Native Insurgencies And The Genocidal Impulse In The Americas

This book investigates three Indian revolts in the Americas: the 1680
uprising of the Pueblo Indians against the Spanish; the Great Rebellion in Bolivia,
1780--82; and the Caste War of Yucatan that began in 1849 and was not finally
crushed until 1903. Nicholas A. Robins examines their causes, course, nature,
leadership, and goals. He finds common features: they were revitalization movements
that were both millenarian and exterminatory in their means and objectives; they
sought to restore native rule and traditions to their societies; and they were
movements born of despair and oppression that were sustained by the belief that they
would witness the dawning of a new age. His work underscores the link that may be
found, but is not inherent, between genocide, millennialism, and revitalization
movements in Latin America during the colonial and early national periods.