How the Role of Technology Overthrew the Incas

Henry Quillin
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
8 Nov - 18


How the Role of Technology Overthrew the Incas


          Is definitely amazing how the Spaniards defeated the Incas even though they were completely outnumbered. While the Spanish were very cunning and had a great strategy, they could not have beat the Incas without the help of some technology.
        There were many factors that led to the downfall of the Incas. The first factor is that the Incas mostly lived in peace and isolation, and had not dealt with any kind of foreign people. This means that they did not have to make complex weapons or prepare for combat. So when the Spaniards came, the Incas did not know what to expect, they were not prepared for any kind of battle, and they were all completely unarmed, thus resulting in a heavy defeat.
        The Spaniards had advanced weapons like muskets and steel swords. The Incas had never seen technology like this, and these foreign weapons scared them. The musket played a very important role in this battle. It was not that great at killing people fast, because of it's extremely slow to reload time. What this weapon was great at, was confusing and disorienting the Incas. The noise and smoke made them run around mindlessly, trampling each other in the process. While this was happening, the Spaniards could go in with their swords, and use the noise and confusion to their advantage.
        Probably the hugest advantage that the Spaniards had against the Incas was calvary. Calvary gave the rider more speed, height, and power. Calvary could charge through the poor Incas, killing everyone in their path. This again instilled fear in the people, which was a huge part of the Spanish victory.  So it goes to show that strategy and technology can definitely be more powerful than the size of the army. 

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