Conquest : the destruction of the American Indios
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Conquest : the destruction of the American Indios
Polity, c2008
- Other Title
-
Conquista
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Translated from the Italian
Originally published: Bologna : Società editrice il Mulino , c2005
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The arrival of Europeans in the Americas brought with it a demographic catastrophe of vast proportions for the native populations. What were the causes?
The surviving documentation is extraordinarily rich: conquistadors, religious figures, administrators, officials, and merchants kept records, carried out inquiries, and issued edicts. The native world, for its part, has also left eloquent traces of events as well as direct testimony of its harsh subjugation at the hands of the Europeans.
Drawing on these sources, Livi-Bacci shows how not only the 'imported' diseases but also a series of economic and social factors played a role in the disastrous decline of the native populations. He argues that the catastrophe was not the inevitable outcome of contact with Europeans but was a function of both the methods of the conquest and the characteristics of the subjugated societies.
This gripping narrative recounts one of the greatest tragedies of human history, one whose protagonists include figures like Columbus, Montezuma, Atahuallpa, Pizarro, Corts and Tupac Amaru.
Table of Contents
Preface
I In which are described three voyages that changed the face of a continent, the American population at the time of contact, the demographic catastrophe of the Indios, the sorrowful increase of the Africans, and the expansion of the Europeans
II A humble Franciscan, two combative Dominicans, an Italian humanist at the Court of Spain, a remorseful viceroy, a naturalist 'alcade', a Europeanized Inca and an Inca fallen on hard times, a conquistador observer... different witnesses and a common analysis of the catastrophe
III A tireless traveler disrupts a continent, but a quarter century too late. From the Caribbean to Peru: a brief history of a long voyage and of the suspected assassin of Huayna Capac, father of Atahuallpa. The true and presumed sins of smallpox and other crowd diseases
IV A golden nose ring and the tragic destiny of the Taino. An Indio follows a deer and discovers a mountain of silver. A people in constant movement, over 1000 miles and at an elevation of 4000 meters, and the wealth of Potosi. Deeds and misdeeds of gold and silver
V Hispaniola, the territorial paradise of Columbus and the imagination of modern scholars. One hundred thousand or ten million Taino? The catastrophe of the Antilles as seen from close up and a credible leyenda negra. People die while animals flourish
VI A great and rich city, dreamed of by Columbus and destroyed by Cortes. The modern dispute over the population of Mesoamerica. Tributaries, tributes, and population. Thirteen brigantines hauled overland and a tunnel in the rock. Men and beasts
VII The Incas and many millions of subjects. A quarter century of wars: Indios versus Indios, Spaniards versus Indios, Spaniards versus Spaniards. 'Quipu' pen and ink. A viceroy who counts, measures and acts. Epidemics: the moderns debate them, the ancients ignore them
VIII Colonists and 'Paulists' hunting down Guarani between the Parana and the Uruguay. One hundred Jesuits for 100,000 Indios. Steel axes and security in exchange for Christian habits. Monogamy and reproduction stronger than crowd diseases
Epilog
Appendices
Tables
Figures
Notes
Chronology
Glossary
Note on Illustrations
Index
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