What we Think, Stories by Peruvian Students
The following were written by 5th year high school students attending Santa Maria Marianistas School in Lima, Peru. What would YOU like to ask them about the Inca Empire, the Spanish Conquest, and about life in Peru today?
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Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui
Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui was born in 1738 in
Surimana (Tinta). His parents were Miguel
Condorcanqui and Rosa Noguera. He studied in
Cuzco at the San Francisco de Borja school. He
took the name of his ancestor Tupac Amaru, who
was the last Inca executed by the Spaniards in
Cuzco. He was a well-educated man, and he
knew law. In 1776 he presented a petition to
have the Indians freed from their forced labor in
mines. After the court´s refusal in Lima, he
decided to take a more radical path. In 1780 he
began one of the most important rebellions in
the history of Peru. On November 4,1780, the
Spanish administrator was taken prisioner at
Tinta, and he was executed in the plaza on the
9th of November. The cause was the abuse of
Indians in the region. On November 26th he
declared the end of slavery. Two days later he
headed the battle of Sangarara, where the rebels
defeated the royalist army. His movement spread
rapidly, and he got the support of almost all the
inhabitants in Cuzco, but he rapidly lost the
support of the mestizos and criollos, who were
threatened by the Spaniards. He was captured
in April of 1781, and he was executed with his
wife and son. His rebellion continued for 2
years, headed by his parents and brothers.
In my opinion his rebellion was vital for the
following years, because he transmitted the
ideas of freedom that spread rapidly all over
Latin America. He showed all his racial brothers
how they deserved to be treated, and that there
was no reason to stand an arbitrary rule. His
movement had repercussions throughout Latin
America, because he fought for his ideals, he
fought for his nation. He lost the battle against
the Spaniards, but he knew that his brothers
were going to win the war.
I can summarize the thoughts of the people in
Latin America after his execution in a motto:
"Injustice can beat justice in a hundred of
battles, but it will always lose the last one".
By: Juan Diego Calisto
Santa Maria Marianistas School, Lima, Peru
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