Big Q:
What effect did the Spanish conquest have on the people of Peru?
Mit’a
Prior to the Spanish conquest Incan society had a very successful system of labour exchange called Mit’a (mee-ta). In this system all males worked for the government for a certain period of time, usually about 65 days. This labour was free to the government. When someone’s turn came (mit’a actually means turn), he joined mit’a and worked on public projects like repairing roads, building monuments or temples, transporting goods etc. While the male was absent the government took care of the family.
In the 1570’s colonial administrators made reforms to the mit’a labour system in which the state demanded that communities (now called repartimiento) contribute as many as one-seventh of their able-bodied labour force at any given time to work in the silver and mercury mines, in workshops (or obrajes), in agriculture and ranching, and in many other capacities.
The results of this transformation were horrific. Communities were drained of their most productive workers, who were gone for months at a time, making it far more difficult for them to meet their tributary quotas “in kind” (e.g., in corn, textiles, and sundry other goods).
Who invented the mit’a system?
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What is the mit’a system? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who participated in the mit’a system?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How did the Spanish adapt and use the mit’a system?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who benefitted and who suffered from the adaptation of mit’a?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prior to the Spanish conquest Incan society had a very successful system of labour exchange called Mit’a (mee-ta). In this system all males worked for the government for a certain period of time, usually about 65 days. This labour was free to the government. When someone’s turn came (mit’a actually means turn), he joined mit’a and worked on public projects like repairing roads, building monuments or temples, transporting goods etc. While the male was absent the government took care of the family.
In the 1570’s colonial administrators made reforms to the mit’a labour system in which the state demanded that communities (now called repartimiento) contribute as many as one-seventh of their able-bodied labour force at any given time to work in the silver and mercury mines, in workshops (or obrajes), in agriculture and ranching, and in many other capacities.
The results of this transformation were horrific. Communities were drained of their most productive workers, who were gone for months at a time, making it far more difficult for them to meet their tributary quotas “in kind” (e.g., in corn, textiles, and sundry other goods).
Who invented the mit’a system?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the mit’a system? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who participated in the mit’a system?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How did the Spanish adapt and use the mit’a system?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who benefitted and who suffered from the adaptation of mit’a?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Potosí, Bolivia
Source Analysis:
Source 1:
What effect did the mining industry in Potosí have on non-Spanish people?
How did it effect people individually and the wider community?
Source 2:
What did the encomenderos do?
Source 3:
What was the Spanish crown worried about?
Source 4:
What was risky about working close to the mine in Potosí?
What was so exploitative about colonial society?
Source 5:
What kind of source do you think this is? Primary or secondary?
What does it tell you about life in Potosí?
Source 6:
Where did the silver from the mines go?
How did the silver industry influence life in the colonial Americas?
Source 7:
Make a list of the things you see in this source.
What is significant and why?
TASK:
Think about the sources we just looked at. Using the systems we just learnt about and the case study of Potosí as examples.
What effect did the Spanish Conquest have on the people of Peru? How did the Columbian exchange effect the people of Peru?
Write approximately ½ a page.
Think about the sources we just looked at. Using the systems we just learnt about and the case study of Potosí as examples.
What effect did the Spanish Conquest have on the people of Peru? How did the Columbian exchange effect the people of Peru?
Write approximately ½ a page.
Our 3 global impacts of the Columbian Exchange:
- The Columbian Exchange made the world slightly richer with more goods moving between economies and more cash changing hands.
- As human contact increased around the world people were exposed to the same diseases and developed resistance to them.
- The Columbian exchange made the world more unequal because some populations were able to to take advantage of the new connections better than others.
Source Analysis
When analysing the sources consider:
Who wrote the source?
When was it written?
Is it a primary or secondary source?
Is it biased, does it express the author's opinion or perspective, how?
What do you think is true from each source and what is false? Why?
What information does it give us about the Conquest of Peru?
When analysing the sources consider:
Who wrote the source?
When was it written?
Is it a primary or secondary source?
Is it biased, does it express the author's opinion or perspective, how?
What do you think is true from each source and what is false? Why?
What information does it give us about the Conquest of Peru?
Below: Drawing from Martin de Murúa's Historia del Piru (1590/1596).
The image below is from Poma de Ayala's chapter on the Spanish conquest and the civil wars. Its depicts the murder of an imprisoned Inca - The execution of Atahualpa Inka in Cajamarca:
Umanta kuchun, they behead him.
It is drawing 156 (on page 390) of his book, The First New Chronicle and Good Government On the History of the World and the Incas up to 1615.
Umanta kuchun, they behead him.
It is drawing 156 (on page 390) of his book, The First New Chronicle and Good Government On the History of the World and the Incas up to 1615.
Inca Chronicle is an account of the history of the Andean region from the earliest times, as well as a series of proposed reforms of the Spanish colonial rule. The long prose text is written in Spanish with occasional use of Quechua, one of the local Indian languages. Poma himself both wrote the text by hand and drew the nearly 400 full page illustrations. These drawings graphically express the suffering of the people under Spanish rule.
Passages from Francisco de Xeres. The Conquest of Peru, 1534.
Secondary Sources:
Above: The Incan Civil War and the Establishment of Power in Peru, John H. Rowe, 2006.
Link to Interactive timeline: Use for jigsaw activity where groups summarise one event.
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/7224/Atahualpa/#vars!date=1438-01-01_00:00:00!
Emergence of the Incas
Expansion of the Inca Empire
Inca Civil War and Spanish Arrival
Questions:
- 1150 to 1200 — The highland Inca tribe moves into the Cusco region.
- Manco Capacc.1200 — The Inca warlord Manco Capac oversees the construction and development of the Kingdom of Cusco, initially a small city-state. Archaeologist John Rowe calculates 1200 AD as an approximate date for the founding of the Inca dynasty — long before the foundation of the empire.
- 1200 to 1400 — For approximately 200 years, the Incas remain settled in Cusco and its surrounding area. According to Gordon Francis McEwan (The Incas: New Perspectives), “Between A.D. 1200 and 1438 eight Incas ruled without the Incas expanding much outside their heartland in Cusco.”
Expansion of the Inca Empire
- 1438 — The Chanca (or Chanka) tribe, a “powerful warlike confederation” (McEwan), attacks the city of Cusco as it attempts an aggressive expansion to the south. Sources differ as to the role of the Sapa Inca, Viracocha, at the time of the invasion. Some claim he fled, while others argue that he led the heroic defence of the city. In the former version of events, Viracocha’s son, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (or Pachacutec), remained in Cusco and fought off the Chanca attack.
- Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui1438 to 1463 — Following the successful defence of the city, Pachacuti becomes the new Sapa Inca (suggesting that he did indeed win favor by defending Cusco, as his brother, Inca Urcon, was the legitimate next in line). Under Pachacuti, the Incas begin a period of rapid expansion under a new governmental system and a determined leader. The Inca Empire, known as Tawantinsuyu, is born (it is also likely thatMachu Picchu was built during this period).
- 1463 — Pachacuti places his son, Túpac Inca Yupanqui (or Topa Inca), in charge of the Inca army. Túpac Inca pushes the borders of the Inca Empire to new extremes, heading north into Ecuador after securing vast swathes of central and northern Peru.
- 1471 to 1473 — Pachacuti steps down in 1471 and dies two years later. Prior to his death, he choses Túpac Inca as his successor instead of his elder son, Amaru Yupanqui. The new Sapa Inca continues his father’s expansionist policies, pushing south into Chile, Bolivia and northern Argentina.
- 1492 — Christopher Columbus discovers America
- 1493 — Túpac Inca dies. His son, Huayna Capac, becomes Sapa Inca. Over the next 30 years, Huayna Capac further expands the Inca realm, spending many years solidifying Inca rule in Ecuador.
Inca Civil War and Spanish Arrival
- 1519 — Hernán Cortés begins his conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico.
- c.1525 – Huayna Capac dies, possibly from smallpox (an epidemic had been tearing through the New World immediately after its introduction by the Spanish). Catastrophically, Huayna Capac had failed to name an heir before his death. The ensuing power struggle between his two sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa, eventually leads to a civil war. Smallpox further weakens the Inca population.
- 1526 – 1527 — The second expedition of Francisco Pizarro arrives in Tumbes on the north coast of Peru.
- 1529 – 1530 — In 1529, the Spanish Crown gives Pizarro permission to conquer Peru. He embarks upon his third expedition to Peru.
- 1532 — Atahualpa wins a decisive battle against Huáscar at the Battle of Quipaipan. The civil war ends, but a new threat has already landed on the north coast of Peru.
- 1532 — Francisco Pizarro and his small force of conquistadors capture Atahualpa in Cajamarca on November 16. The Sapa Inca is held for ransom before being killed.
- 1533 — On July 26, the Spaniards execute Atahualpa. .
- 1533 — On November 15, the first Spaniards enter Cusco. In December, Pizarro makes Manco Inca Yupanqui (another of Huayna Capac’s sons) the new puppet ruler of the Inca Empire.
- The execution of Túpac Amaru
1535 — Pizarro founds the coastal settlement of Lima on January 18 (Pizarro originally named it “Ciudad de los Reyes,” or “City of Kings).
- 1536 to 1537 — Manco Inca leads an uprising, laying siege to Cusco. Despite victory over the Spanish forces in the Battle of Ollantaytambo, Manco Inca is forced to flee following the arrival of Spanish reinforcements.
Questions:
- How did the Spanish conquer the Incas?
- What was the nature of interaction between Spanish and Incas?
How did the Spaniards control the Incas?
Mit'a: |
Encomienda: |
Movements & Rebellions
- Massacre at Sangarara
- Execution of Tupac Amaru
- Siege of Cuzco
- 1780 Rebellion
Reasons for rebellions:
- Slavery: Exploitation of Indigenous people for the Viceroyalty eg. in the mines at Potosi
- Religion: rejection of Christian saints and reversion to Pagan deities in 17th century.
- Destructuralisation: Structure that gave value to systems, cultures etc. looses it's value. In the case of Tupac Amaru, his elite status and noble Incan lineage was devalued.