HIS106Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Moctezuma Ii, Pedro De Valdivia, Manco Inca Yupanqui
Document Summary
The invasion of america: guns, germs, and steel. Central argument: fall of the amerindian empires was not a conquest by a few heroic spaniards over thousand od. Indigenous, it was a multiethnic affair in which spaniard relied on native conquistadors to survive. Thesis: spaniards had the advantage of steel weapons, horses, armour, among other factors. We will see why this theory is flawed. Cultures around the world are unequal not innately, but geographically: disease immunity and resource access. Looked to i(cid:374)(cid:448)estors for support, who are rarely the spanish crown. Conquistadors are out on their own dime, shown as interested in gold, god, glory. Wanted to be governors to have access to labour to control indigenous, not kill. Some felt that god was protecting them in the new world. In order for them to get rewards they wanted (governorship, ppls, etc) had to write to the crown, and so pumped themselves up to impress, and so glossed over their indigenous allies.
