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Spanish Conquest

Page history last edited by timjakobsen 14 years, 2 months ago

                               

                                                                                                                           

The Spanish Conquest  

Factors that lead the Spanish success.

The great Incan empire was one of the mightiest ancient empire of the Americas empires. Spain was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Europe, destroyed the Incan empire along with a lot of other empires. The Spanish conquest for the Inca was a long campaign.   The key to the Spanish success was the many factors that gave them a fighting advantage. The time when the Spanish first land in Peru, the Inca describe them as their bearded god who had crossed the sea. The Incan emperor at the time, Atahualpa wanted to welcome the Spanish so he arranged a meeting. The Spanish captured the Incan emperor when the two armies first met to discuss an alliance. Francisco Pizzaro offered a bible and that the Inca were to convert to Christianity to befriend Spain. Atahualpa refused by throwing the bible on the ground and for that he was captured. With the emperor held hostage, the Incan forces became bewildered.  The Incan chain of command is mainly based on the emperor’s wellbeing. So when the emperor was captured the Incan forces behind him quickly fell apart attempting to get him back. The Spanish used the emperor to   make ransoms and used threats against his life to keep them away.  Eventually they executed him.   Before the Spanish even arrived in Peru, the Inca were being killed by smallpox. This disease spread to them from all the previous in counters of the Spanish when they first arrived in America.   The small pox was what killed Emperor Huanya which caused his two sons to fight for the control over the empire.   There was a civil war inside the empire that had weakened the Inca before the Spanish arrived. So when the Spanish appeared, the Inca weren’t at their full strength. The war was caused two brothers who wanted the throne after their father’s death of smallpox.  The two sons were Atahualpa and Huascar. Atahualpa was the most popular of the people in the empire and quickly gathered a large force. Near the end of the war Atahualpa sent his armies to make the final blow to his brother at his fortress and after a hard battle Huascar was captured. From then on Atahualpa became emperor of the Inca. The greatest factor of the Spanish conquest was that they had advanced technology. The Spanish weapons were much more effective then the Incan weapons.  The swords were made of metal, including, daggers, cannons, armor, primal muskets, iron pikes and maces. One Spanish soldier could do a lot of damage with these weapons.  The musket’s long range was able take out Incan troops much faster and farther compare to a bow and arrow which its range was dependent on the strength of the archer. The metal swords were able to punish serious injuries to a Incan troop who would die in seconds. The horse was big advantage in the battlefield because the Inca have never seen a horse before so it created fear amongst the Incan warriors. So when Incan troops fought a mounted horseman they would flee before they even start to fight. Finally the cannon were the most effective weapon in the campaign. The cannon fired its shell at a great speed that created a large amount of damage to the Incan walls and cities. The cannon would also massacre a large number of approaching Incan warriors. With all these weapons the Spanish could conquer the Inca army with only a small army.    

       

  This shows what kind of fighting went on back

 

 

People who made history

Although there were many to the success, many powerful people in the time of the Spanish conquest were very important to its success.  These people were Francisco Pizzaro, Emperor Huanya, Atahualpa, Huascar , Diego de Almargo, and Tupac Amaru. These were powerful but not just ordinary people. Francisco Pizzaro was the Spanish commander of the expedition of Peru.  He and his companions captured Atahualpa and executed him. He received permission by the Spanish crown to conquer the Inca and finding their true objective which was the gold the Inca had.   Emperor Huanya, was important because it was from his death that caused the civil war between his two sons. This war weakened the empire a great deal before the Spanish came.  Huascar was one of the two sons, who tried to fight his brother for the throne but he lost. Atahualpa was the other son of Huanya who fought his brother Huascar for throne and he won the title of Emperor. He also was the most popular son at time, so gave it him a advantage over Huascar.  Atahualpa was the one who decided to welcome the Spanish instead of attacking them. If he had attacked them with a full army they would have changed history.  Diego de Almargo was companion of Francisco Pizzaro and fellow conquistador but a later rival whose son murdered Francisco Pizzaro. Finally Tupac Amaru, was the last Incan emperor. When Peru was conquered, the Spanish declared war on the new capital.  Tupac Amaru was later killed in Cusco. After his death Incan people abandon the capital and capitulated to the Spanish. When the people went, Spanish move in and conquer the Incan empire.

                                                                                 

The sapa inca                                                                                                             Francisco Pizzaro

 

What actually happened?

The most important events at the time pretty much summarizes that has just been said about  the conquest over the Inca.  These were key events that basically were written down in history.  It started with the small pox reaching the Inca. Emperor Huanya was killed by the smallpox which triggered the civil war. The civil war between Huanya’s two sons Atahualpa and Husacar who fought for his place on the throne.  After many years of fighting Atahualpa was the most favored and he sent his men to attack Huascar’s fortress. Huascar is captured and Atahualpa becomes emperor just as the Spanish landed to the north. Atahualpa’s messengers report to him about the Spanish appeared to look like their god from across the sea. Atahualpa then takes his army and travels to meet them.  At the meeting the Spanish offer a bible and to convert Christianity. Atahualpa refuses and throws the bible on the ground. The Spanish attack and Atahualpa gets captured.   Spanish hold Atahualpa captive and request ransom, a year later they execute him.  After while later the Spanish conquer most of Peru. Then the Spanish declare war on Vilabamba and begin attacking the capital. After that the last emperor Tupac Amaru was killed. The Incan people abandoned their capital and the Spanish moved in and conquered.

 Although, the Spanish conquered the whole of Chile and Peru and destroyed one of the most powerful empires of the Americas.    The Spanish had formed new civilizations over the old. Making a new south America but one will forget the great Spanish conquest that toke place there and how it happened.

 

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