How the Role of Technology Overthrew the Incas

Asher Forman
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
7 November 2018
How the Role of Technology Overthrew the Incas
Military technology in the 1500s was not that advanced. Some people had discovered and developed guns and steel, while others were still using wood, stone, and leather. Many years ago, people in more rural areas were still stuck in the state of only using stone and leather, rather than guns and steel. Weapons made of metal were much more effective than ones made out of wood and stone. Fortunately for Francisco Pizarro, he had just the sort. The Spanish conquistadors had developed and utilized the use of guns and steel. Francisco Pizarro led his army of around 200-300 men to try and capture Atahualpa (the Inca Emperor) and take over the Inca empire which was located in Peru. Pizarro thought this was going to be a struggle due to his small army of a couple hundred, vs the 80,000 Inca soldiers that were defending this empire. Although, there were a couple things that Pizarro's army had that the Inca army didn't. These were steel, guns, and horses. Guns and steel proved to be more effective against the Incas quilted armour, while the stone and wood weapons that the Incas used were less effective against the steel armour used by Pizarro's army. A couple days later, Pizarro led his attack while the Incas were unarmed. Pizarro's army took them by surprise with his men charging into the massive Inca Empire. The Incas didn't know what to do and were completely dumbfounded when they saw a bunch of Spanish conquistadors charging at them will full force. The Incas were running around and jumping on top of each other in utter shock at what was happening. Some of the Incas tried to go warn the others, but Pizarro's army had horses to catch up with them. These horses provided a faster alternative than running. Horses were vital in Pizzaro's army because it made it so one horseman could overpower many people who were on foot. Pizarro's army could catch up with the Incas who might be running away and kill them. The horse's also made it so people who were riding them could conserve their energy since they wouldn't have to run. After a long and gruesome battle, most of the Inas were either captured or killed. This is how the use of technology was able to overthrow the Inca Empire.

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