Colonial Latin America Resistance vs. Accommodation
The conquest of the Latin America back in the 16th century was a colonial project that dispossessed millions. This period saw the apparent contradictions of the combination of implausible violence as well as a long legalistic peace. However, there has been an ongoing perception that had been there for a long time that describes the history of the colonial Latin America as one that was of accommodation and resistance. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the statement and determine between accommodation and resistance which one superseded the other or was there is a balance.
After the arrival of the colonialists, the indigenous people in the Latin America had the obvious option of resisting but this was not obvious as some of these indigenous communities found a place for the colonialists. For instance, the Otomi of Queretaro went ahead to compose a song in which they proclaimed themselves as the builders of the colonial order. Queretaro was a great city that was the hub for great businesses, wheat growing, churches and the most attractive place. However, the Otomi people allowed the Spanish control to creep in gradually as they sought to use their might in the wars and revolts that they faced. However, the Spanish started taking controlling positions in the Otomi registration as the people in leadership started losing their ways[1]. The Spanish council took over the construction of city structures and initiated a new life of trade, mining and land investment and later, the council took the control of a portion of the flow of water from the springs that fed Queretaro River[2]. The Spanish rule was fully imposed by the establishment of a mile long as well as 50 yards high aqueduct that was a mark of the urban landscape and cemented the eminence of the Spanish rule. In the song, the Otomi claim to have built the aqueduct as well as everything else that made Queretaro a flourished colonial city. This acts an act of accommodation since the Otomi people allowed the integration of the Spanish colonialists who later came to insubordinate them; in short, they accommodate them[3].
However, there are numerous mechanisms in particular the modes of thinking on gender, religion and race that the Spanish monarch, the ruling elites of the colony and the church used to control the larger part of the non elite as well as the non European populations from whom they drained and extracted resources and labor. To some extent as in the case of the Otomi, these mechanisms were effective since the Spanish used the church to control the people of Otomi before colonizing them. There were in various cases that involved the non elite people who had come into conflict with the people of higher status and gender, and social classes took the center stage. However, there was a balance between resistance and accommodation in colonial Latin America as it was in the case of Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, which was a mountainous and rugged part of colonial Mexico that was overwhelmingly ethnically diverse [4].
The rich social as well as the cultural history narrates the story of the making of colonialism at the edge of an empire via the eyes of native intermediary people such as the indigenous rulers who wore the Spanish silks, interpreters, church priests, Indian conquistadors, economic middlemen and the landed nobility. These people used political negotiations, violence as well as cultural brokerage to redefine native leadership. Consequently, rebellions started and helped in forging a hesitant political culture that set aside the hinterlands from the place that were central to the Spanish empire. This way, the indigenous people balanced both accommodation and resistance to fight the colonialists [5].
The Spanish conquest in the Latin America came out of the high demand for the precious metals such as gold and silver. This high demand was generated by the ongoing conflicts in the feudal Europeans administrations and specifically Spain. The practice of the catholic faith was used in the implementation of the policies and used the faith to manipulate the indigenous people by hiding behind the teachings when they hurt or wound them[6]. However, the extraction of the precious metals among other resources in the region was marked by violence. There were increased rebellions as people stood against political denomination as well as cultural oppression. In addition, the official religion for the Spanish which was Christianity (catholic) served the sole purpose of pleasing the colonialists and it was becoming a tool used for controlling the indigenous people. There were numerous village rebellions that occurred locally and spontaneous, and there were attacks that were directed to the tax collectors and in some extreme cases some people attacked the priests [7]. The 18th century marked the .start of the age of rebellion. There were more than a hundred rebellions all through the Andes in the 18th century. As more and more people revolts, the uprisings became increasingly violent, large scale and violent. The age of rebellion swept through the southern part of the Peru and Bolivian highlands. One of the leaders who led the uprisings included the Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui who was a rich kuraka; he threatened to remove the colonial elite, and after they are gone, he wanted to establish a neo-Inca utopia. In a different uprising, Tupac Katari led the cordon of La Paz; he had a vision of manumission and self-determination. The rebellion wanted to achieve to objectives, either eliminate the Spanish rule or subordinate them.
Some of these revolts were not successful, and the Spanish officials had to execute these leaders. The rebellions placed the indigenous people in the midst of struggles over state formation. As the 19th century set in, more and more rebellions were experienced in the Latin America more so as a result of the expansion of the haciendas and transforming them into indigenous communal lands. Increased governmental taxes. Abusive officials, as well as labor drafts, triggered severe revolts that were more deadly. One of the most remarkable resistance was the Caste War of Yucatan where the Maya was fighting against the threats posed by the Mexican government to their traditional autonomy. At one stage of the uprising, Maya almost got the back the Yucatan peninsula but failed in the end[8].
In conclusion, colonial Latin America experienced both accommodation and resistance. In some instances, the natives had to accommodate the Spanish officials so that they could conquer their neighbors or even build towns and cities that would attract business, and eventually the accommodation turned futile, and they got colonized. On the other hand, there were those who resisted the Spanish rule but due to their military might they could not be able to eliminate the colonialists.

References
Brown, Jonathan C. Latin America. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2000.
Burkholder, Mark A, and Lyman L Johnson. Colonial Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
O'Connor, Erin, and Leo Garofalo. Documenting Latin America. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011.
Sariola, Sakari. Power And Resistance. Ithaca [N.Y.]: Cornell University Press, 1972.
Umberger, Emily Good, and Tom Cummins. Native Artists And Patrons In Colonial Latin America. [Tempe, Ariz.]: Arizona State University, 1995.

[1]Mark A Burkholder and Lyman L Johnson, Colonial Latin America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
[2] Sakari Sariola, Power And Resistance (Ithaca [N.Y.]: Cornell University Press, 1972).
[3] Erin O'Connor and Leo Garofalo, Documenting Latin America (Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011).
[4] Emily Good Umberger and Tom Cummins, Native Artists And Patrons In Colonial Latin America ([Tempe, Ariz.]: Arizona State University, 1995).
[5]Jonathan C Brown, Latin America (Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2000).
[6] Sakari Sariola, Power And Resistance (Ithaca [N.Y.]: Cornell University Press, 1972).
[7] Emily Good Umberger and Tom Cummins, Native Artists And Patrons In Colonial Latin America ([Tempe, Ariz.]: Arizona State University, 1995).
[8] Sakari Sariola, Power And Resistance (Ithaca [N.Y.]: Cornell University Press, 1972).