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What is an Empire?
• A large territory or many different territories or peoples that are
under the same authority (leadership).
2 ExamplesIncan Empire British Empire 1500 1920
IncasConquerors to Conquered
1500 -1525
1230 1438 1532 1572
The largest Empire in the Americas lasted less than 100 years.
In 1438 (54 years before Columbus found the Americas) The Incas were
attacked.Modern day Cuzco
One lead warrior won the victory.(Pachacuti)
• They found out they could fight and went after the Cuzco Valley.
Cuzco Valley
The same family kept leading until they had “conquered the 4 quarters
of the earth”.
(They believed the conquered the whole world.)
The absolute leader was the Sapa Inca (emperor).
They believed the Sapa Inca as the direct descendant of the sun god Inti.
Descendent: people who have the same blood line as the ancestor. The Sapa Inca believed he was
immortal.
Their belief system:
• They prayed to gods and to their dead ancestors.
• They mummified the leaders so they could come to ceremonies later
on.They even prepared a meal For the dead ancestor!
They believed that their dead rulers still had power to keep the empire
strong.• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/10715-
peru-incan-mummification-rituals-video.htm
The meeting of 2 different mindsets:• A-ta-hual- pa Pizarro Sapa Inca Spanish ConquistadorBelieved he was immortal. (fortune hunter)
A few over many:• 106 foot-soldiers and 62 horsemen Vs. 30,000 available warriors.
• How could it happen?
The Setting 1528 – The Incan emperor died from smallpox (1) which was brought by the Spanish.
His death sets off a civil war between his sons. Atahualpa won but the empire was weakened (2).
Christopher Columbus had arrived in the Americas and saw rings of gold in
the native people’s noses.
The news made other fortune hunters(explorers) come to the
Americas to look for gold and jewels (3).
The Incas had never seen white skinned men or horses. They thought
they could be gods (4).
So Atahualpa agreed to meet withPizarro at Cajamarca.
They tried to convert him to Christianity.
He said he would fill the room with gold and silver if they would let him
go.
Gold was brought from all over the empire until the room was filled.
• Of course they couldn’t let him live so he was strangled to death.
• Garrot
The last Incan Emperor was killed in 1572.
• (The conquest took about 40 years.)• It is estimated that 93% of the population
dies from disease during that 40 year period.• Measles Smallpox
