Latin America History Term Paper

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….....