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The final bit is chilling when you read the contemporary account. They were able to defeat a much larger force, and kill at least 2000 incans. It’s actually one

The final bit is chilling when you read the contemporary account. They were able to defeat a much larger force, and kill at least 2000 incans. It’s actually one of the most cruel, and horrifying acts of the Spanish conquest.

remarkEon 6y ago
The Inca also practiced ritualized child sacrifice, which might partially explain why the Spanish reacted the way they did upon encountering them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacocha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacocha
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  Let's deconstruct the concept of human sacrifice a little bit: 1) A religious motivation. 2) A religious ritual. 3) Someone is killed in order to gain the favor of a deity. The executions during the inquisition also fit this description. And while there are differences, my point is that it is straightforward to talk trash about other cultures without taking an honest look at our own. And that is not all. There are historical accounts from the Spanish themselves describing children being killed in brutal ways, such as grabbing infants by their legs and smashing them against rocks. Compared to that Qhapaq hucha is a trip to Disneyland. Pizarro himself as well as his men took children as prisoners and abused them sexually, including the direct family of the Sapa Inca. The king sent him a letter saying he should not have done that because the Sapa Inca was a monarch. Today, some people claim those historical accounts belong to what is known as "The Black Legend", a smear campaign against the Spanish empire. That is a very convenient thing to believe if your country benefited from brutally-executed exploitation colonialism. The "human sacrifice" card is often played by people trying to present colonization as something legitimate and moral. It was not. Other poor excuses for colonialism often used include: they were supersticious, they did not effectively use their land, they did not have the concept of property, they were oppressed by their monarchs, etc. All of them excuses. The purpose of the Spanish colonization of the Americas was not only to grow their economy, and expand their religion and territory. It was to suppress every culture, language, religion in the Americas, and some conquistadors took it even further: extermination.
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  Another considertion is that after Hernan Cortes succeeded in Yucatan, every Conquistador aspired to do the same thing. Pizarro had that plan in mind before becoming aware of the existence of the Inca. In Cajamarca, when Pizarro read the "requerimiento" to Atahuallpa, it was done merely as a legal formality. They had cannons already in place to use them regardless of his reaction. They did not care to use an interpreter, or tried in any way to persuade them.

remarkEon 6y ago

The Inca also practiced ritualized child sacrifice, which might partially explain why the Spanish reacted the way they did upon encountering them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacocha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacocha

29athrowaway 6y ago
Let's deconstruct the concept of human sacrifice a little bit: 1) A religious motivation. 2) A religious ritual. 3) Someone is killed in order to gain the favor of a deity. The executions during the inquisition also fit this description. And while there are differences, my point is that it is straightforward to talk trash about other cultures without taking an honest look at our own. And that is not all. There are historical accounts from the Spanish themselves describing children being killed in brutal ways, such as grabbing infants by their legs and smashing them against rocks. Compared to that Qhapaq hucha is a trip to Disneyland. Pizarro himself as well as his men took children as prisoners and abused them sexually, including the direct family of the Sapa Inca. The king sent him a letter saying he should not have done that because the Sapa Inca was a monarch. Today, some people claim those historical accounts belong to what is known as "The Black Legend", a smear campaign against the Spanish empire. That is a very convenient thing to believe if your country benefited from brutally-executed exploitation colonialism. The "human sacrifice" card is often played by people trying to present colonization as something legitimate and moral. It was not. Other poor excuses for colonialism often used include: they were supersticious, they did not effectively use their land, they did not have the concept of property, they were oppressed by their monarchs, etc. All of them excuses. The purpose of the Spanish colonization of the Americas was not only to grow their economy, and expand their religion and territory. It was to suppress every culture, language, religion in the Americas, and some conquistadors took it even further: extermination.
29athrowaway 6y ago
Another considertion is that after Hernan Cortes succeeded in Yucatan, every Conquistador aspired to do the same thing. Pizarro had that plan in mind before becoming aware of the existence of the Inca. In Cajamarca, when Pizarro read the "requerimiento" to Atahuallpa, it was done merely as a legal formality. They had cannons already in place to use them regardless of his reaction. They did not care to use an interpreter, or tried in any way to persuade them.