This description of political union had obvious advantages for both sides. If the threatened city was not sure it could resist the attack, submission spared lives and means of production; it also offered economic advantages and a degree of political autonomy. For the attacker, the advantages were even greater: no loss of men and the gaining of another tributary city that, as part of the hegemony, would have powerful reasons to be a cooperative vassal. Hassig describes this relationship: “Governance of these conquered areas was tailored to the hegemonic imperial system: the Aztecs were unconcerned about many local activities. They allowed local laws, customs, and beliefs that did not obstruct imperial aims to be retained, even when they differed from those of the Aztecs. Thus incorporation into the Aztec Empire did not necessarily mean that tributaries altered their behavior vis-à-vis other subgroups.”
When Giddianhi suggests that the Nephites join with them, it is a sincere offer of membership under the Gadiantons’ political umbrella without much disruption to the Nephites’ current social structures. The main disadvantage would, therefore, be the tribute exacted. From the Nephite perspective, however, it would not only mean political and economic submission, but the probable destruction of their religion—the very reasons they feared the order of the Nehors. (See “Excursus: Religion of the Nehors,” following Alma 1.)