history - mayan and incan cultures?

Question

When Spanish invaded the Mayan and inca cultures, were the incans and mayans given little food and were forced to do long hours of work?

Answer 1

The Mayans of Mexico had their own slaves. Practiced ritualistic sacrifices. Went to war to subjugate other tribes.
Hernan Cortes took notice of that and obtained large amount of allies. Marina the woman translator for Cortes was an example of that attitude against the Mayans. What we did to the Mayans is inexcusable. We were the people of higher civilization and we were Western-God loving people. By some accounts, if the Mayan had continue living in peace with the rest, there would have been 3,000,000 million of them in Mexico. Where have they gone?

Answer 2

To pay off the Spanish armies, and increase colonization, the soldiers and officers were granted large areas of land and the natives who lived on them as a type of feudalism. Although officially they could not become slaves, the system, known as encomienda, came to signify the oppression and exploitation of natives, although its originators may not have set out with such intent. In short order the upper echelons of patrons and priests in the society lived off the work of the lower classes. Due to some horrifying instances of abuse against the indigenous peoples, Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas suggested bringing black slaves to replace them. Fr Bartolomé later repented when he saw the even worse treatment given to the black slaves. The other discovery that perpetuated this system was extensive silver mines discovered at Potosi and other places that were worked for hundreds of years by forced native labor and contributed most of the wealth flowing to Spain.

Answer 3

So before the Spanish arrived everything was sweetness and light? The Inca Empire ranks as one of the most controlled societies in history, the Maya fought countless wars and tossed people into wells and the Aztec made human sacrifice a mass production activity. Many Native Americans went to Spanish missions not because of the religion but to be safe from the constant warfare. Cortez was able to conquer the Aztecs because they had enslaved so many tribes. Given the chance these tribes revolted and supported the Spanish. While it's easy to blame Europeans, it glosses over the very real problems that existed in the Americas

Answer 4

A great read for this is Guns Germs and Steel
PBS also has a site for the video along with transcripts

Answer 5

The Spanish treated their slaves (both African and Native American) cruely. It was cheaper to replace the slaves than to feed them and care for them.

Answer 6

YES they were.