Figure 1.--We are not sure who did this and a series of related drawings. We believe that they were done by the Spanish soon after the conquest in the 16th century. We do not know how accurate the depiction here is. Aztecs might sell their children to settle debts. This drawing suggests a whole family enslaved. I do not know how common it was for slaves to wear these yokes. Collars for children seem unlikely as small children would naturally stay close to their parents. The drawings are in the collection of the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence.

Slavery was common and an important institution in Aztecs culture. It was different than the modern concept of slavery. It was not racially based nor was it a permanent condition. There were various ways a individual became a slave: 1) being captured in war, 2) committing certain crimes, especially theft, and by 3) voluntarily entering into slavery because od debts, or 4) being sold by one's parents again primarily because of debts. Vast numbers of prisoners taken by the Aztecs in war were used for human sacrifices. There are accounts of such sacrifices on a vast scale. Others were spared and enslaved for labor. The Aztecs ececuted major building programs for roads and aqueducts as well as temples and other buildings in Tenochtitlán. Not a great deal is known about the numbers of captives that the Aztecs spared for slavery or about the conditions of servitude and ultimate disposition. Captives who had a useful trade were the most likely to be spared sacrifice. Nor do we know much about the captives taken and the extent to which children were enslaved. It was not just foreign tribes that were enslaved. We know that some Aztecs sold themselves or their children into slavery to settle debts. This parctice played a role in the demise of the Aztecs. Tha Aztec skave girl Malinche became a key adviser and confident to Cortez. Aztec slavery is, however, apparently not forgotten. A law firm in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2002 announced plans to file a lawsuit against Mexico City municipal government seeking reparations for the Aztec use of slave labor. The lawsuit claims slaves captured by the Aztec ruler Ahuitzotl as a result of military operations in Oaxaca during the late 15th century built the foundations for Mexico City. The suit claims that the ancestors of those slaves should now be compensated. A Mexico City Municipal Counsel Emilio Montalban did not take the suit to seriously, telling a reporter that the plaintiffs "ought to be joyous," to know their ancestors did not have their living hearts cut from their chests, which was the fate of many of the human sacrifices. [Smeed]

Sources

Smeed, Dover. "Reparations Sought For Descendants of Aztec Slavery," CNSNews.com, March 26, 2002.

Created: 8:38 AM 6/23/2010
Last updated: 8:38 AM 6/23/2010