Propaganda In South America

South America

Posters, movies, words are techniques used in propaganda. Propaganda is information not necessarily correct, that is used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Throughout time propaganda has caused a great deal of conflicts, it has been used by many to convince societies that they are right and to attack the opposing individuals. Propaganda is commonly used during wars for example during World War 1 posters were put around the nation telling people to join the army and fight in the war.

The arrival of the Spanish to the New World changed the Americas forever, it caused a significant change for the native people (Hudson 1). Over the next couple hundred years the Spanish
ruled an immense empire. They were able to do this through the labor and exploitation of the native population. Conquistadors, a conqueror, came to the Americas to look for riches and to bring Catholicism to the new lands. Thousands of Spaniards came to the New World in search of riches and fame. But with the Conquistadors also came diseases, the natives had no immunities. Spanish conquistadors who were mainly poor nobles from the west, and south of Spain were able to subdue the immense empires of the New World, they were able to accomplish through military technology. After they had conquered an area, it was portioned into grants of land. Conquistadors were given the title to the land and its people in return they promised to teach Christianity to the natives. This method was used heavily, Conquistadors promised natives to teach them their religion, but it actually did not happen, natives were practically slaves. This was one of the ways the Spanish used as propaganda, they made the natives think they were going to teach them Christianity in return for their labor and land, but they did not keep their word but instead made the natives into slaves.

Chile, one of the countries that was impacted largely by the Spaniards. A coastal country located in the southwest region of South America. The first expedition was by Diego de Almagro, who first arrived in Peru with Ferdinand Magellan, but then headed south from Peru in 1535, discouraged by the dearth of mineral wealth and deterred by the pugnacity of the natives, he returned to Peru in 1935. The second expedition took place in 1540 by Pedro de Valdivia. He was able to find the capital city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Valdivia managed to overcome many northern Amerindians, he forced them to work on fields and mines, and he was not as successful with the Araucanians of the south. Valdivia became the first governor of the captaincy general of Chile. Valdivia established more fortresses farther south, because they were scattered and small, it was difficult to defend against Araucanian attack. Valdivia realized that Chile would have to be primarily an agricultural colony, even though he found small amounts of gold. In December 1553, Valdivia was captured, tortured, and killed by Araucanians. Even though there was inefficiency and corruption in the political system, Chileans displayed loyalty to crown authority for nearly three centuries of colonial rule. Chileans began to think of self-government after the King of Spain was overthrown in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Society in Chile was divide along ethnic, racial, and class. Those born in the Old World ruled over natives, and also those who were born in the New World. The Catholic Church supported the government and it was how the society was controlled. Spaniards usually treated natives as enemies that needed to be conquered and even extinguished. On September 18,

1810, Chile broke free from the rule of the Spanish (Minster 1), which meant they were independent. The declaration of their independence started a decade of violence and conflict. There several factors that lead to this, one was that Chile was ruled by a corrupt government, another was the French occupation of Spain.

The Inca, an American Indian people from Peru, they conjugated an area stretching from present-day Colombia to central Chile. It was the only true empire in the New World existing at the time of Columbus. The Inca Empire consisted mostly of farmers and soldiers, agriculture was their daily life, and it was the center of plant domestication. Ayllu was at the base of the social pyramid of the Inca, which was a clan of families living in a restricted area sharing animals, land, and crops.

Francisco Pizarro was a low class man born in Extremadura, he heard of the riches and gold in the New World, which made him decide to head to Peru.
He got permission from the Queen to subdue Peru and become the governor. When Pizarro arrived in Peru the empire was already falling apart, he also made the situation worse by bringing disease with him. Pizarro wanted to meet with the ruler of the Inca who was Atahualpa. He sent his captain, Hernando de Soto to meet with him, he also sent a horse with his captain, this would impress and surprise Atahualpa, since he had never seen one before. Atahualpa was convinced and decided to
see

Pizarro in person the following day.
The use of the horse was one of the ways propaganda was used in Pizarro conquest of Peru. When Atahualpa went to meet Pizarro, Pizarro tried to convince him to convert into Catholicism, he offered him a Bible, and he asserted that the Bible had all the answers. Atahualpa took it as an offense because the Bible did not give him the answers he desired, the Spaniards killed two thousand men that day and apprehended Atahualpa that day. Pizarro obtained want he craved gold and silver from Atahualpa(The Incas 1). Spanish troops then went on to kill the remaining Inca population, and to destroy their culture and cities. Others joined the Spaniards because they showed that they were powerful. The effect was overwhelming for the Inca. The Spaniards used their religion as a way to make the natives work and do as they wished. They made the natives believe that Catholicism was the only true religion, and that what they believed was
wrong.

The conquering of Chile and Peru are examples of how Spain came into the New World and used religion as way to colonize the natives. They promised natives, and told them that their religion, Catholicism, was the true and only religion, that it was the way of life, but they never actually taught them their religion or converted, they just used them for labor, or they overthrew their empire. The used the technology they had as a way of propaganda. The weapons they had said that they were a powerful army, and that those who opposed them would be defeated.

Using these methods gave them power over the natives, their advanced technology showed that they were more powerful and stronger than the Inca.

We have covered two forms of propaganda: one of action and the other of media. In colonization, the need to maintain the loyalty of people is essential. Propaganda has been used both as a gateway for colonization as well as a means of maintaining the established colonies out of fear. Propaganda is about maintaining control, and remaining in power. In North America, the propaganda when people were fighting against slavery, and racism because white people wanted to remain in control and in power. In Cuba, when people were migrating to America, the propaganda increased. It is relevant in every case. Colonization happens when people want too much power, and when people start to leave or do something about it, dramatic measures are taken, and the propaganda becomes more intense In today’s world propaganda is all around us the media is spreading further and further through new medians. We are taking advantage of what we have to get people to think the way we want them to think.