Hyperbole In The Black Legend

Matthew Restall, a Professor of Latin American History, Women’s Studies, and Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He also serves the Director of the university’s Latin Studies. Throughout “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest,” he discusses many false truths that have been passed down through history. For instance, he discusses, “The Myth of Exceptional Men.” “The Myth of Spanish Army,” and “The Myth of Completion.” For the sake of time, I will discuss three myths that correlate with class lectures and serve as the topic of this paper, “The Myth of Exceptional Men,” “The Myth of the King’s Army,” and the “Myth of the White Conquistador.” It should be noted that Restall speaks to his audience assuring us that his “...his purpose is not to degenerate this technique of historical writing completely...Nor do I mean to create a narrative in which individual action is utterly subordinated to the larger structural forces and causes of social change.” (4). He states that his intentions are to react to more than just the works of Columbus, Pizzaro, and Cortez.

There is common history between Latin Americans and Anglo Americans, like the Arabs and Jews of the Middle East, cousins in constant conflict, often hearing but not understanding each other. In this chapter Gonzalez tells us about how both Latin American and Anglo-American cultures fabricated their colonial origin. The 1500’s through the early 1800s specially explains the foundation of what now makes up the US. Since early on in time Anglo colonist saw Mexicans as an obstacle to evolution. Unfortunately, because most did not know how to read or write they were easily fooled. Because of this so many were done wrong, at times had their lands taken away. Canelas family were some of the witnesses to the lynching’s which occurred as last as 1917. In 1859 Cortina; a Canelas ancestor, declared was against the Anglo settler minority. In 1929, an important year where we had the first organization intended to break down segregation. The name of that organization was League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). The main goal was to get the Anglo society to accept Mexicans as equal citizens. They could do this by teaching the chief goal to master his

This section highlights that history has created a false narrative depicting the natives as a victimized people, which they were to some extent but only in the fashion that they did not possess the same technology for warfare, immunity of communal diseases transmitted, and they were not anticipating combat. All other factors considered, the natives stood to be a potential threat. In regards to knowledge obtained by Spaniards prior to arrival and knowledge gained from observation, it would be remiss had they not prepared for battle. This argument is not to be misconstrued in approving their actions; I do recognize colonization as an evil for both the reasons employed and its damaging effects, but rather to change the narrative surrounding that of the native people. While they did experience a tragedy, I feel that it is erroneous to write them into history as being incompetent resulting from their

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

For decades, the history of Latin America has been shrouded in a cover of Spanish glory and myth that misleads and complicates the views of historians everywhere. Myths such as the relationship between natives and conquistadors, and the individuality of the conquistadors themselves stand as only a few examples of how this history may have become broken and distorted. However, in Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest Matthew Restall goes to great lengths to dispel these myths and provide a more accurate history of Latin American, in a readable and enjoyable book.

Many of the very first interactions between the natives and Europeans lead to the natives becoming brutally murdered or enslaved. The account from Bartolomé De Las Casas depicts the

In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolomé de Las Casas vividly describes the brutality wrought on the natives in the Americas by the Europeans primarily for the purpose of proclaiming and spreading the Christian faith. Las Casas originally intended this account to reach the royal administration of Spain; however, it soon found its way into the hands of many international readers, especially after translation. Bartolomé de Las Casas illustrates an extremely graphic and grim reality to his readers using literary methods such as characterization, imagery, amplification, authorial intrusion and the invocation of providence while trying to appeal to the sympathies of his audience about such atrocities.

While Verrazano speaks kindly of these courteous and generous groups, he also speaks of encounters with people he deems “full of crudity and vices.” He claims that interaction with these groups was difficult. He describes their attempts to trade with this group; “they sent us what they wanted to give on a rope, continually shouting to us not to approach the land.” This description provides us some insight into the feelings of the Indians towards these new European invaders. Their actions seem to be based on fear and apprehension towards these unknown men (Voices of Freedom, 9).

“Victors and Vanquished,” through excerpts of Bernal Diaz del Castillo The True History of the Conquest of New Spain and indigenous testimonies from the Florentine Codex, represents the clash between European and indigenous cultures and how there was no simple “European” or “indigenous” view. Rather, there were a variety of European and indigenous opinions and interpretations that were influenced by personal interests, social hierarchy and classes, ethnic biases and political considerations.

From Reséndez’s foundation of European enslavement and its far-reaching impact on Native American populations, Reséndez examined racial components in the southwest. It is impossible to separate racial tension from the study of Indian slavery. Christopher Columbus’s journals as contemporary letters show the Spanish perception of

One of the weaknesses of this book was the way in which a strong opinion of the author frequently came to the surface. The impression given when reading was one of bias in that the Spanish were wrong to come in and refine everything. This was reflected in the fact that periodically within the book, when the Spanish conquistadors did something to the Indians, it was pointed out how inhumane it was. Yet, when the Indians retaliated in some way, it was quickly pointed out how justified they were. The mentioned advantages that the Indians gained through the Spaniards were infrequent and underdeveloped.

Scholars frequently attribute the Black Legend to Dutch and English Protestant propaganda. According to Anthony Pagden, the Black Legend can be credited to the relationship Spain had with the Netherlands. The Dutch were determined to be independent from Spain and this could have driven them to make the Spanish look bad and in this quote historian Chiyo Ishikawa states this. “So began a protracted war – it lasted until the Peace of Munster in 1648 – which pitted the Dutch determination to form an independent state against Philip’s single-minded zeal to preserve the religious and territorial integrity of his empire.”

Where as Mexico and Mexicans are described in another light with references to a holocaust and “violent and traumatic.” Spaniards were “brutal and callous,” and Spanish law a “chaotic jumble” (7, 10, 13).

The Black Legend and White Legend: Relationship Between the Spanish and Indians in the New World

The black legend was the name given to the concept of cruelty and brutality spread by the Spanish during the 14th and 15th century. It can be said to be an anti-Spanish movement, which was started due to political and religious torment done by the Spanish on the people. It was the dominance and control of the Spanish over Europe that lead to the black legend of the Spanish. It was through this particular propaganda that the people were able to understand how various European countries had fallen prey to Spanish cruelty and misconduct. They were being religiously and politically divided just because of the supreme power that the Spanish held at the time. They wanted to stand tall as a nation and wanted to develop and advance together. They