The Spanish frontier in North America

David J. Weber

Yale University Press, 1992 - History - 579 pages

In 1513, when Ponce de Leon stepped ashore on a beach of what is now Florida, Spain gained its first foothold in North America. For the next three hundred years, Spaniards ranged through the continent building forts to defend strategic places, missions to proselytize Indians, and farms, ranches, and towns to reconstruct a familiar Iberian world. This engagingly written and well-illustrated book presents an up-to-date overview of the Spanish colonial period in North America. It provides a sweeping account not only of the Spaniards' impact on the lives, institutions, and environments of the native peoples but also of the effect of native North Americans on the societies and cultures of the Spanish settlers. With apt quotations and colorful detail, David J. Weber evokes the dramatic era of the first Spanish-Indian contact in North America, describes the establishment, expansion, and retraction of the Spanish frontier, and recounts the forging of a Hispanic empire that ranged from Florida to California. Weber refutes the common assumption that while the English and French came to the New World to settle or engage in honest trade, the Spaniards came simply to plunder. The Spanish missionaries, soldiers, and traders who lived in America were influenced by diverse motives, and Weber shows that their behavior must be viewed in the context of their own time and within their own frame of reference. Throughout his book Weber deals with many other interesting issues, including the difference between English, French, and Spanish treatment of Indians, the social and economic integration of Indian women into Hispanic society, and the reasons why Spanish communities in North America failed to developat the rate that the English settlements did. His magisterial work broadens our understanding of the American past by illuminating a neglected but integral part of the nation's heritage.

What people are saying

Review: The Spanish Frontier in North America

User Review  - Socraticgadfly - Goodreads

Frontiers, in the plural, might be better. While many of us may call to mind Santa Fe, or the Alamo, the Spaniards were settled in, or exploring or defending, many places in North America. Only ...

Review: The Spanish Frontier in North America

User Review  - Claire-louise Hazel - Goodreads

Great book, perfect for anyone interested in Spanish colonialism.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Castillo of San Marcos St Augustine: 2
• Palace of the Governors Santa Fe: 3
• Mission San Xavier del Bac: 4
• q Worlds Apart: 14
• The Zuni pueblo of Hawikuh Cibola: 16
• Santiago: 21
• Reckoning latitude: 26
• Pictograph of Spaniards on horseback: 27
• Plan of the castillo de San Marcos: 28
• First Encounters: 30
• Alonso Alvarez de Pinedas Gulf of Mexico 1519: 35
• Diego Riberos map 1529: 39
• Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza: 45
• Zuni pueblo by Ben Wittick: 47
• A Timucuan queen elect: 53
• Map of America 1601: 57
• Plan of Fort Caroline 1564: 61
• Menendez de Aviles: 62
• Felipe II 155698: 63
• Deaths of the Spanish Jesuits in Virginia: 73
• Plan of Drakes attack on St Augustine 1586: 76
• Juan de Onates inscription at El Morro: 83
• Acoma pueblo: 85
• St Francis of Assisi: 93
• Conquistadores of the Spirit: 97
• A palisaded Timucuan town: 102
• The devil at the confessional: 109
• Exploitation Contention and Rebellion: 122
• Diego de Vargas: 138
• Our Lady of the Conquest: 140
• Plan to fortify the mission of Santa Catalina deGuale 1691: 143
• Map of Pensacola Bay 1698: 157
• Map of northern New Spain and the Gulf of Mexico 1717: 164
• Plan of villa presidio and missions of San Antonio circa 1730: 165
• Villasurs last stand: 170
• q Commercial Rivalry Stagnation: 172
• Plan of Los Adaes 1767: 173
• Destruction of Mission San Saba: 190
• Panorama of New Orleans 1765: 200
• Antonio de Ulloa: 201
• q Indian Raiders and the Reorganization: 204
• Plan of El Paso 1766: 208
• PlanofTubac 1766: 210
• Carlos III 175988: 215
• Plan of the presidio of Santa Fe 1791: 218
• A soldado de cuera: 219
• Teodoro de Croix: 225
• Bernardo de Galvez: 228
• Spanish musket: 229
• A Comanche warrior: 232
• Jose de Galvez: 238
• Map of Monterey Bay 1603: 245
• Juan Bautista de Anza: 251
• Map of the Great Basin 1778: 255
• The presidio of San Francisco: 258
• A leatherjacketted soldier at Monterey: 260
• The presidio of Monterey: 261
• The Capture of Pensacola by Bernardo de Galvez: 269
• The governors house St Augustine: 273
• Dances held for Malaspina at Nootka: 287
• Spanish settlement at Neah Bay: 288
• Frontiers and Frontier Peoples Transformed: 302
• Blacksmith shop at Zuni pueblo: 304
• Caddos near Nacogdoches: 305
• Wife of a soldier of Monterey: 315
• St George Street St Augustine: 318
• St Francis painted on hide: 319
• Plan of San Antonio circa 1730: 321
• Plan of San Antonio 1767: 322
• Plan of New Orleans 1801: 323
• Plan of Santa Fe 1766: 324
• The Spanish Legacy: 335
• Abbreviations: 361
• Select Bibliography: 496
• Index: 555

About the author

David J. Weber is Professor and Chairman of the Department of History at Southern Methodist University. He has thought at San Diego State University, at the University of Costa Rica as a Fulbright -Hays Lecturer, and in Spain and Mexico. He is author or editor of nine books and many articles on the American Southwest.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Spanish frontier in North America; The Lamar Series in Western History Series; Yale Western Americana series, ISSN 0084-3563
• Author: David J. Weber
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Yale University Press, 1992
• ISBN: 0300059175, 9780300059175
• Length: 579 pages
• Subjects: History / General