[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/354038.The_Last_Days_of_...
The focus of the Spanish was to offer the "requerimiento" and then kidnap the Sapa Inca in order to ask for a ransom.
Take mexico for example. After the spaniards positioned themselves atop mexican society 400+ years ago, they never relinquished that position. Even though ethnic spaniards made up anywhere from 1% to 5% of total mexican population thoughout the 400 years. Even more astounding is that the spaniards used their position atop mexican society to outbreed the native population. 66% of current mexican Y chromosomes are of european ancestry, while 90% of mexican mitochondrial dna comes from native ancestry. Fascinating stuff.
The spaniard conquest of central and south america differed markedly from the genocidal conquest of north america which is reflected in the genetic makeup of the populations in the americas.
But native women could not represent themselves in court so they could not challenge a Spanish man to recognize their children.
That's some damn good virility on the part of Spanish men. Must've been having endless binge coochie-coochie with the local senoritas))
> they expertly pitted groups of native elites against each other
In the Andes, they walked right in at the end of a civil war.
The Incas had actually established their own empire less than 100 years earlier, and indeed ruled over an estimate 12 million from their tribe of ~100,000, who became the elites.
Also interesting; I'm up to the bit where the Spaniards actually have their own little civil war between two of the conquistadors, and not all that far into the conquest.
> The spaniard conquest of central and south america differed markedly from the genocidal conquest of north america which is reflected in the genetic makeup of the populations in the americas.
Absolutely. Ditto for Australia.