Overview
Francisco Pizarro (1471 - 1541) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. With a small force of Spaniards, he was able to capture Atahualpa (At-a-walp-a), Emperor of the mighty Inca Empire, in 1532. Eventually he led his men to victory over the Inca, collecting mind-boggling quantities of gold and silver along the way.
Once the Inca Empire was defeated, the conquistadors took to warring among themselves over the spoils, Pizarro included, and he was killed in Lima in 1541 by forces loyal a former rival.
Expeditions to the Inca
News of Hernán Cortés' risky (and profitable) conquest of the Aztec Empire fueled the burning desire for gold among all of the Spanish in the New World, including Pizarro.
He soon visited the Incan city of Tumbes, where he saw local chiefs with silver and gold. These men told of a great ruler in the mountains, and Pizarro became more convinced than ever that there was another rich Empire like the Aztecs to be looted.
Capture of Atahualpa (Incan King)
In 1532, Pizarro and about 160 men headed inland to meet the Incan King. Atahualpa agreed to meet with the Spanish but was treacherously attacked and captured, while thousands of his men were killed. Pizarro and Atahualpa soon made a deal: Atahualpa would go free if he could pay a ransom. The Inca selected a large hut in and offered to fill it half full with golden objects, and the other half with silver. The Spanish quickly agreed. Soon the treasures of the Inca Empire began flooding in to the
Spanish. Once the hut was filled with gold and silver like the Inca promised, Pizarro had Atahualpa strangled and killed anyway!

: Overview
Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484 - 1566) was a Spanish priest who became famous for his defense of the rights of the native people of the Americas. His brave stand against the horrors of the conquest and the colonization of the New World earned him the title “Defender of the Indians.”
First Trip to the Americas: In 1502, Bartolomé finally went to see his family’s new property on Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti). The young man accompanied the governor of the island on two different military missions aimed at calming the natives who remained on the island. On one of these, Las Casas witnessed a bloody massacre of poorly armed natives, a scene he would never forget.
De Las Casas saw with his own eyes the treatment of the native slaves in the silver mines. They worked in deadly conditions without food or rest, many times until they collapsed and died. He sent messages to King Charles V of Spain, urging him to set up laws to protect the natives. After returning to Spain once to speak to the king in person, the “New Laws of the Indies” were made which outlawed the slavery of natives. These laws weren’t always enforced, and most colonists hated de Las Casas because they couldn’t get as rich without slavery.
The “True Peace” Experiment
Las Casas convinced Spanish authorities to allow him to try and save the few remaining Caribbean natives by taking them out of slavery and placing them in free towns.
In 1537, Las Casas wanted to try to show that natives could be controlled peacefully and that violence and conquest were unnecessary. He was able to convince the crown to let him send missionaries (religious preachers) to a region in Guatemala where the natives had been especially fierce and violent. His experiment worked, and the natives were brought under Spanish control peacefully. The experiment was called
Verapaz, or “true peace,” and the region still bears the name. Unfortunately, once the region was brought under control, greedy conquistadors took the lands and enslaved the natives, undoing almost all of Las Casas’ work.