33 - The Inca

One can understand—if not sympathize with—the European powers’ rationalization for colonizing cultures which they deemed “primitive.” However, many of the cultures which the Spanish came upon in the New World were very advanced. The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, when Cortez arrived was four times larger than London. The Inca empire at the beginning of the 16th century was one of the marvels of human history. It extended from the northern border of what is now Ecuador down to what is now Central Chile, roughly the same distance as between Halifax and Victoria. The estimated population of the Inca Empire was more than 12 million persons.

The Inca Empire was itself originally established by conquest. There were peoples representing twenty separate language groups in the Empire at the beginning of the 16th century. But once territory had been added to the empire, the people in those territories were allowed to remain agriculturally and socially self-reliant.

The Inca were primarily farmers (although they also had great skill in construction), and they developed advanced agricultural techniques. They carefully organized their crops to suit the varied conditions of their land, raising corn in those areas with longer growing seasons and potatoes in areas with shorter seasons. They had a sophisticated understanding of hydraulics, and the system of irrigation and terrace farming they employed allowed them to cultivate forty percent more land than is being farmed in the region today. The empire fed itself, and it is said that no one went hungry under Inca rule.

Then in 1532, Spanish conquistadors, under the leadership of Francisco and Hernando Pizarro, were attracted to the area because of its mineral wealth, in particular its gold and silver. The story of the ransom of the Inca emperor, Atahualpa, gives some idea of just how extensive that wealth was.

Atahualpa was captured by Francisco Pizarro and he sought to regain his freedom by offering to fill his cell with gold higher than a man could reach. And, in fact, he did so, although the Pizarro brothers still didn’t release him. Instead, Atahualpa was executed for being a polygamist and idolater. The gold ransom was divided among the Spaniards and Hernando was sent back to Spain to deliver the Emperor Charles’ share of the treasure. Charles’s portion alone was so spectacular that it encouraged a new wave of Spanish conquistadors to flock to the Americas.

Once subject to Spain, the formerly agricultural Inca were forced to work in mines and live in urban centers around those mines. One of the most productive of these sites was the fabulous silver mine at Potosi (now in Bolivia), which was discovered in 1545. The silver shipped from this mine was greater than all the European reserves of the day. But by 1635, its resources were exhausted.

These precious metals were harvested not for the benefit of the local population, but for the Spanish. The silver and gold were shipped back to Spain–more than 200 tons of gold by 1660 and 17,600 tons of silver. Once the mines were no longer productive, the area was left to its own resources. Its traditional agricultural patterns had been destroyed; the population had been devastated; the mineral wealth was gone.

An area which had once been rich, productive, and self-reliant was now reduced to poverty.