Violence in Colonial Peru

            In his book, Peru’s Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest, Steve J. Stern agrees that the Spanish were cruel to the natives however he explains it as necessary in order to obtain the tribute and labor desired from them.  The Spanish colonizers came to Peru seeking gold and other precious metals.  When they found the land rich in mercury and silver they set about to extract as much as possible.  First, they set up alliances with the Andeans which called for a set amount of tribute in silver, textiles, and food stuff.  Since mining was a dirty, hazardous, labor intensive endeavor which was seen as too menial a task for the colonial elite, it was required that the natives provide the mining labor.

            Since the natives had proven resistant to tribute and labor collection, the Spanish found it necessary to force them to comply.  Many kurakas would hold onto the tributes until forced to give it up.  The Spanish officials often found threats were not enough motivation to secure compliance from the natives.  In these circumstances, the officials resorted to beatings, jailing, and sequestration of property to motivate the natives (page 103).  In Andahuaylas the corregidor locked up kurakas and confiscated their property when they refused to send laborers to fill the labor drafts.  There were also extreme cases, such as in Ocopampa where a judge hanged ten natives in order to restore the peace and stop native resistance to the labor draft (page 104).

            Spanish cruelty did not stop with the fulfillment of tribute and labor demands.  Many used cruelty when they felt their authority was threatened.  For example, when a native fisherman refused to give fresh fish to the corregidor of Castrovirreyna he was thrown into jail, whipped upside down, and had his hair cut (page 104).  Even priest would use violence to get what they wanted.  One priest even carried a gun on his person (page 106). 

            Stern disagrees with the idea that the natives were helpless against the Spanish onslaught.  On the contrary, he shows how the natives resisted Spanish efforts to collect labor and tribute.  The Andeans often played one Spanish official’s greed against another’s by explaining to the local authority that if laborers were sent to distant mines there would be fewer workers to fulfill his labor requirements (page 103).  The Spanish had to constantly maintain their guard for the natives did not hesitate to use violence when the opportunity arose.  For example in 1547 a prominent colonist was killed by a stone thrown by a native and in 1567 a well-known colonial was killed by his native guide while traveling through the mountains (page 106).  These and other acts made the Spanish afraid of an open uprising.  This fear drove them to continue to use acts of cruelty to keep the natives in line.  As Stern said, “Neither colonizer nor colonized could escape the violent tenor of life inherent in their socioeconomic relationship” pages 104, 106).