Fray Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa (born in Jerez de la Frontera and died Seville, 1630) was a Spanish friar of the Discalced Carmelites originally from Jerez de la Frontera whose Compendio y Descripcion de las Indias Occidentales has become a source of detail for the history of South America, since the manuscript's discovery in the Vatican Library in 1929.
Section I What Kind of Revolution Occurred in Latin America Between 1810 and 1830?
A. General
1. Only the Beginnings of a Basic Transformation Took Place, by Charles C. Griffin
B. Contemporary Descriptions of Conditions
2. Reports by British and United States Officials: (a) Caesar A. Rodney on Argentina (1818); (b) Charles Milner Rickettes on Peru (1826); (c) Joel Roberts Poinsett on Mexico (1829)
C. Special Topics
3. Education in Colombia, by David Bushnell
4. The Ethnic Factor, by Magnus Morner
D. The End of the Revolutionary Period
5. The Great Landed Estates Remained, by R.A. Humphreys
6. Further Reflections, by Charles C. Griffin
E. Brazil
7. The Uniqueness of Brazil, by C.H. Haring
Section II Juan Manuel de Rosas: Bloody Tyrant, or Founder of Argentine Unity and Defender of the Nation’s Independence?
A. Contemporary Attitudes
1. Foreign Estimates of Rosas, by William Spence Robertson
2. The Slaughter House, by Esteban Echevarria
B. Nineteenth Century Historical Controversy
3. The Tyranny of Rosas, by Jose Manuel Estrada
4. The “Middle Ages” of Argentine History, by Ernesto Quesada
C. Recent Interpretations
5. Rosas Continued the Authoritarian Colonial Tradition, by Jose Luis Romero
6. Rosas Assured the Continued Prosperity of the Pastoral Industries, by Miron Burgin
D. Revisionists and Revision
7. Discussions on Rosas Reflect the Swirling Currents of Argentine Life, by Clifton B. Kroeber
8. Rosas Still Lives in the Hearts of Some Argentines!
Section III Economic Entrepreneurs in the Mid Nineteenth Century
A. Colombia
1. There Was No Lack of Individual Enterprise, by Frank Safford
B. Mexico
2. The Spirit of Enterprise in Yucatan, by Howard F. Cline
C. Chile
3. Economic Development Before the War of the Pacific, by Frederick B. Pike
4. The Dawn of Manufacturing in Chile, by J. Fred Rippy & Jack Pfeiffer
D. Peru
5. Henry Meiggs, Yankee Pizarro, by J. Fred Rippy
Section IV Negro Slavery in Brazil
A. How Foreigners Viewed Negro Slavery
1. Slaves in Brazil Have More Tolerable Lives Than Those in Other Countries, by Henry Koster
2. “A Horrid Traffic”: Life on a Slave Ship, by Robert Walsh
3. A British Consular Report on Slavery in Northern Brazil (1831), by Robert Hesketh
4. Slavery is Doomed in Brazil, by D.P. Kidder & J.C. Fletcher
5. Slavery is a Curse for Bothe Negroes and Whites, by Herbert H. Smith
B. Analysis by a Historian
6. Patterns of Living in the Vassouras Plantation, by Stanley J. Stein
C. Recent Interpretations
7. Why Slavery Was Abolished, by Emilia Viotti da Costa
8. The Brazilian Slave, by Robert Conrad
Section V The Chilean Revolution of 1891: The Beginning of National Frustration
A. Background of the Revolution
1. An Era of Exuberant Confidence, by Frederick B. Pike
B. Interpretations of Historians Today
2. Balmaceda’s Economic Ideas Differed Fundamentally from Those of the Bankers, Businessmen, and Landowners, by Hernan Ramirez Necochea
3. A Purely Economic Interpretation Is Dangerous, by Harold Blakemore
Section VI Porfirio Diaz, Dictator of Mexico
A. Contemporary Interpretations
1. President Diaz: Hero of the Americas, by James Creelman
2. The Diaz System, by John Kenneth Turner
B. Contemporary Documents
3. Mexico Needs Foreign Capital (1897), by “El Economista Mexicano”
4. A Catholic Conference Discusses Agrarian Problems (1904), by Trinidad Sánchez Santos
5. Program of the Liberal Party (1906)
6. Mexican Workers Do Not Go To The United States! (1910), by “El Imparcial”
C. Later Views
7. The Diaz Regime as Background for the Revolution, by Charles C. Cumberland
8. The Porfiriato: Legend and Reality, by Daniel Cosio Villegas
Section VII The Great Debate: Cultural Nationalism, Anti-Americanism, and the Idea of Historical Destiny in Spanish America
A. General
1. Cultural Nationalism: The Dreams of Spanish-American Intellectuals, by Cesar Graña
2. The Hispano-American’s World, by Waldo Frank
B. Ariel: Source and Symbol of Misunderstanding
3. Ariel Embodies the Mastery of Reason and of Sentiment Over the Baser Impulses of Unreason, by Jose Enrique Rodo
4. Rodo Still Touches Chords of Sympathy and Desire in Latin America, by Kalman H. Silvert
5. The Two Americas Are Far Apart, by Richard M. Morse
C. A Case Study: Xenophobia in Mexico
6. The Roots of Nationalism, by Frederick C. Turner
Section VIII Imperialism, Intervention, and Communism in the Caribbean
A. General
1. The United States is Honor Bound to Maintain Law and Order in South America, by George W. Crichfield
2. United States Policy Was Not Inspired by Sinister or Sordid Motives, by Dana G. Munro
3.”Free Elections” Are Not the Answer, by Theodore Paul Wright, Jr.
B. The Coming of Castro
4. The Castro Revolution Was the Culmination of a Long Series of Thwarted Revolutions, by Hugh Thomas
C. The Dominican Republic During and After Trujillo
5. The High Price of Stability, by Raymond H. Pulley
6 The Issue of Communism Divides Rather Than Unites the Members of the Inter-American System, by Gordon Connell-Smith
Section IX The Age of Getulio Vargas in Brazil (1930 – 1954)
A. The Early Years
1. Brazil’s Political and Economic Condition When Vargas Seized Power, by Horace B. Davis
2. Brazil Made Tremendous Advances, by Karl Loewenstein
3. Foreign Influences at the Outbreak of World War II, by Bailey W. Diffie
B. The Return of Vargas
4. The Election of 1950, by John W. F. Dulles
5. Peron and Vargas in 1951, by George Pendle
6. Crisis and Corruption, by Jose Maria Bello
7. Suicide Note, by Getulio Vargas
Section X Historians and Historical Controversies
A. The Historian’s Task
1. The Mexican Idea of History, by Luis Villoro
2. The Historian Must Be Free, by France V. Scholes
3. History Belongs to Our Own Generation, by Jose Honorio Rodrigues
B. The Soviet Image of Latin America
4. Contemporary Soviet Research on Latin America, buy J. Gregory Oswald
C. Dialogue on How to Teach Latin American History in the United States
5. Unthinkable Thoughts, by Lewis Hanke
6. Social Injustice: The Constant in Latin American History (1492 - ), by Gunnar Mendoza
The contents of this volume and of its companion to follow, on the period of 1810 to the present, have been drawn from the rich store of material that has appeared in widely scattered publications. The selections from the original sources illustrate the freshness and unique character of such documents. The later writers approach their subjects from varied points of view. Many are historians, but the insights and interpretations of anthropologists, geographers, librarians and men of letters are also represented so that this collection brings together the work of many minds and disciplines.
Section I The Transit of Civilization.
A. General
1. A Major Challenge, by Charles Julian Bishko
B. The Spanish Background
2. The Middle Ages in the Conquest of America, by Luis Weckmann
3. America as Fantasy, by Lewis Hanke
4. The Transfer of Plants and Animals, by James A. Robertson
5. The Libraries of Colonial Spanish America, by Lawrence S. Thompson
C. The Portuguese Background
6. The Mobility, Miscibility, and Adaptability of the Portuguese, by Gilberto Freyre
7. The Portuguese Culture in Brazil, by Emilio Willems
D. The New World's Influence on the Old
8. Why Prices Rose in Europe, by John Lynch
Section II Was Inca Rule Tyrannical?
A. Favorable Assessments of the Sixteenth Century
1. How the Incas Achieved So Much, by Pedro de Cienza de Leon
2. The Corruption of an Ideal Indian Society by the Spaniards, by Mancio Sierra de Leguizamo
3. Land Division, Tribute, and Treatment of Vassals, by Garcilaso de la Vega
B. The Spanish Justification for Conquest
4. Viceroy Toledo's Attack on Inca Rule, by Lewis Hanke
5. The Tyranny of Inca Rule, by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
C. Modern Interpretations
6. The Inca Empire was Socialistic, by Louis Baudin
7. Despotism or Socialism?, by Alfred Metraux
Section III Relations Between Indians and Spaniards
A. The First Cry for Justice in America
1. The Sermons of Friar Antonio de Montesinos, 1511
B. Just War Against the Indians
2. The Requirement, 1512
3. The Doctrine of Just War, by Silvio Zavala
C. Fundamental Ordinances
4. The Laws of Burgos, 1512
5. The New Laws, 1542
6. Royal Ordinances on “Pacification”, 1573
D. The Encomienda
7. Title of the Encomienda Given to Julio Gutierrez Altamirano in Chile, 1566
8. The Audiencia of New Galicia and the Indians, by J.H. Parry
E. Interpretations
9. A Seventeenth Century Defense of Spain’s Indian Policies, by Juan de Solorzano y Pereyra
10. The Theory and Practice of Racial Segregation in Colonial Spanish America, by Magnus Morner
11. Spanish Exploitation of Indians in Central Mexico, by Charles Gibson
12. The Dawn of Conscience in America, by Lewis Hanke
Section IV Population Statistics and Social History
A. Estimates of Indian Population in 1492
1. The Early Spanish Accounts Were Inflated, by Bailey W. Diffe
2. Sixteenth Century Statements on the Population of Central Mexico Are Substantiated by Modern Calculations, by Woodrow Borah & S.F. Cook
B. Early Spanish Emigration
3. Regional Origins of the Earliest Colonists, by Peter Boyd-Bowman
C. The Colonial Population
4. New Spain’s Century of Depression, by Woodrow Borah
5. The Geographical Distribution of the Negro, by Wilbur Zelinsky
6. The Population of Brazil, by Dauril Alden
Section V Vieira and the Crises of Seventeenth Century Brazil
1. A Great Luso-Brazilian Figure, by C.R. Boxer
2. The Indian Policy of Portugal in America, by Mathias C. Kiemen
3. Sermon Condemning Indian Slavery, 1653, by Antonio Vieira
4. Report on the Conversion of the Nheengaibas, Letter to Alfonso VI, November 28, 1659, by Antonio Vieira
Section VI Urban Life
A. Patterns of Settlement
1. Spanish Royal Ordinances for the Laying Out of New Towns, 1573
2. Colonial Towns of Spanish and Portuguese America, by Robert C. Smith
B. The Texture of Urban Life: Spanish America
3. An Academic Dialogue in Sixteenth Century Mexico City, by Francisco Cervantes de Salazar
4. Burial of an Archbishop Viceroy in Mexico City, 1612, by Hubert Howe Bancroft
5. Riots in Seventeenth Century Mexico City, by Chester Lyle Guthrie
6. The Imperial City of Potosi, Boom Town Supreme, by Lewis Hanke
7. St. Augustine, Outpost of Empire, by John T. TePaske
C. The Texture of Urban Life: Brazil
8. The Cities of Colonial Brazil, by Jose Arthur Rios
9. The Bay of All Saints, by C.R. Boxer
Section VII The Inquisition
A. The Inquisitors and the Indians
1. Jurisdictional Confusion, by Richard E. Greenleaf
2. Fray Diego de Landa and the Problem of Idolatry in Yucatan, by France V. Scholes & Ralph L. Roys
B. An Englishman and the Inquisition
3. Robert Tomson in Mexico, 1555
C. Brazil
4. The Holy Office Visits Brazil, 1591 – 1595, by Arnold Wiznitzer
D. The Inquisition in Seventeenth Century Peru
5. The Portuguese Judaizers in Peru, by Henry Charles Lea
E. The Inquisition in Eighteenth Century Mexico
6. The Mexican Inquisition and the Enlightenment, by Richard E. Greenleaf
Section VIII Science and Medicine
A. Scientific Investigation of the New World in the Sixteenth Century
1. Francisco Hernandez in New Spain, by German Somolinos D’Ardois
2. The Scientific Ideas of Jose de Acosta, by Theodore Hornberger
B. A Seventeenth Century Scholar
3. A Great Savant of Colonial Peru: Don Pedro de Peralta, by Irving A. Leonard
C. Brazil
4. An Overview of Science in Colonial Brazil, by Fernando de Azevedo
D. Late Colonial Developments
5. Flowers for the King, by Arthur Robert Steele
6. Balmis and the Introduction of Vaccination to Spanish America, by Sherburne F. Cook
Section IX Climax and Crisis in the Eighteenth Century
A. New Spain
1. The Reorganization of the Army, by Lyle N. McAlister
2. Problems and Progress in New Spain, by Alexander von Humboldt
B. Peru
3. The Great Revolt of Tupac Amaru, by George Kubler
4. The Failure at the Huancavelica Mercury Mine, by Arthur P. Whitaker
C. A Modern Interpretation
5. The Fall of the Spanish American Empire, by R.A. Humphreys
Section X Historians and Historical Controversies
A. Ideas and Methods
1. How the History of Brazil Should be Written, by Karl F.P. von Martius
2. The Historical Methods of William H. Prescott
3. The Historical Methods of Hubert Howe Bancroft
B. Sources
4. The Other Treasure from the Indies, by Lewis Hanke
C. Interpretations
5. William Robertson and His History of America, by R.A. Humphreys
6. Francisco Encina Interprets Colonial Chile, by Charles C. Griffin
D. Controversy
7. Chickens in America Befiore Columbus?, by Carl O. Sauer
The In 1940, Morison published Portuguese Voyages to America in the Fifteenth Century, a book that presaged his succeeding publications on the explorer, Christopher Columbus. In 1941, Morison was named Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard. For Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1942), Morison combined his personal interest in sailing with his scholarship by actually sailing to the various places that Christopher Columbus explored. The Harvard Columbus Expedition, led by Morison and including his wife and Captain John W. McElroy, Herbert F. Hossmer, Jr., Richard S. Colley, Dr. Clifton W. Anderson, Kenneth R. Spear and Richard Spear, left on 28 August 1939 aboard the 147 foot ketch Capitana for the Azores and Lisbon, Portugal from which they sailed on the 45 foot ketch Mary Otis to retrace Columbus' route using manuscripts and records of his voyages reaching Trinidad by way of Cadiz, Madeira, and the Canary Islands.[8] After following the coast of South and Central America the expedition returned to Trinidad on 15 December 1939.[8] The expedition returned to New York on 2 February 1940 aboard the United Fruit liner Veragua.[8] The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1943.
The Comentarios Reales de los Incas is a book written by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the first published mestizo writer of colonial Andean South America. The Comentarios Reales de los Incas [1] is considered by most to be the unquestioned masterpiece of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, born of the first generation after the Spanish conquest. He wrote what is arguably the best prose of the colonial period in Peru.
Garcilaso de la Vega (12 April 1539 – 23 April 1616), born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa and known as El Inca or Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, was a chronicler and writer born in the Spanish Empire's Viceroyalty of Peru.[1] Sailing to Spain at 21, he was educated informally there, where he lived and worked the rest of his life. The natural son of a Spanish conqueror and an Inca noblewoman born in the early years of the conquest, he is recognized primarily for his chronicles of Inca history, culture, and society. His work was widely read in Europe, influential and well received. It was the first literature by an author born in the Americas to enter the western canon.[2] After his father's death in 1559, Vega moved to Spain in 1561, seeking official acknowledgement as his father's son. His paternal uncle became a protector, and he lived in Spain for the rest of his life, where he wrote his histories of the Inca culture and Spanish conquest, as well as an account of de Soto's expedition in Florida.
