The Conquest of Guatemala

​The conquest of the Guatemalan natives began in 1523 when Spanish troops, lead by the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, invaded the area. The most interesting thing about the conquest of the area that is now Guatemala, was that it was more difficult to conquer than the majority of other areas that the Spaniards conquered. This was due to the fact that the people put up more of a resistance than in other places. As said by  "Some highland groups, among them the Uspantec and the Kekchi, inflicted temporary defeat on the foreign invaders; other lowland peoples, including the Chol Manche and the Itzas, actually stalled effective Spanish penetration for up to a century and a half after the initial European intrusion."(1) Part of the trouble that the Spanish had in conquering the people is that there were multiple governments that needed to be toppled. Some places they needed only to conquer one capital in order to gain most of the control they needed, but in the Guatemalan area there were multiple, so instead of just one capital to move towards there were many, this would split there forces, or cause them to lose a major amount of supplies and troops as they worked their way to each different one.

Changes to the People

The Spanish had a major influence on the culture of the Mayan people, in was so large that it is described in the Encyclopedia Britannica as "The conquerors decapitated native society, substituting the Spanish for the Indian nobility."(2) Bad as it sounds, this is just saying how effectively the Spanish changed the Mayan government system. There were actually many benefits to the native people, though it was at the cost of their culture. Some of the benefits were improved agricultural techniques, as well as improved tools. The Spanish also built improved towns based on the grid system, which had a centralized plaza where a town hall and a church was located. Though there were many benefits, Not everything they did was necessarily an improvement, such as the introduction of the Encomienda and religious economic systems. This involved the land and labor being allotted to a ​Spanish noble who controlled it. This system was later stopped due to the fact that it was not the most profitable, and so they changed the system, as they were interested in profit as said when "'Bernal Diaz del Castillo summed up Spanish aims and intentions with remarkable brevity when he declared: 'We came here to serve God and King, and also to get rich.'"(3)

Guatemala's Independence

The most interesting part of Guatemala's department from the reign of Spain is the fact that it involved no wars unlike most of Latin America. This is because of a multitude of factors. One of the major ones is the fact that the Spanish had lost their ​power in Latin America. This was mainly due to the destruction of the Spanish Armada. The destruction caused them to lose their naval power and so they were not able to show their power in the colonies. Because of this the colonies began to work their way to independence, as there was not much in their way to stop them. Guatemala had even less to deal with since the Mexican Empire that they joined, had already dealt with what little force there was.