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1-014 The Collapse of the Incan Empire II
Vol. 1- No. 14
1995
Lead: Aided by internal divisions among the Incas, Francisco Pizarro hauled a small band of adventurers and a few cannons over the coastal Sierras into a valley deep in the Andes in the fall of 1532. Intro: A Moment In Time with Dan Roberts. Content: He was there seeking gold, most especially that controlled by the Incan ruler, Atahualpa. After initial contact, on November 16, 1532 Pizarro readied his men by hiding them out of sight in the buildings surrounding the square of the royal retreat at Cajamarca. Atahualpa interpreted this as fear on the part of the Spaniards. Late in the afternoon the emperor came into the city accompanied by 5000 of his followers. The litter was placed in the center of the square and a lone Spaniard came forward to greet him. He was a Catholic priest and was dressed in black robes soiled by weeks of travel. He demanded that Atahualpa submit himself and his kingdom to the rule of Charles I of Spain and the pope in Rome. The king received this message with contempt and flung the offered prayer book into the dirt. With no warning the Spanish opened fire. Leaving their hiding places around the square they charged into the crowd, hacking their way toward the royal party. Stunned by the ferocity of the attack the Incans fell back in panic and began to trample each other. Pizarro himself reached out grabbed the emperor and dragged him to the ground. The plaza was sealed off and the crowd systematically slaughtered. Between 2000 and 3000 Indians were killed in the square that night. Not a single Spanish soldier was even injured. Within six months Pizarro had extracted from his royal prisoner a huge quantity of gold and silver. Then, by duplicity, Pizarro tried and executed the king, and was well on his way to establishing Spanish control of the western coast of South America. The producer of A Moment In Time is Steve Clark. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts. Copyright 1995 by Educational Broadcast, Inc. Resources Brundage, Burr C. Empire of the Incas. Norman, Oklahoma: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1963. Hemming, John. The Conquest of the Incas. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1970. Herring, Hubert. A History of Latin America from the Beginnings to the Present. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968. MacCormack, Sabine. "The Fall of the Incas: A Historiographical Dilemma," History of European Ideas, 6 (4, 1985), 421-445. Patterson, Thomas C. The Inca Empire: The Formation and Disintegration of a Pre-Capitalist State. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
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