hi

Mann reading on Inca Conquest 

Charles Mann, 1491, Ch. Ch. 3, pp. 82-96 (Text is posted here as a PDF)

1.) What’s your gut reaction to this reading? 

2.) Mann challenges the belief that superior weaponry was the main factor in the Inca loss to the Spanish. Give two examples of Inca weaponry or strategy that was viable in warfare against the Spanish. 

3.) Mann argues that the rivalry for power in the Andes among the Inca and other native groups was a major factor of the Spanish conquest. Explain at least one of these rivalries. Who were the two, three or four players involved? Who were they allied with and what role did they play in the Spanish victory? 

4.) Explain the role that disease played in weakening the Inca ability to respond effectively to the Spanish.

5.) What was the population of the Americas before European arrival, according to the more recent research? How many people specifically in central Mexico? What is the assumption that these new numbers are based on that was not taken into account in previous population estimates?