The Pueblo Revolt

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The Pueblo Revolt was brought on by many years of barbarianism and cruelty by the Spanish on the Pueblo Indians. This was a revolution for the natives to fight for their freedom form the tyranny and grasp that the Spanish had on them. Before the Spanish invasion of the Pueblos the Natives were thriving in the land. Some of the things the Spanish had the Natives do ranged from changing their religious beliefs to feeding two different communities as well as others. Also what caused the Pueblo Revolt, who was involved and what was the outcome of the Revolt are among the most important aspects of these great battles.
Around the mid 1500’s the Pueblo Natives had around 110 separate pueblos flourishing in the region. They were living of the advanced farming skills and trading with other colonies. By 1680, around the eve of the revolt the number of Pueblos dropped to be around only forty. Not only did the number of pueblos decrease drastically the total population was hit very hard. In about a hundred years the population went from around 80,000 to 17,000 (Roberts 2004 Pgs 29-33). The conditions that the Natives had were great until the invasion led by Juan de Onante started in 1598.
The Spanish rule had effectively started to take over in 1598 when a man by the name of Juan de Onante began his invasion on the indigenous people. Onante was able to set up the first Spanish colony which consisted of soldiers and women and children. The land that he invaded was inhabited by the Natives but when they had the first colony the Spanish began to segregate the natives into two groups the “Barbaros” and the “Pueblos”. The Spanish colonization had over 100 communities spreading over hundreds of miles. Although, they were lumped into ‘...

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...n their attempt to re conquer New Mexico later down the road. The Spanish tried to re conquer the land twelve years later using peace and scare tactics with a man by the name of Don Diego de Vargas. Not only were the events leading to Popes rebellion such as the encomienda system, forced labor, and the forcing of changing their religion and way of life in a short amount of time a great reason for the revolt. The revolt was also a starting ground for further rebellions and a blueprint of how to execute a rebellion successfully. When the revolt was over the Pueblos got what they wanted which was to be free of the Spanish and continue back to their own way of life. The following years were very difficult for the Indians starting with the rebuilding of their community. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was the greatest and most successful revolt in history of North America.

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