Discovery of South America
Spanish Conquistadors
After the Aztec kingdom in Mexico was fully conquered in 1521, Spanish conquistadors continued their path into Central and South America. Central America was swiftly conquered from 1524 to 1526. Further South, on the northern coast of South America, Venezuela's rich pearl fisheries attracted the Spaniards towards the new continent in about 1523. Chile in the west was gradually brought under Spanish control throughout the 1340’s.
Eastern Coast of South America
On the eastern coast, Argentina was also conquered in the 1540’s. The conquistadors adopted the cruel methods that were used to subdue the Aztecs and northern natives. Combined with Spain’s unparalleled naval power, the Spanish were able to actively and effectively conquer millions of native Americans in the south. The conquistador’s gruesome and inhumane methods of torture and execution left the natives in fear and hatred of the new explorers. Pedro Arias Dávila established the Spanish municipality of Panama in 1519. Panama became Spain’s gateway between the Atlantic and newly discovered Pacific oceans, and would later play an imperative role in Spain’s Pacific expansion.
The Conquest of the Inca Empire
- The most noteable conquest in South America took place in Peru, when the Spanish subdued the Incan empire. The Inca were one of the wealthiest and most sophisticated civilizations in America when the Spanish arrived. When Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco Pizarro and his men first made contact with the Inca in the late 1520’s, the Inca were in the midst of a civil war. Incan ruler Huayna Capac had several sons, Túpac Cusi Huáscar and Atahualpa, who both wanted possession of the throne. Eventually, Atahualpa’s stronger military and sovereign support gave him power of the empire. In 1532, Pizarro was appointed governor of Peru, and was given permission by the Queen to carry out the Peruvian conquest.
Battle of Cajamarca
On November 6th, 1932, Pizarro arranged a meeting with the new Incan emperor in the city of Cajamarca. On the day of the meeting, Pizarro had strategically hidden nearly 200 of his soldiers around the perimeter. When the Incan emperor refused to convert to Christianity, Pizarro signaled the troops to advance. His troops killed over 2,000 Inca, and took Emperor Atahualpa hostage. This event later became known as the “battle of Cajamarca”. Fearing his imminent execution, the emperor offered the Conquistadors an extreme sum of gold, to which they accepted. After taking his ransom, Pizarro was still not convinced of the emperor’s compliance, and ordered him to be baptized, garroted, and killed in 1533. Over the next few decades, smallpox and other European diseases were spread into Peru, and swiftly wiped out the remaining Inca.