Kevin C. King

Dr. Fulton

English 3380

20 April 2010

The Neglected Spanish Narratives

English narratives of colonization in America have been read and studied by Americans

nearly since the narratives themselves were written. Even today, hundreds of years later, the

English writings dominate the curriculum in History and English classes. The tragedy is that a

number of influential Spanish narratives concerning exploration and colonization in the New

World were written before and through the time of English Colonization. St. Augustine was

founded by the Spanish in 1563 (Weber 5). This is well before the arrival of the English at

Jamestown and Plymouth, in 1607 and 1620, respectively (Weber 5). As David Weber writes,

“American history gave short shrift to Spain’s North American borderlands. Americans saw their

nation’s colonial past as rolling westward from the Atlantic seaboard, rather than north from the

Caribbean or Mexico” (Weber 5). The names of the Spanish explorers, like Cabeza de Vaca,

Cervantes, Balboa, and Hernando De Soto, are well known. Their stories are not.

This essay will contrast the Spanish and English narratives. Some of their similarities will

be covered. However, particular interest will be shown to their differences. It will be shown that

the differences in the Spanish and English narratives, from style to perception, are caused from

the different reasons the two countries had for exploration and colonization in the New World.

While noting the differences in the writings, possible reasons for the American cultures

overlooking of the Spanish narratives will be explored.

The Spanish and English were in the New World for two very different reasons. The

English were primarily in America for religious purposes. There was a hope for monetary gain

by some of the English. However, most of the colonists that had made the passage to America

did so with the hopes of freely practicing their religion. The major colonies, and their narratives,

were built upon this hope of free religious expression.

Spain had a religious purpose in the New World as well. They had the goal of using

missionaries to spread Christianity. However, Spain’s primary purpose for exploration was in the

interest of acquiring wealth. The search for gold, silver, and other valuable resources took

precedent over religious enterprises. This led to a more business like tone in the Spanish

narratives. The search for valuable assets led to many passages of Spanish narratives being

devoted to describing the possible locations of riches, so that future explorations may return to

those sites.

The professional tone of the explorers was detailed, but not exactly esthetically pleasing

to read. A perfect example of these descriptions occurs when Balboa writes to the king:

In this province of Darien are found many very rich mines, there is gold in much

quantity: twenty rivers have been explored and thirty which contain gold issue

from a ridge of mountains which is about two leagues from this Town, running

toward the region of the south: the gold-bearing rivers flow within two leagues of

this Town toward the south. (Anderson 115)

These descriptive passages litter the narratives. The stories of the narratives play second fiddle to

the hints of prosperous opportunities. They are a constant reminder that the primary purpose of

the Spanish explorations was to procure wealth. The Spanish narratives, like the reasons for the

explorations themselves, are superficial at times. This lack of deeper literarily meaning likely did

not help these stories to be passed down from generation to generation.

Without an artful literary aspect, the Spanish narratives were less like literary works and

more like guidelines for navigating, finding gold and dealing with Indians. Balboa’s notes on the

required abilities of a captain were written, not for the pleasure of reading, but as rules for future

explorers to keep in mind. Balboa wrote that a leader and his men in the New World ought to be

able:

1. To recognize dangers and mistakes in time, and remedy them.

2. To know how to take advantage of the occasion in order to deceive the enemy.

3. To be able to find means in unforeseen occurrences to get out of danger.

4. To know not only how to escape from danger, but to turn misfortune into

advantage. (Anderson 97)

This dry, less emotional, dissociated style of writing is universal within the Spanish

narratives. It furthers the concept that the Spanish narratives were to be used for later exploration

not for artistic expression. They would later even be used by the English at the time they made

their push to the Americas. The systems of Spanish America “were well documented in

translated Spanish accounts and in English sources” (Hatfield 257). John Smith had read the

Spanish narratives and expected the readers of his works “to be familiar with these histories.

Smith measured his own accomplishments against those of the Spanish, assuming the situations

were comparable” (Hatfield 258). The Problem was that the situations of the English and

Spanish were seldom as similar as the English might have thought; the two often being in

different parts of the Americas. Moreover, the Spanish were usually more invested in exploration

for valuable resources; the English colonies had to be more stable and immobile.

Nonetheless, the English often used the Spanish narratives to guide their own campaigns

in the new world. The Spanish narratives depicting profitable trade and labor systems inspired

the Virginia Company to attempt to colonize in Chesapeake Bay (Hatfield 256). This English

preference

for using Spanish models over the more local Roanoke example to anticipate the

Chesapeake's opportunities helps explain the Virginia Company's failure to

establish a colony that could feed itself. The fact that the company did not send

farmers the first year indicates that company officials did not put much thought

into whether colonists would need to grow their own food…Spanish accounts that

chronicled a reliance on plunder and Indian tribute for food were the most likely

source for Virginia officials' belief that they, too, could neglect the issue of food

production. Such expectations, however, should have been dashed by the

knowledge that the Roanoke colonists' dependence on Indians for food had

ultimately led to the colony's demise…A few years of failure were enough to

convince most English colonists to give up hope that North America would

provide mineral wealth comparable to Spanish America. (Hatfield 257-260)

This set up perfectly for the religious that had come to America. Because of the Spanish

narratives, there had been enough hope of profitable gain to fund colonization. However, the

eventual failure was instrumental to Religion continuing to be the primary purpose in making the

voyage to the New World. Had the English become very prosperous, the religious settlements

would have had much more competition for land and resources from English settlers that had

come to cash in.

Obviously, this influenced the writings that came from the English colonies. This may be

represented best by the Massachusetts Bay Company. Had it been making the money previously

thought possible, John Winthrop may not have been able to take over the company. As it

happened, “Winthrop secured control of the Massachusetts Bay Company, changing its emphasis

from trade to religious colonization” (Perkins 72).

Yet, this focus on religious colonization is different than the Spanish religious front. The

primary focus was not converting others through missionary work. It was an internal focus on the

religious colony. “Consider we shall be as a City upon a hill” (Perkins 80). Winthrop’s goal was

to establish his people as an example for others to live up too. “Do good to all, especially to the

household of faith,” and “Love is the bond of perfection” (Perkins 75). Winthrop’s A Model of

Christian Charity is written almost like a sermon. Unlike the Spanish, Winthrop’s works were

written with an emotional and stylish prose. Where the Spanish narratives were written as a

guideline for exploration and survival, Winthrop was writing a guideline for salvation.

Winthrop had a powerful message. Although it was meant for his particular settlement, it

became, a symbol for America for many. This “City on a Hill” phrase transcended the ages and is

still commonly quoted today. Without a doubt it was Winthrop’s intention for his work to be

memorable, and to be significant. That just wasn’t a priority for the Spanish explorers, who wrote

many of their works just as updates for the King. Powerful messages like this are lacking in the

Spanish narratives. This is another potential reason for the disregard of the Spanish narratives.

As previously mentioned, most English were not overly concerned with converting the

Indians to Christianity. Many of the English had self-image of being a “chosen” people and “a

people apart.” With this mentality, it isn’t surprising that they would not go out of their way to

help other groups. It also isn’t surprising that the English narratives bypass any mention of

attempting to convert Indians to Christianity.

Although it was not the first priority of the Spanish, spreading Christianity was a goal of

the voyages. Friars, monks, and missionaries are commonly mentioned in the narratives. The

Spanish in their explorations

wanted adventure and to Christianize those not baptized in the ‘One and True

Faith’ …Spaniards, especially missionaries, wanted the native populations treated

with compassion, with the goal of converting them to Christianity. Bureaucrats

were often torn between their obligation to enforce their sovereign's orders to treat

Indians kindly and to promote the conversion of Indians, and their desire to enrich

themselves and their cronies at the expense of Indians. (Blade 54)

This conflict of interest, between conquering and helping, is seen within Father

Ascension’s written report to the King as he spoke of this conversion of Indians to Christianity.

He saw the Indian conversion Christianity occurring by means of the Spanish being more holy.

This was the way that the Spanish would conquer the Indians, with holy virtue and “offering

their souls and lives to the service of his divine Majesty... By doing this with the proper spirit

and devotion, the religious will make themselves lords over the hearts and wills of all, and will

have authority over all to keep them in peace, love, and unity” (Bolton 125).

Bartolome de Las Casas also had an odd life of both taking advantage of the Indians and

then becoming a speaker on their behalf. At one time he had been given ownership over a native

group, “in effect, a form of slavery” (Abbott 62). It was because of this experience that his

outlook changed. He later committed the rest of his life towards establishing a more humane

Spanish policy for the Native Americans. “He devoted most of his long life to preaching, writing,

and debating on behalf of the natives of the New World. As a result, he is one of the best known

and widely studied of all the clerics involved in the enterprise of the Indies” (Abbott 62) In his

last writings, Bartolome went so far as to say to the King, “the natives in any or all the regions

we have invaded in the Indies have acquired right to make just war upon us and erase us from the

face of the earth, and this right will last until the Day of Judgment” (Wagner 237) His writings

on these subjects are recorded in “Historia de las Indias and Apologetica historia (In Defense of

the Indians)“ (Abbott 62).

This view exemplifies the fairly common Spanish view that the Indians should to be respected as

a people. The closest to this outlook in the English writers would be seen in Roger Williams. He

believed that the land was the Indians (Perkins 82). But Roger Williams was the English

exception. Although both the Spanish and English could be very cruel towards the Indians, this

defense of the Indian’s natural human rights is an aspect that was covered much more in the

Spanish narratives than in the English narratives (possibly because of the greater number of

missionaries and monks working with them).

“European society continued to lump natives and landscape together under

‘environment’” (Sluyter 416). This helps to explain the reason behind the two very separate

views of the Indians by the English and Spanish. The Spanish saw the landscape as full of wealth

and value. Therefore, they also saw that the Indians had a value as a people. The English

colonists saw the landscape as an analogy of the spiritual journey complete with salvation, trials,

dangers, and devilish non-believers. Most of the time, the Indians were nothing more than

malevolent tools of the devil when mentioned in the English narratives.

The Spanish way of thinking of the Indians as being possibly valuable led to their

narratives to being more interested, understanding, and complementary of the Indians. This is

true even as narrators were in conflict with the Indians. Hernan Cortez and Balboa both saw

value in the Indians. Cortez for instance is known to have “expressed wonder at the Tenochtitlan

splendors” (Butzer 551). In Balboa’s case, he saw the Indians as valuable aids in his search for

treasure. He wrote to his King:

I wish to make known to Your Royal Majesty the reason why I have obtained and know

the great secrets which are in this land…. I have striven whithersoever I have gone that

the Indians of this land be very well treated, not consenting to do them any harm, dealing

with them truthfully, and giving them many articles from Spain to attract them to our

friendship. Treating them honestly has been the cause that I have learned very great

secrets from them and things whereby one can secure very great riches and large quantity

of gold, with which Your Most Royal Highness will be very much served. (Anderson

113)

The Spanish Franciscan friars also saw the Indians as intellectually capable. The friars

“were remarkably sensitive to the linguistic accomplishments of the natives of the New World”

(Abbott 25). Some Spanish missionaries believed that Indians were of equal intelligence, even

establishing a school for their development. “Clearly, the intent of the colegio was to educate the

sons of native nobility in a manner comparable to the education available to the children of

privileged Europeans” (Abbott 44). Valdes wrote that the school had served the enjoyment of the

Indians but also was beneficial for them. He believed that their education and practice in

Rhetoric was “nowhere more clearly apparent than in the pacification of the Indians of the New

World of the ocean sea” (Abbott 47).

In the unhappy tradition of European ethnocentrism, while some enlightened

individuals sought to understand, many others recklessly destroyed the cultural

diversity that they encountered in the New World. Not surprisingly, perhaps,

some of the most explicit acknowledgments of Native American creative capacity

and achievement came from some of the men who knew them best- the

conquistadores. (Butzer 551)

Even the Spanish conquistadors and explorers that were violent towards the Indians had a

profound respect of the Indians as warriors. They often spoke well of the Indians’ prowess in

battle. This may have been due to a greater open-mindedness for the Indians to be skilled at

something, or it could have stemmed from the need for the Spanish to give an accurate

representation of Indians, because their texts would be used as a guide for later explorations.

One of the more detailed comments on the Indians’ skill came from Cabeza De Vaca.

While trying to cross a difficult lake Cabeza noted, “we were attacked by many Indians from

behind trees, who thus covered themselves that we might not get sight of them, and others were

on the fallen timbers. They drove their arrows with such effect that they wounded many men and

horses, and before we got through the lake they took our guide” (Jamison 31). He continued,

“Some of our men were wounded in this conflict, for whom the good armor they wore did not

avail. There were those this day who swore that they had seen two red oaks… pierced through

from side to side by arrows; and this is not so much to be wondered at, considering the power

and skill with which the Indians are able to project them” (Jamison 31-32).

This kind of appreciation for the fighting abilities of the Indians is mentioned nearly

every time the Spanish battled them. Hernando De Soto was known for his brutality to the

Indians (Butzer 550). Yet, even in the narrative of his exploration, there is still the

complementary focus on the Indians as warriors.

The narrator of the expedition of Hernando De Soto, the gentleman of Elvas, wrote:

From the town of Ucita the Governor sent the chief castellan, Baltasar de

Gallegos, into the country, with forty horsemen and eighty footmen, to procure an

Indian if possible…. And twenty warriors, who attacked our people, so pressed us

that we were forced to retire into camp. The Indians are exceedingly ready with

their weapons, and so warlike and nimble, that they have no fear of footmen; for

if these charge them they flee, and when they turn their backs they are presently

upon them. They avoid nothing more easily than the flight of an arrow. Never

remain quiet, but are continually running, traversing from place to place, so that

neither crossbow nor arquebuse can be aimed at them. Before a Christian can

make a single shot with either, an Indian will discharge three or four arrows; and

he seldom misses of his object. Where the arrow meets with no armor, it pierces

as deeply as the shaft from a crossbow. (Jameson 149)

The Gentleman of Elvas even after baring witness to, and possibly taking part in, the

attacking and burning down of an Indian village, continued to speak of the strength of the

Indians in battle. Elvas wrote of this fight, now known as the Battle of Mabila (or also, Mauilla):

The Indians fought with so great spirit that they many times drove our people

back out of the town. The struggle lasted so long that many Christians, weary and

very thirsty went to drink at a pond nearby, tinged with the blood of the killed,

and returned to combat. … (Indians) losing the hope of escape, they fought

valiantly… They who perished there were in all two thousand five hundred, a few

more or less: of the Christians there fell eighteen. (Jamison 193)

Even after what can only be called a slaughter of the Indians, the writing of the Spaniard shows

his commendation of the Indian spirit.

The mere fact that Balboa mentions the possibility of “sociable and polite” Indians is

enough to distinguish the Spanish Narratives from the English (Anderson 119). Apart from the

previously mentioned Roger Williams, English writers refused to even acknowledge the

possibility that the Indians, as a group, could be good. Often, the English did not even refer to

them as Indians, instead calling them some other term of antagonism. For instance, William

Bradford referred to Indians as “these savage barbarians” (Perkins 52) and Rowlandson called

them “the ravenous Beasts” (Perkins 121). Rowlandson does not even acknowledge the

capabilities of the Indians when they are able to elude the English Army at the Baquaug River.

Instead of acknowledging the speed of the Indians during the evasion, in a roundabout way, she

uses the Indians to criticize the English military. “I cannot but remember how the Indians derided

the slowness, and dullness of the English Army” (Perkins 138).

The repetitive dehumanizing references to the Indians, such as “beasts,” in the English

narratives leads back once again to the realization that the English and Spanish were writing for

different purposes and audiences. Balboa in his narrative explicitly states, “I do not wish to build

castles in the air” when describing his condition (Anderson 124). Balboa, like other Spanish

narrators, understood that there was a great need for his descriptions to be as accurate as possible

for the sake of future missions. False claims and exaggerations could have been very costly for

Spain. Because the majority of the Spanish narratives were addressed to the King, they had to be

written with detail, composure and professionalism. This was in sharp contrast with the English

narratives.

John Smith wrote, “Our drink was water, our lodgings castles in the air” (Perkins 36).

Smith was not describing his writings being castles in the air. Nonetheless, the idea is still

conveyed that for the English, there was an embellished hope. There was more to their narratives

than the unpleasant truth of their present circumstances. There was greater meaning to

everything. A degree of exaggeration was actually present in their perception of reality; this was

passed on in their storytelling.

For the English, the New World meant more than just freedom of Religion. There was

also more freedom of expression. The English colonies were less dependent on England than the

Spanish explorers were on Spain. The English did not have the same great shadow of an

overlooking King keeping their writings in check. This freedom to write cleared the path for their

dramatic and creative writings. The English narratives had a plot and structure. They were less

like the Spanish seemingly random notes of explorers and military members. The English

narratives had character progression and analogies, often of spiritual journeys. Though the

narratives may have been true or mostly true occurrences, they were more than that. They were

stories with an artistic meaning to be conveyed.

The literary forms displayed in the English narratives make it clear that they were meant

to be read by the masses. In The General History of Virginia, John Smith sets himself apart as

heroic and as a savior. This is not completely unheard of in Spanish narratives, but Smith is more

dramatic. He presents himself as almost a comic book hero as he claims to always bear the

greatest burden for the village (Perkins 37). Then he paints the picture of himself as valiantly

attempting to fight off 200 savages. “Two of them he slew, still defending himself with the aid of

a savage his guide, whom he bound to his arm with his garters, and used him as a buckler”

(Perkins 38).

Smith’s arrogance and sense of humor are both also absent in the Spanish narratives. This

is exhibited in the passage when Smith describes the Indians as being extravagantly painted and

armed, charging the English. The English, “that so kindly received them with their muskets

loaded with pistol shot, that down fell their God” (Perkins 38).

Morton is a little like Smith, taking a sense of humor into his writings in his New English

Canaan. The mockery of Bradford’s Captain, Miles Standish, by calling him “Captain Shrimp”

is uniquely English (Perkins 71). It is this sense that part of the writing is for purely for

entertainment, which is simply not present in the Spanish narratives.

However, most of the English narratives were not heroic or comedic. What sets them

apart is their devotion to God and their stylish ways of portraying that devotion. Providence, an

idea that the Spanish narratives avoid altogether, comes up in the first paragraphs of both

Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation and Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity (Perkins 51,

73). Bradford uses it as an explanation for the death of a man who was difficult towards his

people on the voyage to the Americas. “But it pleased God before they came half seas over, to

smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and so

was himself the first that was thrown overboard” (Perkins 51). The theme of province and God’s

preference is probably the most influential and most occurring thought in the religious narratives

of the English. It is mentioned nearly every time a difficult or important incident happens to the

colonists.

Comparatively, when the Spanish missionary, Father Ascension, described his difficult

voyage to the New World, neither providence nor even God was mentioned for causing,

allowing, or helping them through the problems which took place.

This exploration was made with very great care and vigilance and cost a great

deal of labor and exertion and tedious illness, and the lives of many who took part

in it, because of undergoing so much labor, in continual pain and always

struggling against the wild waves which the sea heaved up and against the winds

which caused them. Moreover, the provisions became so stale that they finally

had no virtue or nutrition. From these two causes there ensued a sickness like a

pest which affected every one and was extremely painful, so that more than forty-

four persons died on the village. (Bolton 108)

The final difference and possible cause of the English narratives being so much more

prevalent in the retelling of America’s history is because, in some, foundations were laid in the

English narratives that can still be shown to have helped formed the United States of present day.

“The Mayflower Compact” alone is a great example. As Bradford said, it was “the first

foundation of their government in this place” (Perkins 58). It was in all likelihood more

influential for the U.S. than any other written document of the time. This compact, like a stone

cast into a pond, caused the first ripples that would eventually grow to become the wave that is

our Government. The attention rightfully drawn by this document and others like it has likely

been the catalyst for the attention that less influential English narratives have received.

“The Spanish history did not have any specific theme that could be passed down

generation after generation as culturally significant” (Weber 5).Their purpose for being in the

New World was about the procuring of wealth, which could be seen as lacking meaning. The

Spanish narratives are detailed and probably were more honest, but they were written without

much feeling and style. The English narratives had powerful messages of salvation and the paths

to reach it, messages still passed down from parents today. The English writings were more

artistic and stylish than the Spanish narratives, giving them a greater appeal to the average

reader. Moreover, the English wrote works that were influential to the development of the United

States of America. It is for these reasons that the Spanish narratives have been partially

overlooked and neglected by the American culture.

Works Cited

Abbott, Don Paul. Rhetoric in the New World: rhetorical theory and practice in colonial

Spanish America. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996. Print.

Anderson, Charles L. G. Title Life and letters of Vasco Nú̂nez de Balboa. Westport, Conn.:

Greenwood Press, [1970, 1941]. Print.

Blade, Melinda K.”The Spanish Frontier in North America” OAH Magazine of History 14.4

(2000): 54-58 Web. JSTOR. 10 April 2010.

Bolton, Herbert Eugene, Ed. Spanish exploration in the Southwest 1542-1706. New York City:

Scribner's Sons, 1916. Print.

Butzer, Karl W. “The Americas before and after 1492: Current Geographical Research” Annals

of the Association of American Geographers 82. 3. (1992): 543-565. Web. JSTOR. 10

April 2010.

Hatfield, April Lee. “Spanish Colonization Literature, Powhatan Geographies, and English

Perceptions of Tsenacommacah/Virginia” The Journal of Southern History 69.2. (2003):

245-282. Web. JSTOR. 10 April 2010.

Jameson, Franklin J, Ed. Spanish explorers in the southern United States, 1528-1543. Austin,

Tex: The Texas State Historical Association, 1984. Print.

Perkins, Barbara, and George Perkins. The American tradition in literature. Boston, Mass.:

McGraw-Hill, 1999. Print.

Sluyter, Andrew. “Colonialism and Landscape in the Americas: Material/Conceptual

Transformations and Continuing Consequences” Annals of the Association of American

Geographers 19.2 (2001): 410-428. Web. JSTOR. 10 April 2010.

Wagner, Wagner, Henry Raup. The Life and Writings of Bartolome de las Casas. Albuquerque:

University of New Mexico Press, 1967. Print.

Weber, David J. “The Spanish Frontier in North America” OAH Magazine of History 14.4

(2000): 5-11. Web. JSTOR. 10 April 2010.