Why was the Aztec market so great?
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The Aztecs specialized in trading because the market is very large and successful and their market sold all kinds of items. The Aztecs market was named, the Tenochtitlan (ten-oh-chit-len). According to the Aztec News by Philip Steele, "The Aztecs didn't have any coins or money currency." This is saying that the Aztecs didn't pay for anything. They would give something to get something, so trading is all they had. The Aztecs traded very valuable goods in this market. And when they traded the gold and silver, they had to do it in secret. They did it in secret because if they did it in a highly populated area during the day, they had a very high chance of being robbed. So, men called the Pocheta (poh-keet-ah), would walk over 26 miles a day with 60 pounds of valuable goods on their back. That is like walking a marathon while carrying 6, 6 foot step ladders on your back. Not only do they Aztecs specialize in trading, but people will come from far and wide to go there. Each day, about 60,000 businessmen and businesswomen go there to buy and sell veggies, fruit, and regular objects you need at home. Because there are so many people here, the market is extremely organized. There are sections for food and objects. Then there are sections for kinds of food, and kinds of objects. Last, there are neat and orderly rows of stands that you can trade at. That was mainly why the Aztecs specialized in trading, their market is huge and successful, it is very organized, and they have valuable goods. But people didn't travel from far and wide for nothing, the Tenochtitlan had hundreds of items to trade for. They had anything from slaves, to food, to home-weaved baskets. Just a small fraction of these items are, "Wild duck, pigeons, dog meat, goose eggs, salted fish, cocoa beans, vanilla pods, avocados, guavas, cherries...". "...storage jars, sleeping mats, firewood, flowers, brooms, baskets, slaves, herbs, ointments, get a haircut, get a shave, or meet friends for a cup of [warm, melted]chocolate." That is why the Aztecs specialized in trading and what they sell.
The Aztecs and Phoenicia had many things in common and they were different in many ways in terms of trading. Some things that they have in common are that they are both huge in trading. According to the textbook, Human Heritage a World History, "The Phoenicians started out as coastal traders. In time, they became widely traveled merchant shippers who controlled the trade of the Mediterranean." The Aztecs and the Phoenicians both had huge markets and traded a wide variety of items including glass, animal fur, and animal skin. Not only did they both have huge markets and trade the same things, they traded for stuff they didn't have at all when some other places would trade for things they just didn't have much of. The Phoenicians didn't have enough land to grow food for all of the people so they would trade their tons and tons of cedar wood that they got from the forest and trade that for all of the crops, fruit, and vegetables they needed in order to survive. That is similar to what the Aztecs did. The Aztecs did not have any good place to mine for gold, metal, diamond, and silver. Since they didn't have any of these materials and they had a lot of fish (the civilization was built on a lake), they would trade their fish for gold, metal, diamond, and silver. That is only a couple of ways that the ancient Phoenicians and the Ancient Aztecs were the same. Yes, the ancient Aztecs and the ancient Phoenicians were not only very similar, but extremely different. They are different for a couple of reasons. Once again, according to Human Heritage a World History, "... carried the tools with them and worked on ships". This is referring to the Phoenicians and saying that they would take boats and make the items on the boat that they would be trading at the next destination. This is very different from the Aztecs. The Aztecs also would not have traders. If you had something to trade, you came to the market and set up your blanket... and traded. On the other hand, the Phoenicians would have set traders on every adventure. Also, the Aztecs would not travel to other places to trade. Especially not over water. They would make people come to them if they wanted to trade at the great Tenochtitlan. That is why and how the Aztecs and Phoenicians were the same and different in terms of trading. |