[Sun] Spain expands to Guadalajara and South America
Spain took its power in the Americas seriously. The Spaniards feared competition from the English and French monarchies, and in 1526 Lucas Vásques de Ayllón tried to establish a colony in present-day South Carolina, but failed.
Another expansion occurred in 1529, when Spanish soldiers seeking fame and fortune advanced 300 miles northwest from Mexico City to what they called New Galicia. They plundered, burned villages, and enslaved those who stood in their way. They wanted slaves and needed to make excuses for slavery and incite friendly Indian rebellions. In 1531, they founded the town of Guadalajara, named after the birthplace of their leader in Spain.
The empire became even more fragile after the death of Huayna Capac, ruler of the Inca Empire, in 1527. The empire was divided between his two sons, and a quarrel between them led to a civil war. Then epidemics of measles began in Mexico and Inca territory.
The brother who won the civil war was Atahualpa. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro, a Spaniard in his fifties, brought 102 men, 62 horses and some translators.
Atahualpa has been warned of Pizarro's arrival. He knew the Spaniards and their horses and was not afraid of the troops of 102 men. He agreed to meet Pizarro in the central square of Cajamarca, a town in the northern half of the empire.
He was accompanied by five or six thousand armed men, and about thirty-five thousand of his army was nearby. He arrived in a chair, carried by his servant on his shoulder. Pizarro's priest greeted the king, declaring that King Charles V of Spain was the only true king and that the Christian god was the only true god.
Atahualpa received a Bible. The Inca kings did not intend to receive teachings, believing like the Incas that their gods placed them in this world to teach others, and their great sky god, Virechocha, controlled everything. Atahualpa looked at the Bible and threw it on the ground.
The Spaniards gave a prearranged signal, and the Spaniards, who had been hiding from the sight of the Incas, fired weapons with a range advantage: arquebuses (the predecessor of the musket) and two light cannons.
Then Pizarro's cavalry charged. The Inca warriors around Atahualpa ran, and the sight of the men running in horror frightened the main force of Atahualpa, and they also ran.
Some Spaniards were slightly wounded, and at least 1,500 Incas were killed. Pizarro captured Atahuallpa, who for months held him hostage and pawn to rule, and Atahuallpa's generals feared that attacking the Spaniards would kill their king.
Atahualpa traded gold and silver for Pizarro's freedom, believing that Pizarro and his men would leave. Pizarro agreed, and Atahualpa ordered agents to collect treasure, mainly from areas that supported his brother. Pizarro and his men received their treasure: 13,420 pounds of 22-carat gold and 26,000 pounds of sterling silver.
Spanish reinforcements arrived - 150 people. Atahualpa is accused of organizing attacks on Spaniards. He was charged with treason, plotting the murder of his brother, worshipping false gods and polygamy. He was sentenced to be burned at the stake and told that if he accepted Christianity, he would only be strangled.
Pizarro accepted another son of Warner Capac as his Inca puppet king, and the Inca's obedience to the god-king helped Pizarro continue to rule, while Spanish soldiers and colonists flooded South America.
Pizarro's puppet king died during the year and was replaced by another brother, Manco Inca. Pizarro had some allies who had been ruled by the Incas, while some who had been ruled by the Incas were at least passive towards the Spaniards. Fuelling this negative attitude is the continued belief of the local population that the Spaniards are agents of the gods, fulfilling prophecies about difficult times.
Pizarro conquered the Inca capital of Cusco. The remnants of Atahualpa's once proud army fled north to Quito. Then in 1536, Pizarro's puppet Manco Inca broke his strings and led a rebellion.
He and his followers were driven into the mountains, where generations hid the exile rule of the Incas. Manco Inca's wife, Pizarro, was stripped, beaten, and shot arrows, and her body drifted down the Yukai River to Manco Inca's army to be found.
Pizarro thwarted the Spaniards' attempts to wrest power from him. But Pizarro did not have much time to enjoy his power and new wealth. In 1551, in his 60s, he was retaliated and assassinated by followers of defeated enemies.
At the same time, more indigenous peoples of South America died from the typhus epidemic that broke out in 1545. Then, a deadly flu came from Europe, spread like typhus by the Indians themselves, before the Spaniards.
