Pizarro's Conquest of Peru KEY TOPIC 3 PDF

## **Pizarro's Conquest of Peru** In 1533, Pizarro had Atahuallpa executed and installed Manco, his half-brother, on the throne, leading to the Inca revolt and the siege of Cuzco, 1536-37. ### **The murder of Atahuallpa, 1533** - The Spanish agreed to ransom Atahuallpa for a room full of gold and...

## **Pizarro's Conquest of Peru** In 1533, Pizarro had Atahuallpa executed and installed Manco, his half-brother, on the throne, leading to the Inca revolt and the siege of Cuzco, 1536-37. ### **The murder of Atahuallpa, 1533** - The Spanish agreed to ransom Atahuallpa for a room full of gold and double the amount of silver. - However, the Spanish did not release him. Instead they accused him of plotting against them and put him on trial for treason. - Atahuallpa was executed in Cajamarca town square as his Inca supporters pleaded for his life. ### **Pizarro puts Manco on the throne** - Pizarro marched from Cajamarca to Cuzco, the Inca capital, and was welcomed by the inhabitants, many of whom had hated Atahuallpa's rule and the civil war. - Pizarro had Manco, a younger son of Huayna Capac and half-brother of Atahuallpa, crowned as the new Inca emperor. ### **The revolt of the Incas, 1536** - The Spanish saw Manco as a puppet king who would rule on their behalf. - This led to an Inca revolt when Manco escaped from the Spanish, assembled an army and attacked the Spanish base at Cuzco. ### **The Siege of Cuzco, 1536-37** - 10,000 Inca warriors faced 150 Spanish and 1000 native allies. - The Inca warriors broke into the town, burning buildings to try to drive out the Spanish, but the Spanish were able to put the fires out. - The Spanish used their cavalry to attack the Inca warriors. - The Spanish captured the fortress of Sacsahuaman from the Incas, which the Inca army then besieged. - The siege ended when Spanish forces exploring Chile returned. ### **The Siege of Cuzco** - Pizarro governed Peru until his death at the hands of rival conquistadors in 1541. - Manco withdrew and established a separate kingdom (the Neo Inca State) which lasted until 1572. - Pizarro and his government were based in Lima, the city they built in Peru. The conquistadors took gold, silver and other commodities from the area, shipping some back to Spain. ### **The impact of the conquest** - The Inca Empire was settled by Spaniards – not only conquistadors but also Spanish merchants who saw an opportunity to make money. - Disease, especially smallpox and measles, devastated the Inca population, reducing it by 93 per cent by 1591. **Now try this** Give two reasons why the Incas revolted in 1536. ## **Discovery of silver in Bolivia and Mexico** The discovery of silver led to the development of mining towns with the increased use of slave labour, and brought significant wealth to the Spanish Empire. ### **The discovery of silver in the New World** - One of the conquistadors’ principal motives for exploration was the discovery of gold and silver. - By 1550, silver had been discovered in Potosi (Bolivia) and in Guanajuato and Zacatecas (Mexico). - Some of it had to be sent back to Spain, but the conquistadors kept much of the wealth. ### **Silver mining and processing** - Deep mines were dug where there was no risk of flooding (pumps were not available). - Silver ore was mined and brought to the surface. - The ore was then smelted to extract the silver, which was turned into silver coins. ### **The significance of silver in Bolivia and Mexico** - The need for vast amounts of labour to extract and smelt the silver ore led to the development of mining towns at Potosi, Guanajuato and Zacatecas. They started as camps made up of tents but developed quickly into towns housing large numbers of people employed in mining. - This led to the circulation of rumours and legends that there was a vast amount of undiscovered wealth in the New World. The most famous example of this was El Dorado, the so-called ‘City of Gold’ which was rumoured to be somewhere in America. - This encouraged many Spanish merchants to invest in projects designed to explore the area further, in the hope of finding more gold and silver, leading to further explorations and expeditions to California, Venezuela and Argentina during the 16th century. - This resulted in increased colonisation of the New World as the conquistadors were joined by adventurers, merchants and speculators, as well as their employees. - The vast amounts of silver produced by the mines boosted the wealth of the Spanish government. Silver bullion (in the form of blocks) was sent back to Spain on treasure ships. Of the silver that arrived back in Spain, 25 per cent went direct to the Spanish treasury. - The Spanish government had to find a way of directly controlling its colonies in the New World as a means of ensuring that it got its share of the wealth being generated. **Now try this** Explain two consequences for Spain of the discovery of silver in the Spanish Empire. ## **Governing the empire** The New World was conquered for Spain by the conquistadors but the Spanish government had to find a way of governing this newly won territory effectively. ### **How to govern the New World** - Find a way to govern the discovered territories and restore peace and stability. - Make sure there is enough food and water. - Put laws in place. - Set up systems to manage daily life. - Reward the conquistadors and their supporters with land and treasure. - Ensure the conquistadors don’t squabble among themselves. ### **Bartolome de las Casas** - Las Casas was a priest who travelled to the New World in 1512; he was given an encomienda in Cuba, where he witnessed the brutality of the conquistadors - He was made ‘Protector of the Indians’ and, in 1527, wrote a book, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, describing the atrocities he had seen. - In 1542 he persuaded Charles I to sign the New Laws to improve natives’ lives. ### **The new laws** - It was made illegal to enslave natives. - The amount of tribute that could be collected was limited. - Encomiendas had to be passed back to the Spanish government on the death of an encomendero (landowner). ### **The role of the viceroys** - The Council of the Indies appointed viceroys to govern Spanish territories. - There were two viceroys: one in Mexico City and one in Lima (the viceroy of Peru). - Viceroys were often military men but could also be churchmen or lawyers. - They had great power as they acted on behalf of the Spanish government. - Poor communications meant decisions took eight months to be approved. - They governed through cabildos (town councils), which managed daily life. - Justice was managed through the audiencias (courts), with judges who were independent of the viceroys. ### **The role of the encomienda system** - The system had already been set up in the West Indies and Mexico but was now imposed officially across the Spanish Empire. - A Spaniard, often a conquistador, was allocated land and workers by the Spanish government, and became an encomendero. - They could demand tribute from the native people on their estate but had to ensure that they were not exploited. - They also had to pay for Catholic priests and monks to convert the natives to Christianity and provide and pay for the defence of the area with other encomenderos. ### **The significance of the new laws, 1542** - The laws were intended to improve the rights of native people, but encomenderos opposed them and the viceroy of Peru refused to implement them. - This led to revolts in Peru: the most serious (1544) had to be put down by the Spanish government and led to a temporary halt in the Spanish conquest of the New World in 1550. - Though forced to suspend the New Laws, Charles I insisted that encomiendas be passed back to the Crown on the death of an encomendero, with royal agents in charge. The agents continued to exploit the native people, against the wishes of Las Casas. **Now try this** In a short paragraph, summarise how the role of viceroys helped Spain to govern its empire in the New World. ## **The foundation of La Paz, 1548** The city of La Paz, founded in 1548, became the administrative centre of the Spanish Empire. ### **Conquistador revolt in Peru, 1544** - The New Laws were unpopular among the encomenderos as they reduced their power and took away the right to pass on their land to heirs. - This led to a serious revolt in Peru led by Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco Pizarro. ### **The founding of La Paz** - The city of La Paz (in English ‘The Peace’), in modern-day Bolivia, was founded in 1548 on the site of the Inca city of Laja. - It was founded to commemorate the ending of Pizarro’s revolt and to demonstrate that Spain was the highest authority, not the conquistadors. - The city became the administrative centre of the Spanish Empire, with public buildings, churches and a street plan. - The Spanish viceroy was based here, as were the audiencias (courts). - The city was founded close to the trade routes near the Potosi and Oruro mines and this safeguarded Spanish control over the extraction of silver and trade. This ensured that silver continued to flow back to the Spanish government. - Its location high up in the Andes made the city less vulnerable to attack. - The establishment of the city represented the peak of conquistador conquest. **Now try this** In two short paragraphs, explain the significance of Gonzalo Pizarro’s revolt in 1544. ## **Silver and gold** Silver, and some gold, was used to make coins and played an important role in enabling Spain to trade with the wider world. ### **The Spanish treasure route** - Vast amounts of silver were transported to Spain from the 1520s onwards. - Ships often sailed the same routes to catch the trade winds. - Ships laden with silver moving to and from the New World sailed in small treasure fleets to provide security for each other and assist if they were attacked or if the weather turned bad. ### **The effect of silver on Spain’s economy** - Of the treasure that arrived in Spain, about 75 per cent went to Spanish merchants and conquistadors, and the rest to the Spanish treasury. - It was used to make new eight-sided coins known as ‘pieces of eight’ (pesos), which allowed extensive trade with other European countries. - Demand for goods increased, enabling foreign traders to put up their prices. - This led to inflation as Spanish merchants passed on price rises to ordinary people, many of whom demanded higher wages. - The silver was vital to support Spain’s European Empire, equipping soldiers to make war against France (1542-46) and providing ships to guard the treasure fleets. - However, as Spain’s economy was based on the looted silver, people did not have to make money in other ways, with the result that Spanish industries developed more slowly than in other European countries. ### **Attacks on treasure fleets, c1555** - Spanish ships or galleons were an attractive target for pirates and privateers. - Privateers were ships funded by hostile governments and men with money (investors) to attack shipping. The ‘loot’ (profit) was divided between investors. - Privateers had initially come from France and England and began attacking Spanish treasure ships in the 1520s. The attacks increased during the war between Spain and France (1542-46) and continued. - To combat this, the Spanish developed fleets to travel together in convoys, protected by fighting ships called galleons. Two convoy systems were created: the Tierra Firma, which sailed to South America; and the New Spain, which sailed to Mexico. **Now try this** Summarise the reasons why silver was so important to the Spanish economy. ## **The impact of trade** Spain’s monopoly of trade with the New World led to the development of Seville as a port, and growing labour shortages led to an expansion of the slave trade. ### **The growth of Seville** - All goods imported to Europe from the New World were required to pass through Seville’s Casa de Contratacion (House of Trade), where merchants paid taxes and duties on the goods traded. - Merchants from all over Europe travelled to Seville to buy goods from the New World and bring goods to be sold in the New World. - Trade involved plants (cotton and tobacco), crops (wheat) and animals (horses, pigs and cattle). - This gave Spain, and in particular Seville, a monopoly over trade with the New World, making its merchants and traders extremely wealthy. - Seville was about 100km inland so ships had to travel up the River Guadalquivir before reaching the port – this was inconvenient but it made the port difficult to attack. ### **The growth of the Consulado de Mercaderes** - Spanish merchants demanded a say in the running of the Casa de Contratacion. - They set up a merchants’ guild, the Consulado de Mercaderes, and formed a monopoly, which enabled them to control most of the trade with the Spanish colonies and keep prices high - Their control of the economies of both Spain and the New World grew. ### **Labour shortages** - The encomienda system, the growing trade in cotton and tobacco, and the silver mines all required large amounts of labour. - The native population had fallen owing to early death from diseases (including smallpox), overwork in silver mines, and mass killings in the early days of conquest. - This resulted in labour shortages by the mid-1550s. - The growing labour shortage started to lead to rising wages. ### **The growth of the slave trade** - Bartolome de las Casas was already suggesting in the 1520s that native labour could be replaced by African slaves, but later changed his mind. - Under the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Spanish could not directly acquire slaves from West Africa as the Portuguese controlled the slave trade there. - Spanish merchants were granted licences (asientos) to supply slaves to the New World. The licences were sold to the highest bidder. Those who bought them could buy slaves from the Portuguese and sell those slaves on to merchants in the New World for high prices. These slaves were then sold on to the encomenderos. **Now try this** Give two reasons why Seville emerged as one of the wealthiest cities in Europe by 1550. ## **The government of the New World** A system of government, based in Castile, Spain, was developed to govern the New World. The role of the Casa de Contratacion and the Council of the Indies was to regulate trade. - It collected all colonial taxes and duties. A 20 per cent tax was charged on precious metals (the ‘royal fifth’). Taxes were higher if naval protection was required for trading ships, and lower where investment was needed in the New World. ### **The Casa de Contratacion (House of Trade)** - The Casa was established in 1503 by Queen Isabella. - It also licensed captains of ships with many attending a navigation school based in Seville, and administered the rules of business (commercial law). - In theory, no Spaniard could sail anywhere without the approval of the Casa. - It approved all voyages of exploration and trade and maintained secret information on trade routes and new discoveries of land. This secret map (known as the Padrón Real) was first drawn up in 1508 and updated as new land was discovered. - The Casa provided the Spanish treasury with income, enabling it to pay for wars with other European countries, including France. - It created a trade monopoly with the New World. This kept prices high, allowing Spanish merchants to become very wealthy. ### **The Council of the Indies** - The Council of the Indies was formed in 1524. - It was based in Spain and consisted of a president and eight councillors. - It controlled all matters that involved the New World. - Members would discuss the messages or despatches received from viceroys in the New World, review them and make recommendations to the king as to what action should be taken in the parts of the New World controlled by Spain. - Once a royal decision was made, it would be sent back to the Council of the Indies, and from the Council to the viceroys in the different parts of the Spanish New World. - In this way, the Spanish government tried to exercise control over its empire in the New World. In practice, this was very difficult as time delays meant that it could be months before despatches were read and decisions taken. Real power therefore often rested with the viceroys who were ‘the men on the spot’ in the New World. **Now try this** Explain the ways in which the Casa de Contratacion helped to create a trade monopoly with the New World.