Abstract This paper looks at writers who describe the history of the Inca and what happened when the Spaniards arrived and took over rule of the country. It also examines how the background of the writers colors their version of events.
From the Paper "It is extremely important when reading historical essays to know who the author is and their background People often get very emotional about national issues and anything which is written about their culture and when they write about it themselves their ..."
Abstract The indigenous tribes of the past have fascinated us for decades and none so more than the Inca's of the Andes. This paper looks at two books written about the Incas, "Daily Life in the Inca Empire" by Michael Malpass and Clive Cusslers, ?Inca Gold?. The paper discusses how these two books represent the two conflicting perspectives that exist on the Inca tribe. While some writers present it as a common land where social life was progressive yet routine (Malpass), others (such as Cussler) choose to focus on the mythological lore to create a fascinating realm of magic, mystery and untold treasures.
From the Paper "Yet, while Malpass tries to be historically accurate at times he miscalculates and misanalyses the evidence. There is no framework or context in which to lodge archaeological studies at the household level. Even when ethno history can develop images of ordinary practice, say labor organization, for example, it often cannot tell whether or how it was used by the local or imperial elite and in whose benefit. To cite an example, an assumption that is unwarranted in the Inca case in Malpass' book is that there were full-time specialists who took care of certain professional fields. The Incas organized the production of ceramics, textiles, wooden objects, sandals and other goods, settling the producers in communities both near and far from their territory of origin. In the case of Cuzco, the capital, food was produced on land near town and on nearby private estates, but even the kings themselves participated in planting. There is no evidence for full-time specialization, and the Incas seem to have deliberately avoided the creation of urban populations dependent on daily markets for their subsistence."
Abstract This paper discusses the sixteenth century conquest of the Inca people by the Spaniards. The paper contends that the Spanish found virtue in their brutal conquest of the Inca by discovering that they had brought that people the benefits of the true religion and had brought to an end the barbarous practices that had oppressed and contaminated the Inca soul. The paper explains that despite this the culture of the Inca people thrived.
From the Paper "Certainly there was another reality that lay beneath the veneer of Inca submission. In the Sixteenth century, the Inca People had witnessed the unimaginable. They had seen their entire world turned upside down, their most cherished traditions banned and cast aside, their leaders persecuted as heretics or devils while their rights as a people were simply taken away by an alien race that must itself had seemed like a race of devils. Central to Spain's belief that its destruction of Inca Civilization had been a just cause was the assumption that the Inca was inherently inferior to himself. Even Bartolome de Las Casas, the Sixteenth Century's most ardent defender of the rights of the Indian, held that different peoples were at different stages of development. "
Abstract The question is sometimes asked whether or not the Incas were conquered and colonized, or whether they voluntarily became part of the Spanish society. This paper argues that, once one studies the history of the Incas and their desire for power, one will be convinced that the Incas were conquered, as they would never have given up voluntarily to the Spanish.
From the Paper "The fact that the Incas were a power hungry people and a powerful regime before the invasion of the Spaniards is proof of the fact that they were conquered and later colonized. The fact that the Incas took over more land and people than anyone ever had in the history of South America lends credibility to the idea that the only way the Spanish won them over was by force. If one studies the Inca cultures and traditions one can easily see that there was only one way for the Spanish to gain power over them, and it was by force."
Abstract This paper examines how Pizarro came to conquer of Peru in 1523 with the blessing of King Charles I of Spain and his relationship with the natives of the time - the Incas. It discusses how Pizarro's goal was to take the riches of the empire for himself and to subjugate the people to Catholicism and to Spanish rule. It evaluates the repercussions of Pizarro's conquest and how the conquest of the entire Americas cannot be overstated.The Inca civilization was more advanced than Western European civilization at the time, and so many things about art and architecture and science that the Europeans could have learned about had were wiped out.
From the Paper "In many ways, the Inca civilization was more advanced than Western European Civilization. Inca surgeons were performing brain surgery while the Europeans favorite medical treatment was leeches. In 1531, the Inca had achieved amazing feats, not just in art, architecture, science, etc, but in socio-politics. In Inca society there were no poor people. Orphans, widows, etc, were cared for by the state. Workers retired at 50 on pensions of food and clothing. There was little crime. "
Tags: latin, america, society, civilization, catholicism, spain, king, charles
Abstract This paper explores the large difference between the European/Spanish opinion on gold and wealth in general and the Incan opinion. The paper begins by explaining that in Spain, gold was something that could be acquired and made, to be spent on other objects and services. The paper then looks at the area of the Andes, where all gold was the sole property of the Sapa Inca who then distributed the wealth in the form of clothes and food according to your seniority. Also unlike in Spain, the Sapa Incaes, distributed food and clothes to the needy and old from his imperial stor.
From the Paper "Five hundred years ago two hundred Spanish conquistadors under the command of Hernando Pizarro invaded the Incan empire from the new Spanish frontier-town of Panama. Over the next 100 years the cruel, relentless Spanish and the diseases that they brought from Europe would decimate the entire Indian population of the Andes almost destroying a way of life and a culture that had been nurtured in isolation for hundreds of years. In the process the Inca lost everything - their land, gold, status and right to practise their own religion as they were Christianised and moved to forced labour camps to mine the gold that the Spanish yearned for so much. Even today most of the Indians live in the slums of the Andean cities or in isolated communities up in the mountains. In the days of the Inca, due to strict organization on the part of the Sapa Inca (Emperor), no one would ever have starved or been left homeless. Nowadays many of the native peoples of South America live below the poverty line."
Tags: america, indian, south, wealth, jewel, royal
Abstract Tupac Shakur was a poet, an actor and the voice of a generation. He was able to make movies and videos, write and record music, and still found time to write remarkable poetry before his untimely death. His poetry was only published after his death in a collection of over 100 poems titled autobiographically 'The Rose That Grew From Concrete'. This paper includes an excerpt of the said poem as well as an analysis of the themes and literary tools used.
From the Paper " Every era has its classically wonderful artists. Every now and then, there is an artist who truly surprises everyone and breaks barriers for every category of artist that existed before he or she. For our time, that surprisingly (or not so surprisingly to some) talented artist is one Tupac Amaru Shakur. Tupac Amaru are Inca words that mean Shining Serpent. Shakur means thankful to God in Arabic. He was a person who is and was thought of as only an unruly gang-related thug. Although he referred to himself as a thug, he once stated in an interview "you know I'm a business man because you only find me at my places of business". His places of business were the recording studio or on the set of a movie or video."
This paper reviews "James Lockhart's "The Men of Cajamarca", which examines the pivotal 1532 event in Peru in which 168 Spaniards captured the emperor of the Incas: Lockhart focuses on the lives of these Spaniards.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 1 source, 1990, $ 39.95
From the Paper "James Lockhart, in "The Men of Cajamarca", examines the 1532 event in Peru in which 168 Spaniards captured the emperor of the Incas and radically altered the course of history both in the new World and in Europe, However, Lockhart focuses on the lives of these specific Spaniards in his study.
As Lockhart writes, "In this study the primary interest is not the conquest but the pattern in the lives of the conquerors; therefore the familiar procedure of using social material as background to a narrative presentation will be reversed. The approach taken by the author is based on an "episodic" methodology. The first part of Lockhart's study "contains several analytical chapters on general patterns, social, collective, or organizational. The second contains short biographies of all the men, insofar as that is possible. Social ... "
Impact of Spanish invaders on Aztecs & Incas. Examines their cultural background and leadership and looks at issues of plundering, Christianization, depopulation, social & political abuses and economics.
2,025 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 8 sources, 1993, $ 71.95
From the Paper " When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the New World, they found flourishing civilizations firmly in place in the form of the Incas in Peru and the Aztecs in Mexico. Within a short time, the Spanish had destroyed these civilizations and eradicated much of their culture. In addition to the desire for conquest, gold, and plunder of all sorts, the conquistadors also saw themselves as carrying on a Holy Crusade to stamp out idolatry and to bring Christianity to these heathen peoples. The meeting between the Spaniards and the indigenous peoples of the New World was a culture clash in which the European would ultimately prevail, but elements of the indigenous cultures would survive and be adapted to the developing Christian society the conquistadors left behind. To a great degree, this was acculturation at the point of a sword, and the conquistadors..'
Abstract This paper offers a plan on how to best teach the subject of ancient history. The author states that it would be nearly impossible to present every aspect of human culture and civilization up to 1650 in a single course and that it would, therefore, be wiser to emphasize those events in history that are most relevant to today's society. The paper then states that the most effective way to present these events is chronologically and that, since the course is designed for American students, a great deal of the course should be spent on the study of American history. According to the author, the topic of early American history would address the discovery of America, original explorers, and their interactions with Native Americans, such as Aztecs, Incas, and Maya Indian groups, and the subsequent European settlements.
From the Paper "I, however, think that a chronological study of history is most effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, time, not geography, is the basis for how civilizations develop. In other words, almost every civilization has been influenced by one of the past, regardless of how different in scope they are. For example, the United States? primary influence was that of Colonial England, but it does not end there. Colonial England has influences that date back to the times of Rome, and maybe even Ancient China. Civilizations, no matter what the time period, were not formed within a vacuum?they all had influences, whether directly or indirectly. For that reason, it is best to analyze history through time, and through the developments of the human race as a whole. By examining the entire history of man, we can put the regional developments into context."
A discussion of how the Mesoamerican cultures, which include the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs, possessed their own writing culture and how this was affected by the conquest.
Abstract This paper examines how Mesoamericans facilitated means of preserving written information through the construction of libraries, archives, and schools. It discusses the various methods of writing and documentation they used and explains how the arrival of Columbus, however, marked the downfall of these unique cultural groups.
From the Paper "The Mesoamerican cultures are believed to have roots dating back thousands of years before the arrival of European explorers. The first settlers, who most likely came across the Bering Strait, traveled hundreds of miles south to the area know known as Central America (Encarta). They eventually settled in the rainforest and highlands of present day Mexico, and some of them in the more temperate regions further south (Encarta). Rich farmland gave way to the cultivation of maize, beans, and squash, and contributed to the rapidly growing civilizations (Encarta). By the time Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, these civilizations were extremely wealthy and advanced, not to mention culturally rich (Encarta)."
This paper compares and contrasts the religious beliefs and practices of native societies in the Andes and Mesoamerica after the establishment of colonialism.
Abstract The paper focuses on the following questions: to what extent, and how, did pre-Conquest native religion survive into the seventeenth century; and to what extent, and how, was Christianity transformed in the process of being assimilated by native societies? The paper looks first at pre-Conquest religion in these societies in order to reinforce the comparisons with post-Conquest religious practices.
From the Paper "The native populations of the Andes and Mesoamerica (the Incas and the Aztecs respectively) were very religious people, with their religion guiding the path of their lives on a daily, but also lifetime, basis. The Aztecs believed in polytheism, with a complex mix of many gods and goddesses; the cult of Huitzilopochtli followed the most important tribal god, and led to the creation of a tribal empire, that hosted daily human sacrifices, in order to pacify the gods and goddesses, and to maintain the Earth's equilibrium (Burkholder and Johnson, 2003)."
Abstract The book "Born to Die" presents the provoking thesis that disease was the major cause of the European powers' seemingly never-ending colonial successes and conquests in Latin America, rather than these nations' prowess in military conquest. The paper examines Cook's thesis and looks how it can be applied to modern warfare as well.
From the Paper "Why did the native populations, such as the Incas and the Aztecs, appear to be, not equals to be met with military and diplomatic force, but as victims born to die in the eyes of the invading European powers? Why were they not feared, despite the extensive technological capacities of their civilizations, and the detailed political and religious theology these civilizations created? Simply put, the invading Europeans came to regard them as sick and ailing bodies of a sick and ailing body politic, born to die because of their lack of immunity to European diseases, even more than European firearms."
Abstract This paper explains that the Indian cultures, such as the Aztecs, Inca and the Maya, believed in an immortal soul, had ceremonies and beliefs which helped them reconcile themselves to it and believed that the body merely became undead and it took on the influences of the unseen powers. The author points out that the Greek philosophers strongly influenced the early apostate Christian thinkers who accepted the immortal soul teaching into their doctrine, even though it had no biblical basis; therefore, in the Christian/Catholic conception of death, Jesus frequently spoke of everlasting life. The paper relates that Judaism holds that man has an immortal soul that survives the death of his body; when an individual dies, his soul still lived on in another realm, while his body lay in the grave to await the physical resurrection of all the dead here on earth.
From the Paper "The Greeks, having formulated many gods in their mythology, were also concerned with the dead and their destination. According to their myths, the one put in charge of that realm of murky darkness was the son of Cronus and brother of the gods Zeus and Poseidon. His name was Hades, and his realm was named after him. The Greeks had frightening stories of how the souls of the dead reached Hades. Charon rowed the ferry that transported those who had recently died from the land of the living to the underworld. Charon required payment for his ferry service, and the Greeks often buried their dead with a coin under the tongue to make sure they had the proper fare. Dead souls who could not pay were kept on the wrong side of the river, in a kind of no-man's land, and might return to haunt the living.) "
