For many centuries the Aztec civilization revolved around an ideological, social, and political system in which expansion was the cornerstone. Expansion was the cornerstone of their whole civilization because their religion requested that a large number of human sacrifices were to be made to the gods. To get these sacrifices the Aztec went to war with other tribes in Mexico. The people that they captured became sacrifices to the gods. With each conquest more sacrifices and more land was added to the Aztec kingdom. The Aztecs had a strong civilization that was familiar with organized, large scale war, had specializ

ed war chiefs, and a well organized system of territorial levy in which large armies could be brought together in a short period of time. Although, they may have been well prepared or organized for a war, but they were not prepared for internal changes in their civilization. When expansion was no longer an option, their system crumbled. Without expansion they could no longer give the human sacrifices in the same amount in which they used to.

With the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico, rumors started to reach the ears of Spaniards about a great civilization to the south. This was the Incan civilization. The empire was inland so I t made it harder on the Spanish to reach them. Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas' empire was held together by a tight social discipline based on commercial land holding and a system of forced labor. "Discipline was enjoined by an elaborate cult of ruler-worship and enforced by military organization which maintained fortresses and stores at strategic points."The Incan governme

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Approximate Word count = 681
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)