The Spanish Indian

Fred Heath
Eng 48A
Journal on De Vaca
12/7/09

Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca
1490-1558

"we cured the sick and they killed the healthy; we had come naked and barefoot and they well dressed, mounted and armed; we did not covet anything . . . and the only aim of the others was to steal everything they found." ("Truth and Fiction Chart A Miraculous Journey", Louis Werner)

"When we saw for certain that we were drawing near the Christians, we gave thanks to God our Lord for choosing to bring us out of such a melancholy and wretched captivity." (Norton Anthology Pg.46)

The first quote illustrates De Vaca's conflicted sense of identity upon rejoining his Spanish brethren. Having lived with the Native Americans for eight long years, studied them, and survived alongside them, De Vaca could not help but see the Spanish through the eyes of an Indian. His sense of identity had changed, but regardless of the time he had spent in the Americas, he was of Spanish origin. He had crossed the Atlantic at the age of thirty seven after all, and the majority of his life, and identity, would always rest in Spain. Even so, the odyssey he had taken by foot across the Americas had changed him. He could never go back to being ignorant of the Native Americans, and would never forget the simple generosity that they gave unconditionally. Upon meeting the Spanish, his identity quickly came into question however. The Spanish could not believe that he was anything but an Indian, and the Indians could not believe that he was Spanish. In the end, he turned his back on the Native Americans, and sold them out to the Spaniards. Perhaps this decision was something he would always look back on in regret, but at the time, it was a necessary for him to reestablish his identity. Six hundred Native Americans would be enslaved because of him, but, as if paying the price, De Vaca soon became one of the greatest adversaries to slavery in the 'New World'. Originally embarking on a slave mission, De Vaca would return eight years later, a changed man. A result of the journey that had changed his life, and identity, forever.

The second quote -a contrast to the first- seems to establish De Vaca as a Spaniard, unchanged by his eight years of survival in the Americas. First, he identifies his Spanish brethren as 'Christians' -the irony is painful-, but then follows these words by giving thanks to 'God our Lord'. Establishing himself as a fellow Christian, De Vaca seems to say that he never once questioned his identity. Considering the amount of time he spent living as a Native American this seems suspicious, and he may have written these words for the purpose of ensuring his Spanish identity, but he may very well have meant them. He knew he would be questioned upon returning to Spain, however, which may have influenced his words, and the first confrontation he had with the Spanish slavers seems support the idea that he was not so sure after all. Either way, if he never once questioned his identity, why would he go to such great lengths to establish it to the Spanish?

The Cosmopolitan

Fred Heath
Eng 48A
Journal on Columbus
12/3/09

Christopher Columbus

1451-1506

"When Columbus was selling Queen Isabella on the wonders of the Americas, the Indians were 'well built' and 'of quick intelligence.'... Later, when Columbus was justifying his wars, and his enslavement of the Natives, they became 'cruel' and 'stupid,' 'a people warlike and numerous, whose customs and religion are very different from ours.'" (Loewen Pg. 62)

"They traveled three days' journey and found an infinity of small hamlets and people without number, but nothing of importance." (Norton Anthology Pg.33)

The first quote illustrates what Loewen describes, as cognitive dissonance- changing ones opinions to fit ones actions. Columbus, is at first impressed by the Native Americans, and admires them for their strength and intelligence, but as soon as he comes to enslave them, they become cruel, warlike, and stupid, necessitating their enslavement. Obviously Columbus was having a crisis of identity. Was he doing wrong by slaughtering, and enslaving entire tribes, or was he managing the savages, and bringing God to them. By describing the Native Americans as cruel and warlike, Columbus excuses his own actions. It would seem wrong to enslave, and murder strong and intelligent people, so he changes his opinion of the Indians in order to safeguard his conscience from the repercussions of his actions. After all, the mind is a powerful thing capable of excusing any act, no matter how vile and deplorable it may be. It begs the question: 'Is it possible for a man to believe himself to be evil by nature?' I for one, say no.


"Jewish financiers and Jewish scientists made possible the discovery of America by Columbus, and a Jew was the first known European to set foot on American soil, according to the Rev. Dr. William H. Morgon, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church." (New York Times, May 9th 1921)

"Estelle Irizarry studied his language and grammar and concluded that Columbus was a Catalan speaking man from the Kingdom of Aragon, an inland region of north-eastern Spain at the foot of the Pyrenees." (Telegraph.co.uk)

The second set of quotes bring up the issue of Columbus' identity. Who was Christopher Columbus? Was he a Christian born Italian, from Genoa as is commonly believed, or was he something else entirely? As Fiona Govan, of the Telegraph states: "Italy, France, Portugal, and even Scotland are among those who claimed Christopher Columbus as their own over the years." Even the true name of Columbus comes into question. Known as Cristòfor Colom in Catalan, Cristóbal Colón in Spanish, and Cristoforo Colombo in Italian, Columbus, as we know him, is very much an unknown (Wikipedia). Personally, however, I believe that he was originally a Catalan Jew from North Eastern Spain who converted later in life in order to keep from being expelled by Ferdinand and Isabelle's decree of expulsion. Proven not only through his powerful relations with Jews, but through the linguistic fingerprint he left behind, there is substantial evidence to support this theory (Estelle Irizarry). Moving beyond the evidence in question, however, if Columbus was in fact a Spanish Jew, it would lead him to have a strongly conflicted identity. Ruled by a king and queen that had expelled his religious following, he must have been under endless scrutiny, and would have to continually prove himself, not only as a success in the 'New World', but as a Christian as well.

The Puritan

Fred Heath
Eng 48A
Journal on Bradford
12/1/09

William Bradford
1590-1657

"You, I now see, show your love like Christians indeed one to another, but we let one another lie and die like dogs." (Norton Pg.122)

"From my years young in days of youth,
God did make known to me his truth,
And call'd me from my native place
For to enjoy the means of grace.
In wilderness he did me guide,
And in strange lands for me provide.
In fears and wants, though weal and woe"
(Poem by Bradford, About.com)



The first quote is taken from Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, wherein one of the non-Puritan sailors, sick and dying during the first long winter, admits that the ordinary settlers lack the brotherly compassion of the Puritans. An example of the differences held between the two groups that made up the Plymouth pilgrims, the Puritans and the settlers start off in stark contrasts to one another, but I don't believe that they stay that way for long. Forced to survive in the New World, with no real concept of how to survive, they experienced a long winter, of cold, disease and famine, and I believe that these hardships eventually brought them together. As Bradford tells us, in the first winter alone, more than half of the settlers died. Throughout the winter, sickness spread throughout the pilgrims, and those that were capable of retaining their health worked to keep the rest alive, both Puritans and Settlers alike. Depending on each-other for survival, they must have found respect for their English brethren.

Throughout their settlement of Massachusetts the Puritans also came to depend on the Indians such as Squanto for survival. This dependence, no doubt lead Bradford and the Puritans to admire their adversity although they still saw them as savages: "Squanto continued with them, and was their interpreter, and was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation." After describing Squanto as a means of divine intervention, Bradford goes on to dedicate a good section of the remainder of the chapter to his amazing story of survival. In conclusion, depending on the Native Americans just as they did their fellow settlers, the Puritans must also have come to admire the natives.

Although seemingly natural for the Puritans to feel this way, admiring these godless men was a big deal at the time. Being a Separatist-Puritan, Bradford was taught to believe that from the very beginning, God had chosen who was to be saved from eternal damnation in hell, and yet here he was admiring the very heathens that his own God saw fit to torture for eternity. In a way, this foreshadows the future of Puritanism in the America's, and the religious changes that would occur over the next few centuries.

The second quote, goes on to describe the origins of American exceptionalism in the Americas:

'God did make known to me his truth and call'd me from my native place.'

Being a Puritan, Bradford saw God in all things be they good or bad. Naturally then, he believed that it was God that brought him to America, and God that lead him to survive through all the hardships rather than the Native Americans who's food kept him alive over the first winter. And there starts the beginning of American exceptionalism. When it comes down to it however, to the Puritans, whatever happened would have been God's will. Either God is giving a helping hand, by parting some lake, or smiting some people, or he is testing you by making your life miserable. Going beyond the ridiculousness of this claim, and the arrogance of believing that God had selected them to settle the Americas, however, this belief has somehow held on for centuries. Americans still believe we're the chosen ones, naturally superior to all other cultures, but why? Is it because of the history books, as Loewen might put it? Is it in the water? No matter the reason however, it seems to be a very destructive claim because by saying that we are God's chosen people what we're really saying, is that everyone else isn't.