David vs. Goliath

You must wonder why I named it David vs. Goliath,

It is because I felt it was a perfect analogy to how the Spaniards dominated the Incas in this chapter called “Collision at Cajamarca”. The chapter discussed the one of the biggest moments between the European and Native Americans: The meeting between Incan emperor Atahuallpa and Spanish conquistador Pizarro. The chapter has a short anecdotal excerpt (which I thought was extremely interesting) from six of Pizarro’s companions who described the siege at Cajamarca where they completely dominated a 80,000 or more Incan army with just sixty two cavalry units and hundred and six foot soldiers. See the comparison?

Jared Diamond traces this ‘chain of causation’ and asks some extremely important questions to address this extraordinary and unbelievable encounter. This first thing he tackled was the technological advantages that the Spaniards had over the Incans. Equipped with guns, steel armor, steel swords and weapons, those were merciless massacre weapons compared to the futile wooden clubs, quilt armor and slingshots that Atahuallpa’s troops had. Furthermore, he stresses the importance of horses and its advantages in the open area that dominated in Cajamarca. Horses not only had “its speed charge, maneuverability but also a raised fighting platform that made many foot soldiers helpless in the open” Out of all of these elements, horses and steel swords were extremely important in the conquest because to me, they spread a physiological fear among the Incans who never witnessed such animals and the obvious strength of steel swords that could hack and cut through quilt armor like cheese. Incan weaponry and Side by side comparison

I thought that it was interesting how Jared Diamond told side stories while describing the Spaniards at Cajamarca. The story about Charlie Savage, a British sailor who was just equipped with muskets and his excellent aim was able to “single-handedly upset Fiji’s balance of power.” He used his muskets by setting up just a few feet from the village fence and massacred the natives. Not only is this story unbelievable, but one can witness how much a person’s power increases greatly when using a gun against those who lacked guns.

Another factor greatly assisted Pizarro to dominate Atahuallpa and his massive army. The silent but deadly friend of diseases decimated many people in other continents and a smallpox epidemic was the reason why the Incas were divided. Previous Incan emperors tried to unite the country but smallpox killed them and if it was not for the epidemic, Pizarro would have fought one gigantic and consolidated empire instead of a split and vulnerable one. Atahuallpa was situated at Cajamarca because of a large civil war where he was victorious in. One can see the many causes that slowly came together for this fateful meeting.

Finally, the travel of information proved to be vital in the downfall of the Incans. Compared to information that is transmitted by the mouth which can be easily distorted and messed up, information traveled by writing is fast, accurate and reliable. Just nine months after Pizarro’s execution of Atahuallpa, “a steady stream of Spanish colonists arrived in South America to tighten his grip on Peru”. Furthermore, writing also allowed more reinforcements to come quickly and orderly for Pizarro and his troops who needed to control the Atahuallpa and his army. Conversely, because Atahuallpa did not have enough information about the Spaniards due to the lack of writing and the transport of limited information from mouth to mouth, he disregarded the Spanish invasion and listened to an envoy’s description of “disorganized, non-fighting men and weak”. Pizarro arrived in South America with no information on the Incas, but by living in a country where literacy was a form of spreading knowledge of behavior and history, that experience allowed Pizarro to successfully ambush Atahuallpa and trap him.

But why were the Incas or the Aztecs the ones who had widespread literacy, horses, steel weaponry and guns? The diseases that decimated their populations; why were they not immune to it like the Europeans? Diamond states that these are not questions of "proximate causation" as seen is the description of the Maori and the Moriori in the previous entry or the fall of the Incans in this entry, but the questions must be tackled in a more global sense. History has to scanned entirely and the ultimate causes will be soon answered. I can't wait!

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