Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas [Paperback]

David A. Howard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 1996

The current image of the Spanish conquest of America and of the conquistadores who carried it out is one of destruction and oppression. One conquistador does not fit that image, however. A life-changing adventure led Cabeza de Vaca to seek a different kind of conquest, one that would be just and humane, true to Spanish religion and law, but one that safeguarded liberty and justice for the Indians of the New World. His use of the skills learned from his experiences with the Indians of North America did not always help him in understanding and managing the Indians of South America, and too many of the Spanish settlers in the Rio de la Plata Province found that his policies threatened their own interests and relations with the Indians. Eventually many of those Spaniards joined a conspiracy that removed him from power and returned him to Spain in chains.

That Cabeza de Vaca was overthrown is not surprising. His ideas and policies opposed the self-interest of most of the first Spaniards who had come to America. What is amazing is that he was able to inspire and hold support among many others in America, who remained loyal to him during his time in prison and after his return to Spain.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fresh and immensely satisfying new look at a man who paid the steep price of career and honor in defense of his Christian conscience, honed by a long and intimate contact with American Indians. This book highlights once again the contradictory motives that drove the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the 16th century by focusing on one man, Cabeza de Vaca. In his being and in his actions we see and can appreciate the magnitude, the magnificence, and the depravity of an era, borne along by sometimes wildly contradictory obsessions, from the most sacred to the most profane."

—Lawrence A. Clayton, The University of Alabama

"A broad-ranging look at an exceptional conqueror. Howard covers both the North and South American phases of his remarkable life."

—John F. Schwaller, Director, Academy of American Franciscan History

About the Author

 

David A. Howard is Professor of History at Houghton College, Houghton, New York.

 

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: University Alabama Press (December 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817308288
• ISBN-13: 978-0817308285
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,758,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!, December 6, 2000

By 

"freeze25_2000" (West Lafayette) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas (Paperback)

David A. Howard has written an excellent book for both academic purposes and casual reading. This insightful and provocative look at the life and times of Cabeza De Vaca should supplement any course that strives to thoroughly explore Latin American history. I highly recommend this text for not only people who are searching for historical truths but also for those interested in reading a genuinely captivating chronicle.

4.0 out of 5 stars An impossible dream, February 25, 2008

By 

Charles S. Fisher (Woodacre, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas (Paperback)

Cabeza de Vaca, the Conquistador who came to know Indians as people, died impoverished after being imprisoned for his attempts to treat Native Americans as humanely and justly as his time understood those notions. We know of Cabeza de Vaca from the Narrations of his sojourn among the Indians of Texas and Mexico (A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca : The Extraordinary Tale of a Shipwrecked Spaniard Who Walked Across America in the Sixteenth Century), Gary Snyder's complementary references to him, and a movie which popularizes his claimed healing powers. He is a personality of enduring interest. Seeing Indians by living with them in their world, he was able to blend some of his Conquistador goals of bringing civilization and Christianity to the heathen with the Christian idea that Indians deserved to be treated as Christians and exploited no more than peasants in Spain.

This was a far cry from the rapacious greed of most other Conquistadors which focused on obtaining fabulous wealth, unbridled power and uncontrolled sexual dominance. Here we have a theme which repeats itself over and over again in the histories of imperial dominance. That the king, some legal authorities, and the Church in Spain wanted to develop their conquests consistent with contemporary values clashed with the fact that both Conquistadors and colonists found themselves masters of peoples to whom they could do what they wanted because there was no real authority other than their force of arms. When Cabeza de Vaca returned to the New World as governor of the Rio del Plata he was able to show that his treatment of natives worked in a limited way. He successfully made it hundreds of miles across Native territory without conflict. In curbing the excesses of the colonists he also roused their ire and they responded by imprisoning and returning him to Spain. Such limits were impossible to impose until most of the native were subdued. Spain could no more control its New World colonists than the English and later the Federalists could keep those who eventually became Jeffersonian democrats from crossing the Alleghenies and heading westward annihilating North American natives.

Howard's book is a very interesting one. It cannot match the drama of Cabeza de Vaca's grand journey but it does put his life in greater perspective. If he had once been a healer, he was no longer one in Paraguay. That brings me to question how much of his healing episodes in his Narrations were a convenient way of dramatizing to a Spanish public and court the miracle of his survival. It might be more palatable than a description of what he really lived. It is odd that his being a healer is no longer mentioned. Certainly the Indians of the Rio de la Plata deserved it as much as those of Texas. Then there is gold and silver. The author points out that Cabeza de Vaca maintained that goal as crucial to his enterprise. So maybe he demurred on sex, used power when needed, but did seek wealth, just not unbridled and at any cost.

Howard also points out that indigenous promiscuity (at least as we would now label it) and slavery fit well with the colonists desires. In contravening these Cabeza de Vaca also trod on Indian values. As for cannibalism, all the Europeans condemned it and it was a convenient excuse for attacking Indians who resisted or were needed for slaves. One can ask whether Cabeza de Vaca's strategy would have succeeded. Our author abstains from speculating leaving it to other investigators of imperialism to answer the question. From the story that Howard tells it seems to me that the answer is no. When Cabeza de Vaca goes on his search for wealth, he encounters natives who will not assist him with food and actively resist. Cabeza de Vaca uses his limited means of force to compel them. It seems they had heard through the grapevine of Spanish and Portuguese depredations and wanted none of it. Submission, under humane circumstances or otherwise, meant the end of their power and way of life. Cabeza de Vaca may have been forced to escalate to achieve his goals no matter what his feeling were. Even unto the rubber trade of the late 19th and early 20th century the natives were subjected to violent exploitation until they were no longer needed or died out. The Cabeza de Vaca's of the world have to contend with forces they can not control, be it colonists or Neo cons killing hundred of thousands in Iraq, who have reigns of power that can not be wrenched away from them. It is a sad commentary on the human condition.
Charlie Fisher, author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!, December 22, 2005

By 

H.L.P. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conquistador in Chains: Cabeza de Vaca and the Indians of the Americas (Paperback)

I had to read this book for my Latin American History course that I took with Dr. David A. Howard himself. I was a little nervous at first, because I knew I would have to write a book review on it for class, and I didn't want to have to write that I didn't like it. I loved the book! It is an excellent read both academically and for personal enjoyment. I will definitely keep it in my library to go back and enjoy in the future.