By: Lindsay Nelson

Male Native Priest Born 1580 in Salamanca,

permanent settlement of Buenos Aires

Worked to keep the traditional Indian religion.

He was part of the Sorimana cult. His parents and grandparents taught him the rituals and prayers and entrusted him with a stone image of the god Sorimana.

He in turn taught women the same rituals and prayers to pass on.

He and some of his followers were charged with heresy and admitted their wrongs to get the easiest punishment. They laid low for awhile and then eventually began their rituals again. He was very influencial in keeping Native American tradition.

Male Born 1496 in Chinanta,

Mexico Was part of the Mexica-

Aztec world Was a religious prodigy

that predicted the coming of white bearded men who would wrest control of the land from the emperor.

Was a major priest in Chinanta and he, along with 9 other native priests went to Moctezuma to tell him about ominous signs they had seen in 1519

Was a major priest in Chinanta and he, along with 9 other native priests went to Moctezuma to tell him about ominous signs they had seen in 1519

He was imprisoned, along with others, for a year and 12 days because of this

He avoided death from smallpox and Spaniard cruelty and fled to Tetzcoco.

Was charged with being a diviner, idolater, and active an active enemy of the faith.

Male and Female couple Mulatto slaves Lived in central Mexico

during the mid years of the 17th century

Juan born about 1627 in Oaxaca

Had a very gracious owner who often forgave his wrong doings without punishment

Was bought by Diego de Arratia and treated horribly. He escaped many times, but was always sent back to Arratia until he finally made it to the Inquisition.

Gertrudis de Escobar was a free mulatto, and a free spirit that was also arrested and recaptured many times.

Both are examples of intelligent and spirited individuals who were badly employed in the colonial system.

People like them played a large part in the armed struggle to destroy the restrictive colonial social order.

Female Lived 1509-1550 Born Tecuichpotzin to

Moctezuma II and Teotlalco

Had 5 husbands, 2 Indians and 3 Spaniards.

Bounced around from husband to husband from the age of 11 until her death in 1550.

Cortez arranged all of the marriages and even fathered one of her children.

She and her family, descendents of Moctezuma II, were given the important town Tacuba.

When she died, she gave Tacuba to her eldest son Juan de Andrade.

Female Lived 1620-1650 Was a morisca, born to a

white father and mulatta mother in Mexico City

Was born into slavery, but eventually freed along with her mother

Was accused of poisoning a priest in the town of Lagos and driving the lord mayor of Juchipila literally crazy through the use of magic.

Many people in town testified against her, making up stories that made her look like a witch.

Nobody in town would believe that a morisca like her could get the love of such high ranking men without the use of magic potions.

It was the relatives of the priest Ortiz that started the rumors of Padilla’s magic and murder because Ortiz had left her and not them his hacienda which was quite lucrative.

She was eventually acquitted of the charges and allowed to go back to Lagos.

She shows how racism and greed effected peoples rational thoughts and how they would do anything in spite.

Male Free Mulatto Lived during the 16th

century in Mexico. Born 1550 in Mexico

City to Pedro and Ana Hernandez.

He was able to marry and raise a family.

Became educated and became a community figure.

He found love and success during an era of increasing social and economic prejudice.

His signature is what led historians to believe he was literate, and had high literacy.

Started his own freight business that was very successful and expanded rather quickly.

Male Printer and Engineer Born 1557 in Seville Immigrated to Veracruz,

Mexico in 1589 wanting to make his fortune in the new world and hoping to make it a better place for others to live.

Served as the chief engineer of the drainage works designed to prevent the recurrent flooding of Mexico City.

Faced a lot of censorship from the Inquisition because of their suspicion of the foreign.

Tried to popularize scientific knowledge through his writings, but found it difficult because of Catholic orientation of the people.

Conquistadors were the greatest warriors Spain ever produced and were very wealthy because of it

One of the first great Conquistadors was Hernan Cortes Cortes funded his own expedition of 11 ships and 500 soldiers He thought the land he saw past Cuba were islands that he could

sail through to get to China Cortes headed west to Frontera which was the center of Mayan and

Aztec language. Cortes could not speak to either people, but was given a slave girl

named Malenche with whom he could speak to the Aztec and Mayan people through.

He sailed up the coast in search for gold which is how he came to Mexico.

He first anchored at the Isle of sacrifes which is where he first encountered the Aztecs.

On Easter Saturday 1519, he first encounters the Aztec people in an almost welcoming party. Here they offer him many wonderful gifts.

He was then given an area of land where he could build a camp.

Montezuma was the king of the Aztecs and it was prophesized that an exiled God was to come back and regain his thrown. They were afraid Cortes and his men were signs from the Gods.

Cortes heads to the interior with his men and some allies from the coast to overthrow the Aztec king.

When they reached the city, the Spaniards were showered with gifts and given lavish apartments to stay in.

However, on November 16, 1519 Cortes put Montezuma under house arrest and attempted to rule the Aztec people through the ruler. This did not work though because the power of Montezuma was lessening in the eyes of the Aztec people.

An arrest part from Cuba came to arrest Cortes, but he surprise attacked them at night and defeated them. However, when he tried to go back to Tenochtitlán, The causeways were cut, the bridges taken away, and the net closed. The Spanish had no food supplies and there was an acute shortage of drinking water.

After losing many men in the canal, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were gone for good, and starting rebuilding and cleaning their cities. However, many people started dieing of an unknown disease that ended up being smallpox.

Cortes rebuilt his army and created boats to attack on the lake. Many small cities around the lake were defeated quickly, but in December 1519 the new king Cuautemoc surrendered after an omen was seen by the Aztec rulers showing the defeat was inevitable.

Pizarro went to look for riches in the land of the Incas in 1527. This was his third voyage.

His first voyage to the New World was in 1524 were he landed in Panama. However, he had many hardships in the land and returned to Spain empty handed.

His second voyage was much better prepared and supplied with 160 men and many horses that were carried by 2 ships.

The exploration was also guided by Bartolome Ruiz. Ruiz was actually the first one to come in contact with the Incas when he found them

in a balsa trading raft while sailing of the coast of Ecuador.

While Ruiz and his men encountered the Incas, Pizarro and his ship were camped out on an uninhabited island off the coast of Colombia. His men were on the verge of mutiny.

After 7 months on Gorgon Island, Pizarro and his men, including Ruiz, set sail for Ecuador and Colombia where they were able to find the town of Tumbes. Here they were welcomed with open arms.

Around this same time, the Inca king Wayna Capac was killed by the smallpox disease that ran ramped through the Incas at this time. His successor was disagreed upon between his eldest sonand his younger brother Huascar.

After this the Inca civilization delved into a civil war. In July of 1529, Pizarro was granted a license to explore and

conquer Peru, and gave him governorship to it. Pizarro returned to Tumbes to find it in ruins. He and his men

marched towards the interior where Atahuallpa was. Atahuallpa did not, however, send an attack on Pizarro because he felt his brother was a greater threat.

Pizarro only had about 160 men, but he had much more technologically advances weapons and recruited native indians upset with Atahuallpa.

When Pizarro and his men arrived at Atahuallpa’s camp, he told them to meet him at Cajamarca.

When he arrives there Pizarro had Friar Vincente Valverde speak to the new king. Valverde told Atahuallpa to denounce his gods and follow only their Christian God. Atahuallpa wanted the book (bible) so he could hear what it had to say to him about this matter. When it did not speak to him he threw it down in disgust.

Friar Valverde said the Inca people were against Christianity and ordered Pizarro and his men to attack.

Atahuallpa was arrested, but made a ransom for himself when he realized that Pizarro and his men wanted gold. He said he would give them the gold if they let him go.

When Atahuallpa was to be released, Pizarro found out that one of the Inca’s governors killed Huascar. Pizarro then charged Atahuallpa with treason against him and he was executed.

Pizarro then appointed Manco, Atahuallpa’s half brother, as the new Inca.

This war against the Spaniards was one of the most heroic battles against the Europeans. The Incas just didn’t have enough weapons and warriors to use them as Pizzaro and his men did.