Latin america History

¶ … indigenous people were conquered and colonized. The writer will focus on the Incas and discuss their many evidences of colonization and being conquered. The evidence the writer will present will be in religious, economic and social discussion to illustrate the writer's belief that they were indeed conquered against their will and then later colonized. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

The Spanish were interested in development and growth in the 16th and 17th century and to that end they examined areas of the world that they believed would provide them with natural resources and power and they took the land over (Schwartz PG). Often times there were already indigenous people living there and the Spanish would forcefully conquer and colonize those people (SPANISH DEVELOPMENT (http://www.econ.org/octlessons/ushistory3,2-3.htm).One of the most interesting cases of the Spanish conquering and taking over an indigenous people was the Incas conquer. It was most interesting because the Incas had never been a passive people and the idea of them being taken over is something that is often debated. They were indeed conquered by the Spanish however, and the very fact that they were known to be power seeking peoples themselves beforehand only strengthens the evidence that they were conquered and colonized by the Spanish.

The conquest of South and Central America was similar to the conquest of the islands in the Caribbean. The Spanish conquered the sophisticated civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas, and the Chibchas. These South and Central American societies had much more gold than did the societies of the Caribbean. The Spanish quickly seized it. And, almost overnight, they started mining to find still more. The Spanish also sought to control the economy, first by destroying the top leadership of the Aztecs, Incas, and the Chibchas, and then by gaining control over the production of cattle, tobacco, and cotton (SPANISH DEVELOPMENT http://www.econ.org/octlessons/ushistory3,2-3.htm)."

The end blow to the Incas was the kidnapping of their leader and executing him. His name was Atahualpa and once he was dead the Spaanish began the process of colonizing the Inca peoples (http://www.bowdoin.edu/cbbaway/QuitoE/QGeneralinformation.html).

PROOF THAT IT WAS A CONQUEST

Anyone who wants proof that the Incas were indeed conquered and them colonized need look at the history of the Incas before the Spanish arrived and took over. Understanding the Incas people is an important piece to understanding that they were conquered, and did not willingly submit to the Spanish desire to colonize them.

The Incas were a distinct people with a distinct language living in a highland center, Cuzco. They were an ancient people, but had been subject to the regional powers during the entire history of South American urban cultures (INCAS (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/INCAS.HTM)."

Incas began taking over various areas of the world in the 12th century according to all available records. The used their influence through the 16th century to take over lands and indigenous peoples who lived in those lands before they arrived. The Incas hold the dubious honor of being the population to take over more territory than any other people had ever done in the history of South America until that time.

The social structure of the Incas was extremely inflexible. At the top was the Inca who exercised, theoretically, absolute power. Below the Inca was the royal family which consisted of the Inca's immediate family, concubines, and all his children. This royal family was a ruling aristocracy. Each tribe had tribal heads; each clan in each tribe had clan heads. At the very bottom were the common people who were all grouped in squads of ten people each with a single "boss." The social unit, then, was primarily based on cooperation and communality (INCAS (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/INCAS.HTM)."

The desire by the Incas to rule was strong but it was done by allowing those that they conquered to become part of the Inca "family." The biggest mistake that was made in the Inca existence was the fact that it was centrally run. It all went back to the Inca leader. This was proof of their desire to be "in charge" of all they conquered, and it also provided the Spanish with an easy access to conquer them. All the Spanish had to do was to destroy the leader and the first layer of protectors of the people and they would destroy then entire Inca empire. This is exactly what happened though the Incas' fought long and hard to not allow their conquer.

Another element of evidence that the Incas were power hungry and powerful before the Spanish invasion was the fact that they insisted all lands that they overtook convert to their language which was Quechua. In addition their religious beliefs were imposed on the peoples that they conquered which was a faith that believed in many Gods. When the Spanish took over the Incas were forced to worship one God and give up their former beliefs of several Gods.

At its height, the Inca civilization crashed into the European expansion. In 1521, Herman Cortes conquered the Aztecs; this conquest inspired Francisco Pizzarro to invade the Incas in 1531. He only had two hundred soldiers, barely enough to walk the dog. However, he convinced the ruler of the Incas, Atahualpa, to come to a conference at the city of Cajamarca. When Atahualpa arrived, Pizzarro kidnapped him and killed several hundred of his family and followers. Atahualpa tried to ransom himself, but Pizzarro tried to use him as a puppet ruler. When that failed, Pizzarro simply executed him in 1533(INCAS (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/INCAS.HTM)."