*
*
* Main Idea:
* The riches of the Aztec Empire led other Spanish conquerors to seek out their fortunes
in South America and their native people.
*
* Lecture Focus:
* Have you ever done anything because you have seen other people do it and
succeed? We are going to look at how another conquistador followed the
examples of Cortes and conquered the Inca.
*
* In 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa led a band of soldiers across the jungle
covered mountains of present day Panama.
* Native Americans said that if Balboa traveled south along the western sea, he
would find a great empire filled with gold and other riches.
*
* Vasco Nunez de Balboa’s monument in Panama City, Panama
*
* Balboa found the sea, known today as the Pacific Ocean, however, he
never found the “Golden Empire.”
* A jealous Spanish official in Panama falsely charged Balboa with treason,
or disloyalty to the government and ordered him beheaded.
*
* Francisco Pizarro, who marched with Balboa, took up the search for this “Golden City”.
* Pizarro was illiterate and could not even write his name, but he knew how to fight and
organize his soldiers. (Pizarro's Statue in Trujillo, Spain)
*
* Like Balboa and Cortes, Pizarro came from the harsh lands of
Extremadura, however, he was not of noble birth.
*
* At age 16 Pizarro lived with his
mother and tended animals in the
fields.
* Pizarro’s family was not wealthy
and could expect little in the way
of inheritance and decided to
become a soldier.
* It is likely that he followed in his
father's footsteps to the battlefields
of Italy for a time before hearing of
the riches of the Americas.
*
He first went to the New World in
1502 as part of a colonization
expedition and while helping
explore Panama became a wealthy
land owner.
*
* Questions:
* 1) Vasco de Balboa was traveling along Panama looking for what?
* 2) What was Balboa charged with and how did he die?
* 3) Who took up the search after Balboa died?
* 4) What was he known for? What could he not do?
*
* Questions:
* 1) Vasco de Balboa was traveling along Panama looking for what?
* A great empire filled with riches and gold
* 2) What was Balboa charged with and how did he die?
* Treason, he was beheaded
* 3) Who took up the search after Balboa died?
* Francisco Pizarro
* 4) What was he known for? What could he not do?
* Pizarro was a great fighter but he could not read
*
* By the 1530’s, the Inca thought they ruled most of the world.
* Two treats from the north soon proved they did not
*
* The Inca could do nothing to stop the southward spread of smallpox.
* They also failed to scare away Pizarro, who led 160 adventurers up the
mountains into the Incan homeland.
*
* The Inca tried to ignore him, but Pizarro would not leave.
* He raided Incan storehouses, villages and even preformed extreme violent acts against
the Incan people.
*
* The Incan Emperor, Atahualpa, thought Pizarro was absolutely crazy or a
complete fool.
* Atahualpa was massively confused, could this man stand up to an army of
80,000 Incan warriors.
*
* Atahualpa misjudged Pizarro completely.
* The Spaniard had an advantage…the Inca knew very little about the Europeans and
their fighting styles while Pizarro knew a lot about the Incans.
*
* Purely based on weapons alone who do you think had the advantage???
*
* Pizarro had spent more than 30 years fighting Native Americans and
understood their behaviors very well.
* Also, his good friend Hernan Cortes gave Pizarro an inside look at the
conquest of the Aztec…and in late 1532, he decided on a plan so bold that
even Cortes might not have risked it.
*
* Questions:
* 1) What two threats could the Incan stop.
* 2) What friend was giving Pizarro some helpful tips.
*
* Questions:
* 1) What two threats could the Incan stop.
* They could not stop the spread of smallpox and they failed to scare
away Pizarro
* 2) What friend was giving Pizarro some helpful tips.
* Hernan Cortes
*
* Spanish messengers invited Atahualpa to a meeting, that would hopefully create some
type of peace agreement.
* Atahualpa agreed but made a fatal mistake, he left most of his huge army behind.
*
* Atahualpa believed that his 5,000 personal bodyguards were enough protection against
the small amount of Spanish Conquistadors.
* Atahualpa also decided that again based on the extremely tiny amount of soldiers the
Spanish had his army did not require weapons.
*
* When they met, Pizarro wasted no time in asking the emperor to give up his gods.
* Atahualpa laughed at this request, at which point Pizarro ordered an attack .
*
* Cannons roared, trumpets blared and sword swinging soldiers shrieked battle cries.
* Pizarro then seized Atahualpa and dragged him off the battlefield.
*
* Atahualpa tried to buy his freedom…offering to fill his jail cell with gold and a nearby
room with silver.
* Pizarro jumped at the deal.
*
* Atahualpa kept his part of the deal, Pizarro on the other hand did not.
* He charged the emperor with many crimes: plotting a rebellion,
worshiping false gods, having to many wives and much more.
*
* Pizarro staged a mock trial and found Atahualpa guilty of revolting against the
Spanish, practicing worship of false gods, and murdering Huascar, his brother.
* Atahualpa was sentenced to execution by burning, which horrified him, since
the Inca believed that the soul would not be able to go on to the afterlife if
the body were burned.
*
* Friar Vicente de Valverde, intervened, telling Atahualpa that if he agreed to convert to
Catholicism, he would convince Pizarro to alter the sentence.
* Atahualpa agreed to be baptized into the Catholic faith and was given the name Juan
Santos Atahualpa in honor of the feast day of the beheading of St. John the Baptist,
which falls on August 29.
*
* In accordance with his request, he was strangled with a garrote on August 29, 1533.
* Following his execution, his clothes and some of his skin were burned, and his remains
were given a Christian burial.
*
* To reward Pizarro, the Spanish King, Charles V, made him governor of Peru.
* He then chose a new emperor for the Inca, however, this new emperor had to follow
his every order.
*
* Pizarro’s conquest of Peru opened most of South America to Spanish rule.
* Spain controlled a vast territory of South America, covering about 375,000
square miles and about seven million inhabitants.
*
* Spain was literally on its way to building the worlds first global empire!
*
* Questions:
* 1) What were the major mistakes that Atahualpa made when
meeting Pizarro?
* 2) What happened once Atahualpa laughed at the requested to give
up the Incan gods?
* 3)
What did Atahualpa try to buy his freedom with?
* 4) How was Pizarro rewarded for his conquest of the Inca?
*
* Questions:
* 1) What were the major mistakes that Atahualpa made when meeting Pizarro?
* He only took 5,000 soldiers with him and ordered his men to leave their weapons
behind
* 2) What happened once Atahualpa laughed at the requested to give up the Incan gods?
* Pizarro ordered his attack
* 3)
What did Atahualpa try to buy his freedom with?
* He offered to fill his jail cell with gold and one with silver
* 4) How was Pizarro rewarded for his conquest of the Inca?
* He was made governor of Peru
*
* Reading Check:
* Answer the following question in an open ended response.
* Explain how did Pizarro fail to keep his promise to Atahualpa when
they were negotiating.
*
* Analyze:
* Answer the following question in an open ended response.
* Why were the Aztec and the Inca so easily defeated by the
significantly smaller Spanish forces?
*
* Expository Writing:
* Answer the following question in an open ended response.
* Imagine that you are an Aztec or an Inca seeing a Spanish
conquistador for the first time. Write a newspaper article
describing what you have obsereved.