the spanish empire 1528-1555 Flashcards
Summary of Pizzaro’s voyages:
> First one unsuccessful, mangroves made exploration difficult, Almagro lost an eye while skirmishes w/ natives, lack of food
> Second, left Panama w/ 180 men, 2 ships. Almagro sailed back few months later, discovered governor of Peru would only supply rescue expeditions
Pizzaro and men caught native raft w/ treasures, caught glimpses of rich civilization of Incas
Only 13 men agreed to stay w/ Pizzaro. Decided to return to Pan to set up Third
> Pizzaro took evidence of wealth (llamas, silver and gold) to Charles to persuade a third expedition
Pizzaro received title of Capitulacion de Toledo, authorizing conquering of Peru
When did Huayna Capac die?
Huayna Capac died in 1525
When was Pizzaro’s third expedition?
Pizzaro’s third expedition was in 1531
He arrived in Tumbes, once a flourishing city, and found it destroyed resulting from the civil war. Pizzaro planned to exploit that.
Summary of Battle of Cajamarca of 1532:
> Pizzaro and men arrived, spotting the vast camp of Inca army
->Talk, attack, destroy
->Atahualpa invited them to Cajamarca, Spaniards tried to intimidate the Incans with horses
->Incans who were afraid were killed
->Atahualpa invited them to meet at the great square where they would be given lodgings at his palace
->Spaniards hid in ambush positions
->Thousands of Incans were in the square, Friar Vicente offered Atahualpa the Bible, which he threw on the ground in contempt
->Declared a heretic, Spaniards attacked and killed 2,000+ Incans and Ata taken prisoner
->Sp ransacked the camp, looting gold, jewels, goblets, precious stones
->Atahualpa offered room full of gold and double silver
->Pizzaro accused him of treason and had him garrotted
Describe the revolt of the Incans causes
> Incans thought normalcy would reestablish after half-bro Manco (puppet ruler) was made new Inca
->After 3 years, under Manco, Incans revolted because:
> Looting of sacred temples for gold
->Ingots being made of sacred objects
->Insult to Manco and nobles, including Manco imprisonment
->Casual raping
Describe the siege of Cuzco 1536-37
> 10,000 Incas vs 150 Sp & 1000 native allies
->Inca warriors burned everything to drive Sp out, but Sp put out fire
->Sp used cavalry to attack warriors
->Heavily armed Sp fought with warriors in Sacsahuaman for days; fortress fell
->Incas besieged the city for few more months
->Almagro and crew returned from exploring Chile and defeated Inca forces
Spaniards back in control
-Pizzaro forced way into Peru, looting, killing, establishing control
Population in 1591 after smallpox
Because of disease, especially measles and smallpox, Inca population diminished by 93% by 1591
By 1550’s the total economic
value of silver was greater than gold.
Significance of silver in Bolivia 1545
> Vast amounts of labor needed to extract and smelt, mining towns developed, housing people employed
->Led to circulation of El Dorado, undiscovered wealth in America
->Encouraged merchants to invest in projects designed to explore area further, leading to expeditions in California, Venezuela, Argentina
->Increased colonization from merchants, adventurers and employees
->Spanish Gov wealth boosted, 25% of all silver going to Spain went to Treasury
->Gov had to find way to control colonies to make sure they got their share of wealth
What did the New Laws state?
Bartolome de Las Casas persuaded Charles to implement them in 1542
> Enslavement of natives not allowed
Tribute amount collected was limited, all work by natives had to be paid for
Encomiendas to be passed back to Gov at death of endomendero
The encomenderos had to pay
for priests to convert natives and pay for defenses of the area
Significance of New Laws 1542
> Intended to improve native lives, but viceroys and encomenderos opposed and refused to implement them
->Led to revolts in Peru (led to beheading of viceroy there), 1544 revolt had to be put down by Gov, led to temporary halt in conquest in 1550
->Charles forced to suspend New Laws but insisted encomiendas be passed back to crown after death
->Left royal agents in charge, who continued to exploit native people
Bartolome believed enslavement of Natives was illegal
because they should be protected as they were Castilian subjects
Significance of La Paz 1548
> Founded to commemorate end of Pizzaro revolt, and signify that Spain was the highest authority, not conquistadors
Administrative center of empire, churches, public buildings and street plan
Viceroys and audiencias based here
Founded close to trade routes near Potosi & Oruro mines, safeguarded Sp control over extraction and made sure silver continued to flow back to Sp Gov
Location: Andes mountain, less vulnerable to attack
Establishment represented peak of conquistador conquest
Impact of gold and silver on Spanish economy
> European merchants put up prices -> Spanish merchants put up prices of imported goods; inflation
Poorer people not able to afford, started demanding higher wages
Sp’s reliance on imports instead of building own industries; English cloth industry grew
Pesos made, amount of silver in them allowed for extensive trade w/ Europeans
Invested in military & galleons to protect
