History is indeed a thing of beauty. It showed us how we got to where we are today and how we ended up living our lives just the way it is. Throughout the lifespan of our education in America, we have pretty much been taught the same thing consistently, especially American history. We have to go through so many topics throughout the academic year that we aren’t even able to go into the intricate details of at least some of the more significant events throughout history. Personally, I have known that there was missing information and that some things weren’t just quite adding up. I just didn’t have the willpower to go out of my way and find out what the missing pieces were. Thanks to Eduardo Galeano, however, my perspective has changed. Throughout…show more content… Historical Amnesia is basically the foggy parts of history that haven’t been unveiled explicitly. In his own words, he said “I am not a historian. I am a writer who would like to contribute to the rescue of the kidnapped memory of all America.” (Preface) The chapter, called The Fire Blunders, tells us about how Fray Diego de Landa, an inquisitor, burned down eight centuries of Mayan literature right in front of the authors themselves. The stories were about all that has happened before Christ. These books were made to inform the future generations about the past and discoveries to make their lives easier. “….so they should know the movements of the stars, the frequency of eclipses and the prophecies of the gods and so they could call for rains and good corn harvest.” (137) While they were burning the books, they poured boiling wax on the Indians. This is what really made my blood boil; more so than what was poured on the natives. The natives understood quite well that the inquisitors were the ones that were the bosses of the land. What purpose does burning the books that took them eight centuries to complete have? There was nothing in the books that made the inquisitors look like they were causing any harm. In fact, there wasn’t anything written about them at all. The natives were just trying to make the future generations live lives that are easier than what they have gone through by…show more content… When the Spanish Conquest happened, Pizarro, one of the Spanish revolutionists, used Atahualpa as a figurehead in order to get the Inca’s to do whatever they want him to do. Everybody loved Atahualpa. In order to save his life, everybody in the village donated gold and silver to make sure that he is unharmed. Pizarro collected all of these funds and figuratively becomes the richest man in the world. He rewards his brothers and captains handsomely. Every soldier gets more money than what Prince Philip makes in a year. Atahualpa made his own brother his prisoner, Huascar, in order to become king. Huascar’s wives stained the river red with blood and he had to eat human shit and sheep piss. There were a lot of bad omens coming to Atahualpa, including one from his own brother saying that they will kill him liked they kill me, but he refuses to believe any of it. Pizarro, sitting on Atahualpa’s throne, confirmed the death sentence even after getting all the gold from the people to ensure his safety. It’s mind-boggling what a man would do to achieve power and money. Atahualpa imprisons his own brother, kills his wives and makes him eat human shit and goat piss just so that he can become emperor. Pizarro gave the threat of killing Atahualpa if the people don’t give him gold. Even after fulfilling their end of the bargain, he still gets killed. Again, this was another very significant event in history