Spanish and the Incas

HIS 310

September 10, 2015

Spanish and the Incas

        In the words of Francisco Pizarro, “Friends and comrades! On that side [the south] are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death; on this side ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.” (source).  As stated by Pizarro one of the biggest motivations for Spanish involvement in Lain America and especially when dealing with the Incan Empire was the conquest for gold.  It is with that motivation that we will explore any other possible motives for Spanish action in the Incan Empire.  The majority of source material will come from Titu Cusi Yupanqui’s History of How the Spaniards Arrived in Peru.  This is a first-hand account of Titu Cusi the son of Manco Inca.  Titu seeks to explain how his father welcomed the Spanish with open arms and yet was defeated in the end.  Titu explains that his father aligned himself with the Spaniards in order to help support his legitimacy following the death of his two brothers, Huascar and Atahuallpa.  As mentioned previously the goal of this paper is to review the main motive or motives for Spanish actions in the Incan Empire and to also see how these motives are similar or different when compared to the secondary source readings of Pedro Sancho, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, and Bartolome de las Casas.

        The New World as it was called saw the emergence of empires of what would be some of the world’s greatest empires such as Britain, France, and especially Spain.  Colonization and conquest of Latin America was a staple of Spanish exploration that led to interactions between the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas.  The question has to be asked what drove these explorations.  One could say it was due to religious purposes or expansion of the empire and both would be true.  However, hiding in the shadows was the motive of greed…the want for gold and silver.  From the earliest account of Yupanqui the Spaniards strived for gold.  While holding Atahuallpa captive, the Spaniards set their eyes and minds upon a ransom of gold and silver worth more than 2 million pesos (Julien 21-25).  This account is similar to that of Pedro Sancho who described the imprisonment of Atahuallpa and the amount of gold that was giving being worth more than 2 million pesos (Pedro 10).  Still not satisfied with the ransom and after helping Manco Inca, the Spaniards felt they deserved more.  Manco increased the Spaniards coffers substantially by ordering his people to pay a tribute and he himself gave them ancestral treasure (Julien 36-37).  If religion was a motive for Incan conquest Yupanqui did not see it.  Though all that had been given the Spaniards true motive, if not already known, shown its true colors in the capturing of Manco Inca.  Yupanqui in essence describes the Spaniards motives best as follows: “After the Spaniards had been there a few years (and since the greed of men is always great), greed reigned in their hearts to such an extent that deceived by the devil (who is friend to all evil and enemy to all virtue), they entered into an accord with each other about how to harass my father and get even more gold and silver” (Julien 37).  If a motive for gold still is not clear then look to the concrete evidence in the Spaniards reply to Manco Inca’s speech about being imprisoned.  Upon hearing Manco’s words the Spaniard’s replied, “A good way to redeem yourself would be to give us more gold and silver, which is what we came for” (Julien 39).    

        Manco Inca is also a valuable source in describing the Spaniards insatiable greed for gold and silver.  In his speech he describes all of the precious and valuable treasures given to the Spanish such as more than 2 million pesos worth of gold and enough to fill a house, tribute that his people gathered and provided for them and much more (Julien 49).  Manco, in order to be set free from his Spanish captives and to also describe the Spaniards stated, “To satisfy your greed, your overwhelming hunger for silver, I will give you what you ask” (Julien 49-50).  Manco continues this description against the Spaniards even upon the arrival of Pizarro.  Manco states to Pizarro that, “Moreover, it seems that greed, not a desire for power, is the cause of all this harassment” (Julien 55).  As it has already been stated, this account also aligns with that of Pedro Sancho as well as another.  The motive of gold also shows up as Bartolome de las Casas states, “The  cause for which Christians have slain and destroyed so many and such infinite number of souls has been simply to het as their ultimate end, the Indians’ gold of them, and to stuff themselves with riches in a very few days” (las Casas 8).  Greed can leave a heavy burden and also change the hearts and minds of man.  In no less than three months the Spaniards yet again imprisoned Manco Inca.  This time the Spaniards claimed to arrest him in the name of the Emperor.  The Spaniards, fueled by greed stated, “And since we do it in his name, you must now give us a great deal more gold and silver than you did the other day” (Julien 63).