Unit 8c Pizarro & the Inca

Pizarro &
the Inca Empire

Almost the entire west coast of S. America
Mostly mountains (Andes)
Nearly 3,400 miles N-S, but only about 500 at its widest
About 14,000 miles of roads, most paved, many still in use today

Inca Empire

Multiple Choice

The Inca Empire had 14,000 miles of:

• Land from N to S

• Roads

• Rivers

• Parade Routes

Carried messages 250 miles a day
Relay-style
With roads, one of the most efficient communications networks at the time
No written writing, no wheel, no iron tools

Runners or Chaski

Knotted, colored cords
Conveyed complex information, like taxes, inventoried, accounting, and more
Considered an early computer or tabulation system
Could only be read by someone trained

​​Quipu

Multiple Choice

The 'talking knots' used by the Inca to record
things like taxes, inventory, etc. were called:

• Quizlet

• Quetzl

• Quinoa

• Quipu

(and silver! Enough that they gave Spanish invaders several ROOMS full of silver...of course it still wasn't enough....)

Inca Gold

Capitol
at Cusco

Oldest continually inhabited city in the new world
200 years as Inca Capital
Very sophisitacted planning & construction
'Navel of the world' (Center of the World)

Machu Piccu

Smaller 'summer capital' but just as well built
Lost until 1911
7,000 ft above sea level, terraces, cut stones (and no metal tools!)
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/history-101-machu-picchu/

Multiple Choice

Cusco is:

• The Inca capital

• A llama

• That one guy in that Disney movie

• A & C

If you know the story of Cortes, you have an idea how this will go.

Originally sailed under Gov. Vasco Nuñez Balboa (sort of the 'founder' of Panama)

Pizarro begins in Panama

Panama Viejo, founded in 1519, destroyed by pirates in 1617. (Captain Morgan, no less!)

Panama: first European settlement on the Pacific

Multiple Choice

For what is Panama best known today?

• Panama is best known today for its famous canal.
• Panama is best known for its ancient pyramids
• Panama is best known for its snowy mountains
• Panama is best known for its delicious cuisine

Multiple Choice

Did that passage exist in Pzarro's time? If not, when was it made?

• It was there when Pizarro arrived.

• It was dug in 1904

• It was dug in 1950

• It was dug in 1789

What else? Rumors of a land of gold.

Pizarro went looking for....

Tried FOUR times over 20 years before successfully landing

Multiple Choice

How big do you think Pizarro's ships were?
(Hint: this classroom is about 24ft x 32ft)

• 100ft long by 30ft wide

• 56ft long by 12ft wide

• 150ft long by 40ft wide

• 90ft long by 30ft wide

But these ships were really small!
This is a replica of a 15thC Caravel

They may look grand...

But these ships were really small!
This is a replica of a 15thC Caravel

They may look grand...

Pizarro refused and drew a literal line on the sand

Balboa got nervous, tried to call him back

More than 25 years later, Pizarro finally met the Inca

The last emperor had died of smallpox (from Europeans) and left two sons, Atahualpa and Huascar. Atahualpa eventually won, but his rule was still shaky when Pizarro arrived

He found the Inca just after civil war

With fewer than 200 men, Pirazzo forced his way inland, up into the mountains; a hard journey.

Multiple Choice

What are the mountains Pizarro and his men traveled through?

• The Alps

• The Andes

• The Alsations

• The Appalachins

The Spanish demanded that the Inca accept rule by the King of Spain and convert to Christianity.

So Pizarro sprang his trap - his 180 men were stationed around the square, and began firing.

Atahualpa
declined.

Pizarro demanded ransom, so Atahulapa offered to fill a room full of gold to the height of his arm's reach, and two of silver in exchange for his release.

Pizarro took Atahualpa prisoner

That room, by the way, was roughly 17 feet x 22 feet, filled to 9 feet high!

The Incas responded with a ROOMFUL of gold!

Well over a ton! Half a billion in today's money.

Those figures are AFTER 20% was laid aside for the King of Spain. AND it doesn't count the TWO rooms of silver.

But how much gold is that REALLY?

Pizarro did not let him go.

So he and a priest, de Valverde, put Atahualpa on trial.

Deigo de Almagro, Pizarro's partner, demanded his death.

Open Ended

When the put Atahualpa on trial, what 'crimes' do you think they charged him with?

He was charged with:

Revolting against the Spanish, stealing the crown, murdering his brother, idolatry, adultery, and inciting revolt. He was found guilty and sentenced to be burned alive.

The Inca believed the soul could not reach the afterlife if the body burned, so they told him if he'd accpt baptism, his sentence would be commuted. He did, and they strangled him with wire instead.

Pizarro was in charge, for a while, at least. The Inca fled or were enslaved.

From there, conquest was a matter of cleanup.

Pizarro's family and Almagro's fought, Pizarro won, and had Almagro executed (by garrote, ironically)

Pizarro and Almagro both claimed authority over Cusco.

He also took Atahualpa's betrothed (10 y.o.) with him. By the time she was 14, she'd given Pizarro two sons.

(So much for partners...)

Pizarro is now entombed in Lima Cathedral in Lima, Peru (funnily enough, he was beheaded and initially buried in two places by Almagro, until the 1920s.)

In revenge, Almagro's son had Pizarro and his family killed

Multiple Choice

What was the small city high in the mountains that the Spanish never found?

• Shangrila

• Macchu Picchu

• TImbuktu

• Micha Pala