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1. Latin American Law > Pre-Columbian law> Incans and Aztecs Last updated 27 Sep 11

2. Aztec Empire Pre-ColumbianLatin America … IncaEmpire

5. Government structure … The people of LatAm found themselves ruled by home-grown monarchy then by another imported from Europe. Jim Rodden

6. God Sun Quetzacoatl Inca Aztec King Pope Alexander VI (1492) Nobility (Toltec blood) Tlalocan(Council 12-20 nobles) Apocunas Regional Governors King (Spanish / Portuguese) Nobility T’oqrikoqProvincial Governors Calpixque (local Aztec governors) Royal Councils (Junta de Burgos) Ethnic leadersHunu (10,000) / Chunca (10) Calpulli(groups of 50-500 families Conquistadores Family units Subjects Subjects Family units

7. God Sun Quetzacoatl Inca Aztec King Pope Alexander VI (1492) Nobility (Toltec blood) Tlalocan(Council 12-20 nobles) Apocunas Regional Governors King (Spanish / Portuguese) Nobility T’oqrikoqProvincial Governors Calpixque (local Aztec governors) Royal Councils (Junta de Burgos) Ethnic leadersHunu (10,000) / Chunca (10) Calpulli(groups of 50-500 families Conquistadores Family units Subjects Subjects Family units

8. Crime and punishment … Aztec style

9. Crime Punishment . Adultery Death (by stoning but not men with single woman) Commoner wearing cotton clothing Death (strangulation or beating) Cutting down a living tree Death Drunkenness 1st Offense - Head Shaved House Destroyed 2nd Offense - Death Handling Stolen Property Sold into Slavery Moving a Field Boundary Death

10. Crime Punishment . Kidnapping Sold into Slavery Selling substandard goods Loss of Property Major Theft Death (by strangulation) Minor Theft Sold into Slavery Treason Death, Loss of Property, Destruction of Land, Children Sold into Slavery

11. Questions from readings …

12. Requerimiento / Leyes de Burgos 1: The Indians are to be removed from their land and placed into encomiendas. 2: The Indians will leave their land voluntarily to come to the encomiendas. 3: The citizen to whom the Indians are given must erect a structure to be used as a church. In the church must be a picture of Our Lady and a bell with which to call the Indians to prayer time. 4: To make sure the Indians are learning Christianity properly, they shall be tested every two weeks and taught what they do not know by the Encomendero. He shall teach them the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Articles of Faith. 5: A church will be built equidistant from all estates. On Sundays, Mass shall be observed and a feast will be eaten.

13. Assimilating conquered peoples were never addressed by the British Jim Rodden / Winslow Taylor Basic features of Aztec law (written code, predetermined punishments, specialized courts, availability of counsel, evidentiary rights … come from basic nature of justice, not cultural similarities Winslow Taylor Aztecs codified the laws that were important to them: on commerce and military. Jim Rodden

14. Are slaves/natives human? Queen Isabella Justinian Digest III. De condicione hominum. 9. Et quidem summa divisio de iure personarum haec est, quod omnes homines aut liberi sunt aut servi Las Leyes de Las Indias Hernán Cortés Doña Marina (la Malinche)

15. Modern LatAm indigenous issues … Liberation theology Peru, Colombia, Mexico

16. Zapatistas (2003)

17. End

18. Samis

19. Panama Chibchan / Chocoan / Cueva