As the title suggests, sharing some notes I wrote during my previous research on American history (for systematic study, see Chapter 13, Section 1 of “Concise World History” (Ancient Period), below are some additional notes)
Reasons for the conquest of the Americas by Western colonizers:
The Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations in the Americas were not defenseless against the Spanish colonizers. When the Spanish arrived in the Americas, their numbers were small, and they were newcomers and isolated. The reason these civilizations were easily conquered by the Spanish colonizers was entirely due to the fact that these three slave societies were in decline, with decayed ruling classes, daily power struggles, and even alliances with the Spanish colonizers to suppress rivals, willingly becoming puppets. Ultimately, the internal cause is the driving force of development; if these slave civilizations in the Americas had not been in decline, giving the Spanish colonizers an opportunity, their invasion would not have succeeded, or at least not so smoothly.
The significance of studying American history:
The various Indian civilizations in the Americas reached their highest development in slave society, indicating that the pattern of human societies passing through five stages is universal and inevitable. Although American history is sparse due to various reasons, the development of American Indian civilizations can already be glimpsed from known historical materials. If not interrupted by invasions from foreign colonizers, Indian civilization would have developed independently into feudal society and subsequently into capitalist and communist societies.
There are three difficult aspects in understanding American history: First, objectively, the materials are scarce, so history often appears one-sided and fragmentary (such as the inexplicable decline of certain civilizations), compounded by the deliberate destruction and distortion of Indian culture by Spanish colonizers after invading the Americas, making research into American history difficult. Second, the development of American Indians varies across regions, often in a state where multiple civilizations intertwine, making it harder to clarify the logic. Third, the widespread influence of Eurocentrism, Han chauvinism, and other nationalist and colonialist ideologies easily leads to underestimation and contempt for American history, making it uninteresting to study, and the complex names of people and places are especially challenging.
The basic solution is to adopt the correct attitude, deepen understanding of the general laws of historical materialism through studying American history, refute Western colonialist slanders that label American Indians as “barbaric,” strive to deepen memory, and apply historical knowledge to the present—using American history to help understand ancient Chinese and Western history, as well as the connection between ancient and modern America.
Different Development Paths of Slave Societies in the Americas:
The three civilizations in the Americas had three development paths for slave societies. One is the Maya’s slave-owning city-states coexisting, similar to the Greek model; another is the Aztec’s transformation from large tribal alliances, implementing a feudal system of forced tribute on surrounding slave-owning city-states and primitive tribes, establishing a relatively loose slave-owning empire, similar to China’s path; the third is the Inca’s unification and centralized slave-owning empire, directly ruling the conquered regions, similar to Persia’s path.
Ancestros de los indígenas:
Los ancestros de los indígenas son las tribus primitivas que migraron del noreste de Asia a América. Aunque todavía hay controversias sobre las fechas específicas y el número de migraciones, la migración en sí misma es indudable. En lingüística, algunas evidencias sugieren que los idiomas de los indígenas tienen similitudes con las lenguas de la familia sino-tibetana. Si esto es cierto, podría proporcionar una visión más clara sobre el origen histórico de los indígenas.
The indigenous peoples of North and South America can be roughly divided into several regions: the Inuit live near the Arctic Circle and are self-contained; the Native Americans in central Canada and the Midwest of the United States live a nomadic lifestyle; while those in eastern and southwestern United States have settled into agriculture. Mexican Indians are divided into the Aztec and Mayan civilizations, both of which entered into slave societies. The Maya consisted of several slave city-states, while the Aztec was a slave empire. In South America, the Inca civilization was established by indigenous peoples, also entering into a slave society and forming a slave empire. Other regions in South America’s indigenous peoples are still in primitive society stages.
The general history of the Maya civilization:
Around 1000 BC, some tribes in the Maya region entered a class society, and slave city-states appeared. By the late 4th century AD, the slave empire of Teotihuacan in Mexico invaded the Maya city-state of Tikal (in northern Guatemala), establishing a puppet regime there. Later, the Teotihuacan ruling class localized and lost contact with the Teotihuacan civilization, leading Tikal into another period of prosperity, becoming a powerful force in central Maya region.
Subsequently, the Maya formed two major slave alliances with Tikal and the city-state of Calakmul (in southern Mexico) to the north. In 695 AD, Tikal defeated Calakmul and became the dominant power in Maya.
In the 9th century AD, many Maya slave city-states declined for reasons unknown (similar to the Minoan civilization on Crete, Mycenaean civilization, and the Harappa civilization in India, possibly due to large-scale slave revolts). Afterward, the center of Maya civilization shifted to the northern Yucatán Peninsula, where two major slave city-states, Chichen Itza and Uxmal, emerged. The two city-states long-term allied, but later the alliance seemingly broke down. In 1221 AD, Chichen Itza experienced a slave uprising and civil war, and it is reasonable to infer that large-scale slave revolts occurred throughout the Maya region, leading to Uxmal’s decline as well. After the decline of these two city-states, the ruling class of Uxmal, the Ciu family, continued to maintain control but was already in decline.
After the uprising, the slave-owning family, the K’om family, seized the fruits of the revolution and established Maya Pan. Maya Pan became the new ruler of the Maya. The Ciu family launched a rebellion in 1441, captured Maya Pan, and attempted to restore their rule but failed. Subsequently, Maya Pan also began to decline, and the entire Maya slave civilization entered a period of decline. By the time the Spaniards arrived, it had already entered the late stage of the slave society.
Mayan political and economic system:
The development of Mayan civilization is similar to Greece, with many slave-owning city-states emerging. The priest-slave owner group in Maya held power. The land system of Maya still retains remnants of primitive society; land exists in the form of rural communes and is periodically rotated. Although the ruling groups differ among various city-states, overall, Mayan civilization can be viewed as an ancient nation with common political, economic ties, and shared culture, language, and psychology.
The city-state system of the Maya:
The political system of the Maya slave city-states was dominated by slave-owning aristocrats. The rulers of the Maya slave states were called Harach Winik (Great Man), who held supreme power and were hereditary monarchs. The highest priest among the priest-slave elite was an advisor to the Harach Winik. The Harach Winik could appoint local officials called Batab, who swore allegiance to him, and their power was limited; their decrees required the approval of the priest-slave aristocrats and their subordinate advisors to be enacted.
History of Aztec Civilization:
The Olmec culture originated around 1200 BC, and its political and economic center, San Lorenzo, mysteriously declined around 900 BC, with the center shifting to La Venta. Subsequently, the Olmec civilization mysteriously disappeared around 400 BC, replaced by the Epi-Olmec culture.
The Epi-Olmec culture and the subsequent La Quemada culture are poorly documented. It is known that the former existed roughly from 400 BC to 300 BC, and later gradually became part of the rising Teotihuacan civilization. The writing of the Epi-Olmec culture is also similar to that of the Maya civilization.
The origin of the Teotihuacan civilization is unknown, and it emerged around 200 BC. Since Teotihuacan had no written records, most information about it remains unclear. The only known facts are that it was a slave society and had conducted several invasions of the Maya region. Teotihuacan reached its peak around 600 AD, and then mysteriously declined and fell around 650-750 AD.
Later, the Toltec civilization entered a class society around 800 AD, originally a nomadic people in northern Mexico. The Toltec slave owners and the Quiché, who conquered the Maya in 967 AD, established Toltec dominance over the Maya. Another group of Toltec slave owners began establishing Tula in central Mexico around 856 AD, and by the 10th century AD, they replaced Teotihuacan and inherited its culture.
The ruling class of the Toltec civilization was divided into two major groups: the military slave-owning group (warrior class) and the priestly slave-owning group. These two groups vied for power for a long time, resulting in a dual leadership system where the king representing the military slave-owning group and the high priest representing the priestly slave-owning group jointly ruled Toltec, each controlling political and religious affairs. This phenomenon was common in many Toltec city-states, with Tula being the most typical. The highest authority in Toltec affairs was a council composed of slave owners from Tula and four other slave-owning city-states, practicing democracy within the slave-owning class, with actual power held by the slave owners of Tula. Additionally, due to the development of commerce and industry, merchant slave owners also held some power in the council.
In 1156 AD, internal conflicts intensified among the Tula slave-owning groups, and the northern Chichimeca invaded. Tula fell, and the Toltecs migrated away from Tula, leading to the decline of Toltec civilization, which was eventually replaced by the Aztec civilization. The remnants of the Toltec slave-owning forces migrated to Culhuacan but continued to decline, and finally, in 1377, they were conquered by the newly rising Tepanec people of Azcapotzalco.
The founders of the Aztec civilization were the Mexica people. Like previous civilizations, the Mexica spoke Nahuatl, a branch of the Nahua people. They had largely settled in central Mexico as mercenaries hired by the Culhuacan, gradually becoming indigenous. Over time, social stratification emerged among the Mexica, and in 1323, they established Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) on Lake Texcoco. Later, Tenochtitlan was conquered by the Tepanec at the end of the 14th century, becoming a tributary state, with the rulers of both sides intermarrying. Subsequently, Tenochtitlan took advantage of internal chaos among the Tepanec to gain independence, forming alliances with the other two city-states, Tescoco and Tracopan, and in 1428, overthrow the Tepanec rule, establishing the Aztec Empire. The Aztec Empire was a slave-owning state formed by the union of these three city-states’ slave-owning classes. It then expanded outward, establishing a large slave empire.
Montezuma I (1368-1469) ascended the throne in 1440, during which he launched external invasions and implemented various laws and policies to strengthen the slave-owning dictatorship, notably increasing the death penalty, banning marriage between commoners and nobles, and establishing schools for training slave officials and educating the children of slave owners. The Aztec Empire continued to expand through military conquest, relying on military strength to establish a large slave empire and forcing neighboring slave city-states and tribes to submit and pay tribute.
In 1502, Montezuma II (1475-1520) ascended the throne amid intense class and ethnic conflicts within the Aztec Empire. When Spanish colonizers arrived in Mexico in 1519 and began their invasion, they allied with various forces resisting the Aztec Empire, ultimately destroying it and establishing Spanish colonial rule.
Aztec Slave Economy:
The Aztec Empire had a developed industry and commerce, and debt slavery had already appeared.
In terms of agriculture, the Aztec Empire retained the rural commune system and transformed the original clan institutions into grassroots slave institutions. Local slave owners democratically elected tribal chiefs and kinship leaders, and on this basis formed a nominal tribal council, which in essence was a feudal system based on slavery.
The Fall of the Aztecs:
The last Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, was caught in a civil war with the Tlaxcala slave owners, busy suppressing the Tlaxcala rebellion. After the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, he surrendered. However, the Spanish colonizers allied with the Tlaxcala and other slave owner groups, ultimately leading to the fall of the Aztecs.
History of the Inca Civilization:
The early history of the Inca civilization is vague, but it is known that the Incas settled here around 3000-2000 BC to engage in agriculture, and around 1000 BC, they entered a class society. Subsequently, in the mid-10th century AD, the original Inca civilization declined and mysteriously disappeared.
The Incas were a nomadic tribe in the Cuzco region, which entered a class society around the 12th century AD and established a slave-owning Cuzco Kingdom. In 1438, during the reign of the Cuzco Kingdom ruler Pachacuti and his son Tupac Inca Yupanqui, the empire expanded outward, establishing the vast Inca Empire. The Inca Empire once extended into the Amazon region but was repelled by local indigenous inhabitants. Unable to establish stable control there, they retreated. From 1471 to 1493, the Inca Empire was defeated in the Battle of Malaya River by local Mapuche tribes, and its invasion of Chile failed, with its southern territory ending in Argentina. The approximate territory of the Inca Empire stretched from Colombia in the north to Argentina in the south, expanding along the Andes.
Another slave-owning empire opposed to the Inca was the Chimú Kingdom in northwest Peru, established around 1100 AD and conquered by the Inca Empire around 1470.
The Inca Empire was a centralized, slave-owning empire, with the emperor titled Sapa Inca (World changer). The slave-owning aristocracy established a complete bureaucratic system of slavery and provincial administration, and built extensive roads.
The Inca slave system also retained rural communes, but most free citizens were small farmers. The Inca’s industry and commerce system was extremely backward, heavily suppressed by aristocratic slave owners, with few small producers, and a lack of a merchant-slave-owning class. The economy was still in a barter stage. It can be imagined that the exploitation under Inca slavery was extremely heavy.
Before the arrival of Spanish colonizers, the Inca Empire was likely in decline, with constant succession disputes, providing an opportunity for Spanish invasion.
In 1526, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived in the Inca Empire and began invading, exploiting internal chaos within the empire, and with the support of indigenous tribes dissatisfied with Inca rule and large slave owners, destroyed the Inca Empire and subsequently established Spanish colonial rule.
Inca land system:
The land of the Inca rural communes is divided into three parts: the Sun Farm, the Inca Farm, and the Commune Farm, which respectively belong to the Inca priest-slave owner, the Inca slave-owning aristocracy, and the commune members. Members of the Inca rural commune are required to cultivate these three parts of the land in sequence. Within the commune land, private land owned by members has already appeared, but there is still a small portion of land owned by the entire commune, and the cultivation order is also private land first, then public land.
The Fall of the Inca Empire:
The last Inca emperor, Atahualpa, and his Tiwaska brothers quarreled; after defeating the latter, he became the new emperor, but his rule was already seriously unstable. Therefore, he humiliatedly surrendered after the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, solely offering gold to appease them, and was eventually hanged by the Spanish colonizers.
Túpac Amaru and His Successors:
Túpac Amaru: After the fall of the Inca Empire, some Inca royal descendants who persisted in resisting Spanish colonizers established the New Inca Kingdom, with Túpac Amaru later becoming its last monarch. Túpac Amaru attempted to unite the indigenous peoples to resist Spanish colonial rule, but ultimately failed and was sentenced to death by the Spanish colonizers. Subsequently, a Túpac Amaru II claiming to be his descendant launched an indigenous uprising under the banner of reviving the Inca, which was later suppressed. Finally, the Communist Party of Peru, in memory of Túpac Amaru II, launched the Peruvian People’s War on May 17, 1980 (Túpac Amaru II was killed on May 18).
Were these three civilizations slave societies at that time? But I remember that the reason the Indians were slaughtered to the brink of extinction was because they were in the primitive commune period, so they were not internally supported by comprador elements, but resisted to the end, which led to their extermination.
In Mayan civilization, the Xi’u family, as a defeated slave-owning noble family at the time, chose to ally with the Spanish colonizers to regain power. The Aztecs also included some slave-owning city-states like Texcoco, which chose to guide the Spanish colonizers to Montezuma II of the Aztecs. Montezuma II himself was also killed because he was overly conciliatory towards the colonizers. The Inca Empire was also remarkably bold; the Inca emperor, in order to consolidate his rule, chose to ally with the Spanish colonizers, resulting in his capture by the Spanish, and he continued to appease them afterward.
Actually, it’s quite obvious that Spanish colonizers had at most a few hundred or a few thousand people. If there were no internal traitors, how could a civilization with hundreds of thousands or millions of people be conquered so easily?
Yes, truly primitive societies, such as the primitive communes in Chile, resisted Spanish invaders for a longer period of time.
