2. Francisco Pizarro Conquered an Empire and Committed Atrocities
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro kicked off his conquest of the Incan Empire by treacherously seizing its ruler, Atahualpa, at a meeting on November 16th, 1532, in a plaza in the town of Cajamarca. Pizarro set off to meet Atahualpa with 110 infantry and 67 cavalry, armed and armored with steel, plus three arquebuses and two small cannon. Atahualpa arrived on a fine litter, trailed by about 5000 Inca nobles and courtiers, richly dressed in ceremonial garments, and unarmed except for small ceremonial stone axes. The Spaniards fell upon Atahualpa and his party at a signal from Pizarro.
The unarmored natives were massacred, and Atahualpa was captured. He tried to ransom himself by offering to fill a room up to a height of eight feet with gold, and twice with silver. The Incas gathered gold, silver, jewels, and other valuables to placate the Spaniards, who proved insatiable and kept upping their demands. After the payments were made, Pizarro put Atahualpa through a sham trial, that convicted him of rebellion, idolatry, and murder. Atahualpa was sentenced to death by burning, but was spared that fate by agreeing to get baptized as a Catholic, and was strangled to death instead.