Bárbaros: Spaniards and Their Savages in the Age of Enlightenment

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Yale University Press, 01.10.2008 - 496 Seiten
A majestic exploration of Bourbon Spain’s efforts to come to terms with the native peoples of the Americas, from Argentina to Alaska
Two centuries after Cortés and Pizarro seized the Aztec and Inca empires, Spain’s conquest of America remained unfinished. Indians retained control over most of the lands in Spain’s American empire. Mounted on horseback, savvy about European ways, and often possessing firearms, independent Indians continued to find new ways to resist subjugation by Spanish soldiers and conversion by Spanish missionaries.
In this panoramic study, David J. Weber explains how late eighteenth century Spanish administrators tried to fashion a more enlightened policy toward the people they called bárbaros, or “savages.” Even Spain’s most powerful monarchs failed, however, to enforce a consistent, well-reasoned policy toward Indians. At one extreme, powerful independent Indians forced Spaniards to seek peace, acknowledge autonomous tribal governments, and recognize the existence of tribal lands, fulfilling the Crown’s oft-stated wish to use “gentle” means in dealing with Indians. At the other extreme the Crown abandoned its principles, authorizing bloody wars on Indians when Spanish officers believed they could defeat them. Power, says Weber, more than the power of ideas, determined how Spaniards treated “savages” in the Age of Enlightenment.
 

Inhalt

Introduction
1
1 Savants Savages and New Sensibilities
19
Natives Transformed
52
3 The Science of Creating Men
91
4 A Good War or a Bad Peace?
138
5 Trading Gifting and Treating
178
6 Crossing Borders
221
Insurgents and Savages from Inclusion to Exclusion
257
Notes
279
Bibliography
371
Index
441
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