The Inca Empire, the massive nation that extended 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America and had a population of over 7 million at its peak. It included all of what is now Ecuador and Peru and most of Chile. Known as “The Children of the Sun”, they excelled at craftsmanship, weaving, and culture (“Children of the Sun”). A very religious people, they worshiped the Sun as their supreme god and held religious festivals monthly to appease these gods. Although they did not value it aside from its beautiful appearance, the Inca Empire was home to millions of pounds of solid gold and silver. The Inca had no use for it except to use it to craft decorations and statues. In fact, an Inca citizen valued cloth more than they valued gold …show more content…
With them, they brought the lethal disease smallpox over from Europe. Smallpox had been spreading south towards the Inca, and in 1524, it reached the Inca capital of Cuzco. The aging Inca emperor Huayna Capac caught a very serious case of it and died in 1525 (Somervill 8). On his death bed, Huayna Capac appointed his heir. He chose his first son, Ninan Cuyochi to rule as emperor. However, he included one condition: if a high priest saw deathly omens for Ninan, a replacement should be picked. Sure enough, a high priest of did recognize deathly omens for Ninan Cuyochi, and only weeks later, he died of smallpox, just as his father did. With Ninan’s death, an impending problem arose - who would become emperor? Huyana Capac had not specified who would take Ninan’s place in the event he died. So, his three remaining sons were all candidates for the throne. Huyana’s second oldest son, Huascar, claimed the throne before his two other brothers, and therefore was crowned emperor. The two remaining brothers, Atahualpa and Manco Inca, were content to remain governors and did not challenge Huascar. However, Huascar, fearing they would conspire against him, demanded Atahualpa come to Cuzco and speak with him. As Nigel Davies put it, “Atahualpa was commanded to present himself in Cuzco and warned that if he failed to obey…an army would be sent to fetch him” (182). Now
The Inca were South American Indian people who ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the America's. The Inca Empire began to expand about 1438 and occupied a vast region that centered on the capital, Cusco, in southern Peru. The Empire extended more than 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers) along the western coast of South America. It included parts of Present - Day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire was conquered by Spanish Forces soon after their arrival in 1532.
The Aztecs, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief and conquered Mexico within two years. By 1521, the Aztec culture was officially eradicated and a new culture, consisting of a
The Aztec and Incan empires both had strong armies. In the Aztec empire by the early fifteenth century the Aztecs were powerful enough to overcome their immediate neighbors and demand tribute. During the middle decades of the fifteenth century, the military elite that ruled much of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs launched ambitious campaigns of imperial expansion. Know as “the Obsidian Serpent” Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma advanced first to Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico. After capturing Oaxaca and slaying
Perhaps more than 12 million people contributed to the creation of sprawling cities, terraced farmlands, extended roadways, and golden palaces. The Inca empire covered nearly 2,500 miles and included regions of present-day Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina. Although, like other native peoples throughout the Americas, they did not have their own written language or the use of the wheel, the Incas were extremely intelligent engineers. They built huge stone structures without mortar and designed suspension bridges that crossed deep mountain
The Incas and the Aztecs Before the Spanish and Portuguese "discovered" the New World, there
The Aztecs were an American Indian people who ruled a mighty empire in Mexico from the 1400's to the 1500's. The Aztecs had one of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas and built cities as large as any in Europe at that time. They also practiced a remarkable religion that affected every part of their lives and featured human sacrifice. The Aztecs built towering temples, created huge sculptures, and held impressive ceremonies all for the purpose of worshipping their gods. The Spaniards destroyed their magnificent empire in the year 1521, but the Aztecs left a lasting mark on Mexican life and culture .
The huaca was the sacred shrine or god and they were all about the Inca Empire. The children were chosen by the emperor about one year prior to the Capacocha
Based on the wounds on the dead that were buried against Incan traditions, experts summarized that only three out of seventy were killed by the Spanish conquistadors. The rest were showed evidence of blunt force trauma consistent with the stone weapons of Incan warriors. This gave the experts the hypothesis that the Spanish received help from the Incan people during their conquest of the expansive Incan empire. This led experts to the document of a trial between Pizzaro’s heirs and the Spanish crown where the heirs wanted more money from the crown due to “Pizzaro’s great sacrifices during the conquest”. The crown disproved this by bringing Incans that stated they fought against the Incan empire, and Pizzaro did not accomplish all that he claimed. This historical document is another piece to the puzzle that states the Spanish alone did not conquer the Incans. Finally it was uncovered that Pizzaro had an Incan concubine that was used to make an alliance with a powerful Incan chief. During the siege of Lima, she sent a messenger to her mother, also an Incan chief, that stated she was surrounded by enemies, asking her mother to send her reinforcements. Her mother sent her a force of Incans, the same force of Incans allied with the Spanish who took Lima from the empirical Incans. This was one of the final stepping stones to put the traditional historical narrative to rest, and uncover the truth behind the devastation of the once great Incan
The book Harvest of Empire offers many examples of the factors leading to migration, which include economic and political persecution. The book has a direct connection between the hardships Latinos faced economically and military in their perspective countries. By reading this book it is clearly stated that Latinos are on the verge of becoming the largest minority group in America. Juan Gonzalez presents a devastating perspective on U.S. history rarely found in mainstream publishing aimed at a popular audience. Few of those countries were immigrants from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Central Americans.
Four empires embarked in the journey of exploring and conquering the New World: the Spanish, French, Dutch, and English. Among these empires, the new world was first and most vastly conquered by the Spanish. In 1492, the italian explorer Christopher Columbus sailed to America for the first time under the orders of the Spanish Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. In this and his following three journeys he discovered what he at first thought were the west indies. After this the Spanish Empire conquered the majority territory of America. The success of the Spanish New World Empire can be attributed to better support, and organization than any of the other New World Empires; making it the most efficient of all Empires.
When the Spaniards under Hernan Cortez gazed upon the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in Mexico in 1519, the scene before them amazed them. There, in the middle of a wide lake was a shimmering city with bright white walls of vast buildings sitting on an island in the middle of a large lake with causeways linked to it. The astonishment of those first Spanish visitors soon turned to horror when they saw the vast scale of ritual sacrifices made by the Aztecs.
The prevailing concern of the Mexican revolution was the welfare of the common Mexican worker, be he a farm worker on a Southern hacienda, or a rancher in the North. The presidents of Mexico, starting most notably with Benito Juárez, really incited the revolution, though laterthe main course of protest and turmoil focused on the presidents themselves.
The Inca Empire began in 1438 and was conquered in 1532. After the death of Huayna Capac, civil war erupted between his two sons over the succession of the throne. Eventually Atahualpa imprisoned his brother and consolidated his rule in Cuzco. Francisco Pizarro came face to face with each other. Atahualpa didn’t want a battle, however, they each had different worldviews. “In a surprise attack, the Spanish, with far superior weapons and the benefit of surprise, slaughtered the Inca entourage, captured Atahualpa, and held the Inca ruler hostage” (Seaman, R., 2014). After this, the Incas tried to resist, they Spanish were to strong and the Inca empire died out after the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru was captured and executed.
Until Spanish interactions however, Smallpox had never been introduced in Mexico. The Smallpox epidemic was contracted by Mexica and Spaniard allies alike. As told by the people of Tlatelolco “[The disease] brought great desolation; a great many died of it. They could no longer walk about, but lay in their dwellings and sleeping places” (Sahagun 2000, 190). The Spaniards began to use Smallpox to their advantage greatly weakening the Mexica forces. Smallpox’s exact death toll is uncertain but there are rough estimations that “range from a low of 10 million to a high of 100 million” (Hansen, Curtis 2013, 343). The use of biochemical agents in battle goes to prove the Spaniards military cunning over the
He accomplished this by ambushing and capturing the Inca ruler Atahualpa. Pizarro invited Atahualpa to a "peaceful gathering", but when Atahualpa arrived, he was captured, imprisoned and ransomed. Atahualpa's ransom was paid by the Inca empire with what would be equivalent to 50 million dollars worth of gold today, or, better stated by Pizarro, as "enough gold to fill a room". Unfortunately, this ransom was paid to no avail; in 1533 the Spaniards strangled and beheaded Atahualpa. The Spaniards extended their control over Inca territory in the following years. In 1572 they overwhelmed the last of the Inca forces and captured the last emperor, Túpac Amaru. In beheading him, they ended the Inca dynasty.