The fall of the aztec empire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The fall of the aztec empire - Research Paper Example At first, there was an earthquake in the city of Tenochtitlan, which was later followed by a flood in Lake Texcoco nearby. Both these events caused considerable damage to the Empire. Lives were lost, and resources were used up that could not be replenished quickly. What is more, there was an effect on the morale of the Aztecs as well. They held the belief that these natural disasters, along with some paranormal phenomena supposedly observed by some, foretold the fall of their empire. The Aztec Empire employed, as written before, a combination of trade and military tactics to expand their territory. This entailed that they were constantly involved in military conflicts. These military conflicts took their toll, not only on the resources of the Empire, but also on the Aztec warriors. These warriors, or soldiers, had constant warring on their hand, as they had to keep the rebellious tribes in check. Another factor that took its toll on the Aztec population was their practice of human sa crifice. Although it was not a unique phenomenon, however, the Aztec Empire was accustomed to sacrificing humans on a very large scale. They sacrificed thousands of their own people at the altars of their gods under one pretext or another. This not only decreased their population, thus decreasing the number of possible young men to be recruited as warriors or soldiers, but it also caused a deep resentment and hatred in the hearts and minds of non-Aztec against the Empire. This caused many a war (as above discussed) and, moreover, it was one of the reasons why the Tlaxcalans sided with the Conquistadores against the Empire. Moreover the Conquistadores decided to conquer the Empire, perhaps, because of the latter’s human sacrifice and end the evil practice. Coming to the Tlaxcalans, they consisted of people occupying more than 150 towns. They were constantly under threat of the Aztec Empire, with the Empire blockade a constant reality that had left the people poor and hungry. T he Empire already having conquered most of the land around their main city of Tlaxcala, also used Tlaxcalans as sacrifices to their gods. The rulers, therefore, welcomed Cortes’ expedition and saw in him their way of getting rid of the dangers posed by the Aztec Empire once and for all. Though it is uncertain whether they embraced Christianity, as was Cortes’ main mission, however, the chieftains did agree to form an alliance with Cortes and his Conquistadores. Furthermore, the Spaniards brought with them, as Europeans in other parts of America brought with them, diseases that were new to the indigenous population of the Americas. In the case of the Aztecs it was smallpox. Transmitted by someone in the Spanish army, smallpox spread quickly in the Aztec Empire. The Aztec casualty rate was high, with some historians saying that around 40 percent of the population fell victim to the disease. Though more conservative estimates put the number close to 20 to 25 percent, howe ver, a large portion of the population died after contracting smallpox. However, there is debate among the historians regarding this. Some surmise that it was actually a disease known as Cocolitzili in the local language that caused the population to diminish in such large numbers. Carried by the rodents, the virus, which was similar to the modern day Birdflu or Swineflu

Organizational behavior Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational behavior - Research Paper Example There is a perfect organization of content coverage in the article as it first begins with explanation of the organizational behavior as a concept. The article thus gives a simple definition of organizational behavior as the field that studies and investigates the impacts of groups, individuals, and structure on behaviors within an organization. Nonetheless, the article lists some of the elements of organization like people and structure. In this case, people and structure interact to influence behaviors in the organization. The article gives a comprehensive coverage of the key elements of an organization (Youssel and Luthans 2). The illustration is important since interaction of the various elements influence behaviors within the workplace. The article puts more emphasis on people as important element of an organization. People are the employees who have different needs and expectations that they wish to accomplish. However, failure to meet those needs and expectations may affect their workplace motivation and have influence their behavior. Therefore, the article contributes a great deal to the topical discussion by stressing on people management as an important aspect of organizational behavior. Another important element that influences organizational behavior is structure which defines the existing relationships within the organization. Structures concern different aspects like hierarchy of command or authority, division of labor, specialization, formation, and centralization among others (Youssel an d Luthans 14). The organizational structural elements influence behaviors since they focus on power and duty. Nonetheless, organizational structure involves jobs and tasks where task identity as well as description affects behaviors of the employees. Another key point to note about the article is that it explains some approaches to organizational behavior. One of the