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The Spanish Frontier in North America (The Lamar Series in Western History) | 
 enlarge | Author: David J. Weber
Publisher: Yale University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $30.00
Buy Used: $6.75
You Save: $23.25 (78%)
New (12) Used (34) Collectible (1) from $6.75
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 234941
Media: Paperback
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 10 x 7 x 1.4
ISBN: 0300059175
Dewey Decimal Number: 900
EAN: 9780300059175
ASIN: 0300059175
Publication Date: July 27, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: heavy shelf wear to page edges/heavy wear to covers - inside and out/large crease on front cover/some writing on inside front cover/ships within 2 business days with delivery confirmation
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Product Description
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 300 years, Spaniards ranged through the continent building forts, missions and farms, ranches and towns to reconstruct the Iberian world. This illustrated book presents an overview of the Spanish colonial period in North America. It provides an 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 Spanish settlers. With quotations and illustrations, David Weber describes the establishement, 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 Spanish simply came to plunder. The Spanish missionaries, soldiers and traders who lived in America were influenced by diverse motives and Weber shows that their behaviour must be viewed in the context of their own time and within their own frame of reference. Throughout, Weber deals with many other 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 the Spanish communities in North America failed to develop at the rate that the English settlements did.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Finally, the real "conquistadores" arrived. June 12, 1997
30 out of 31 found this review helpful
Finally a book that takes upon itself to find the truth about the real drive of the Spanish colonization of North America. After decades of mostly subscribing to the Black Legend (the claim that spaniards where just cruel exploiters in search of gold and little else) and partially romanticizing the Spanish presence in this land, a book that puts thing in perspective. The author pays attention to the evolution, not only of the spanish conquest itself but of the interpretations this conquest has had over time. The underlying thesis of the book, namely that the influence of Spain on the natives was reciprocal, not a single sided event is very appealling and well documented. The book is organized in chapters that deal with the spiritual, pollitical and commercial aspects of the settlement. It is by no means a mere account of dates and names; on the contrary, it gives the reader a good feel of the fabric of history: the decline of the spanish impulse that started with the "Reconquista" and the wars against the moors, the uprising commercial ideology that would hand this empire to a younger nation, the obsolescence and impracticality of the religious spanish agenda and conquest methods, the misconceptions about natives and the ambivalent relationship with them, sometimes as fellow citizens when converted, most times difficult and mortal. In general, I enjoyed the book a lot. I recommend it to any serious historian of the Spanish Empire indigested with partial accounts and uncritical acceptance of the myths of our times.
The other North American frontier, or should we say frontiers? January 21, 2006
Stephen J. Snyder (Lancaster, Texas United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
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 tenuously connected to each other, these frontier areas included Florida, the Gulf Coast, Texas, New Mexico, California and Arizona.
While New Mexico was reachable from Chihuahua, the Llano Estacado separated it from Texas. The Sierra Madre, water supplies in Mexico and such, separated New Mexico from the late-settled California and the even more tenuous hold on Arizona, not to mention that it was easier to get to California by sailing from Mexico out into the Central Pacific then taking trade winds back ... even from the Philippines. Apaches and Yaquis separated Arizona from California.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast and Florida weren't settled or explored from Mexico and so the first pages of their Spanish history were different.
As with all the European powers, dealing with the various Indian tribes was a large part of colonization. Weber takes a careful look at this, shows how the interaction went both ways and how the Spanish at least come off better in many ways than the English. That is also to say they come off better than the English's Anglo-American descendants as well.
Weber shows how Spain was less exterministic and more flexible in dealing with Indians than Anglos were, while doing so on a shoestring.
None of the Spanish frontiers in today's United States had anywhere near the degree of colonization that the British colonies had; for that matter, the Spanish would have settled for the number of Frenchmen who went to Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Meanwhile, outside of New Mexico and Florida, by the time the Spanish got into various parts of North America, the empire's administration, military prowess and economy were all on the decline.
Yet, Spain persevered.
Read how, and what it does, could and should mean for our country today, in this very informative book. Ironically, I bought it at Coronado National Memorial -- one of Spain's first crossings into today's United States.
Wonderful History of Spanish Colonial Frontier March 26, 2004
Kevin Ladd (Hardin, TX United States)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is an excellent history of the Spanish colonial experience in North America. Like most of us, I grew up thinking of England when the word "colonial" comes around. The Spanish coolonial history is just as fascinating and far more romantic than their counterparts. Weber's history should be required reading in our universities. Anyone remotely interested in colonial history will find this a pleasant diversion.
Highly recommended October 29, 2001
Scholar (USA)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is an excellent study of Spain in North America, well written and superbly organized.
 In response to previous comments February 15, 2007
Paulo Silva
2 out of 10 found this review helpful
Instead of referring to different contemporary perspectives, why not read from one who had the opportunity of viewing the barbarity of the Spaniards in person. Oh, but let us not be biased; let us instead, reflect upon the opinion of a Spaniard. Also, lets make sure this Spaniard is educated... how about a Spanish Priest; surly he would not invent stories to defame his own country. For what purpose would such an individual do that? At any rate, if you doubt him, you might as well doubt everything you read. If you don't already know who it is that I am referring to, let me state here: Bartolome de Las Casas.
We don't need another book to underscore the atrocities that took place. Certainly Spain was not the only nation in Europe to commit horrible crimes in the Americas, but for any author to attempt at palliating those crimes by comparing them with the crimes of other nations is simply shameful. Also, to look for the acts of violence committed by the Native Americans toward Europeans with the intention of balancing the popular belief in the guilt of the Europeans, is about equal to a lawyer in court pointing out that a rape victim did in fact strike back at the criminal.
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