were many city states, kingdoms, empires that had class structures, collected tax, had impressive infrastructure, mathematics, metallurgy etc. All without important draft animals. By the time it all came to an end in the 1500s, Tenochtitlan was essentially like the Venice of the New World and the Aztecs had a civilization that was comparable to the ancient Greeks
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knowledgia
Climate did not play a role in the decline of neither the Maya, Omecs nor Teotihuacan. This is just a modern fabrication invented by environmental scholars who can't explain the real cause, because the historical data is lost, so they attribute environmental factors because weather data is all they can measure. Attributing these declines to climate change is as misleading as claiming that Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany fell because of weather patterns. In both ancient and modern cases, war, internal conflict, and societal shifts played a far more decisive role.
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Climate did not play a role in the decline of neither the Maya, Omecs nor Teotihuacan. This is just a modern fabrication invented by environmental scholars who can't explain the real cause, because the historical data is lost, so they attribute environmental factors because weather data is all they can measure. Attributing these declines to climate change is as misleading as claiming that Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany fell because of weather patterns. In both ancient and modern cases, war, internal conflict, and societal shifts played a far more decisive role.
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knowledgia
As a Mexican, you forgot to mention many more civilizations in Mexico. For example the Purepechas empire, they were established in the region of actual Michoacan State and they developed their own language, culture, political system, religion, etc.
Some interesting facts is the purepechas NEVER were defeated by the Aztecs, (Meshicas, also they were skilled in metallurgy such a copper and bronze work and their language is similar to Quechua, (language of the inca empire from Peru in South America)
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As a Mexican, you forgot to mention many more civilizations in Mexico. For example the Purepechas empire, they were established in the region of actual Michoacan State and they developed their own language, culture, political system, religion, etc.
Some interesting facts is the purepechas NEVER were defeated by the Aztecs, (Meshicas, also they were skilled in metallurgy such a copper and bronze work and their language is similar to Quechua, (language of the inca empire from Peru in South America)
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Elpadrino1407
And this is why calling ancient Mexicans to all these civilizations is correct, I’ve been hearing a lot of Spanish people saying mexico didn’t existed back in the day or saying we are not latinos, but we are hispanics instead, both statements are just two fallacies, incomplete statements to stripe away our ancestral identity
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And this is why calling ancient Mexicans to all these civilizations is correct, I’ve been hearing a lot of Spanish people saying mexico didn’t existed back in the day or saying we are not latinos, but we are hispanics instead, both statements are just two fallacies, incomplete statements to stripe away our ancestral identity
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knowledgia
Given the Americas were the Last Continent Colonized by pre-Historic Humans;
HRE/Spain had a 10, 000 year Technological Head Start (from scratch) compared to the Mexica/Aztecs
It's kinda like USA encountering w/e Civilization that built Gobeke Tepe or the Original (dog head) Sphinx
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Given the Americas were the Last Continent Colonized by pre-Historic Humans;
HRE/Spain had a 10, 000 year Technological Head Start (from scratch) compared to the Mexica/Aztecs
It's kinda like USA encountering w/e Civilization that built Gobeke Tepe or the Original (dog head) Sphinx
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antoniiocaluso1071
really a shame that all those civilizations didn't develop a substantial naval component. that deficiency GREATLY limited each civilizations knowledge of other-ness. pity! and. most historians are NOT sailors, so they focus on lack of draft animals greater than lack-a-sailors!
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really a shame that all those civilizations didn't develop a substantial naval component. that deficiency GREATLY limited each civilizations knowledge of other-ness. pity! and. most historians are NOT sailors, so they focus on lack of draft animals greater than lack-a-sailors!
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senorwhiskers2010
If this is a history of Mexico before the Spanish arrived, why even give them so much time at the end Most New World documentaries always have to mention the Euros arrival to it or their impact. It's almost as if you think that their history is not interesting enough on its own
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If this is a history of Mexico before the Spanish arrived, why even give them so much time at the end Most New World documentaries always have to mention the Euros arrival to it or their impact. It's almost as if you think that their history is not interesting enough on its own
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knowledgia
that number about the human sacrifices is insanely incorrect, consult any expert on the issue to be corrected. We have basically no idea how many human sacrifices the Aztecs took part in, but it likely wasn't many and was reserved for grand religious ceremony.
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that number about the human sacrifices is insanely incorrect, consult any expert on the issue to be corrected. We have basically no idea how many human sacrifices the Aztecs took part in, but it likely wasn't many and was reserved for grand religious ceremony.
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RextheRebel
a brutal history of conquest and colonization nope, not even remotely. Colonization by the Spanish was the single greatest thing that could happen to Mexico. The Spanish ceding power back to the Mexicans was one of the worst things that could have happened.
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a brutal history of conquest and colonization nope, not even remotely. Colonization by the Spanish was the single greatest thing that could happen to Mexico. The Spanish ceding power back to the Mexicans was one of the worst things that could have happened.
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jesusgonzalez7812
Mexica is the correct term not Aztec.
Self proclaimed mexica. - Why do you think it's Mexicano not Azteco
Some euro trash professor came out with that one but ain't right, thus this whole video is not right. I'll like to reclaim my time now.
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Mexica is the correct term not Aztec.
Self proclaimed mexica. - Why do you think it's Mexicano not Azteco
Some euro trash professor came out with that one but ain't right, thus this whole video is not right. I'll like to reclaim my time now.
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rockycassiano4756
Stone age, human sacrificing, ritual cannibalism, and the, 'woke', cry for their culture ending do to European migration
How about we help the Aztec resurrect their culture and then send the woke to help them, 'practice', their sacrificing
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Stone age, human sacrificing, ritual cannibalism, and the, 'woke', cry for their culture ending do to European migration
How about we help the Aztec resurrect their culture and then send the woke to help them, 'practice', their sacrificing
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singledadgaming
The only thing this video lacked is the pretty important information of the 80 thousand Tlaxcala warrior that made the bulk of his army just saying that helps a lot when you want to conquer a city of several tens of thousand of people
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The only thing this video lacked is the pretty important information of the 80 thousand Tlaxcala warrior that made the bulk of his army just saying that helps a lot when you want to conquer a city of several tens of thousand of people
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Persona_X-j8g
From what I know, the Aztecs, Incas and Maya as well as a bunch of city states did exist but most of the Americas geographically speaking were indeed hunter gatherer or small town societies before the Europeans arrived.
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From what I know, the Aztecs, Incas and Maya as well as a bunch of city states did exist but most of the Americas geographically speaking were indeed hunter gatherer or small town societies before the Europeans arrived.
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maxg6587
Mexico is the name Spain gave them. There was no Mexico before that but other tiny nations as your video explains. The Inca empire was the only real dominant empire in the Americas that could have took it all if they wanted.
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Mexico is the name Spain gave them. There was no Mexico before that but other tiny nations as your video explains. The Inca empire was the only real dominant empire in the Americas that could have took it all if they wanted.
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perrydad2001
I do find it interesting that virtually every society faded away because of environmental causes with absolutely no evidence. Virtually every other society in the world was conquered by other peoples.
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I do find it interesting that virtually every society faded away because of environmental causes with absolutely no evidence. Virtually every other society in the world was conquered by other peoples.
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axolitoo
You forgot to mention the Purepecha/Tzintzuntzan Empire, which had wars with the Aztec Empire all throughout the 15th century, taking territory from one another, even building forts along their borders
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You forgot to mention the Purepecha/Tzintzuntzan Empire, which had wars with the Aztec Empire all throughout the 15th century, taking territory from one another, even building forts along their borders
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