OK, so maybe I'm just depresesd because I thought I was done and then discovered I wasn't, but I'm doing research for my geography paper and reading all this stuff about the amazingly rich variety of civilizations that existed in Central and South America before the Spanish/Portuguese came and destroyed everything. It's depressing. In particular, this made me cry:

In 1532 Francisco Pizarro captured the [last emperor of the Inca,] Atahualpa, and held him prisoner demanding vast quantities of gold in exchange for his release. The Incas complied with the request, and gold and silver from all over the empire was brought to Cajamarca, filling the notorious ransom room. When the Spanish demands for treasure had been met, Pizarro executed Atahualpa.

I guess I just thought about whatever motivated people to send their gold--hope of some kind, not sure exactly what it would have been, whether they felt concern for Atahualpa or just thought he could protect them somehow--anyway--they had hope, and how they must have felt when they discovered it had been betrayed.

Have a nice night.