Bernal Diaz del Castillo Bernal Diaz was born in 1492 or 1498 to Maria Diaz Rejón and Francisco Diaz del Castillo, a regidor (council member) of the town of Medina del Campo, in Castilla y León. The family was distinguished but not wealthy. In 1514, Bernal went to seek his fortune in America with Pedrarias Dávila (Pedro Árias de Ávila), Bishop Fonseca's newly appointed governor of Castilla del Oro. A cruel and unscrupulous schemer, Pedrarias excelled at extorting riches by torturing native rulers, looting gems and gold from their graves, and eliminating potential rivals. (Pedrarias had his prospective son-in-law Balboa and four companions beheaded on trumped-up charges in 1519.)
La Relacion Argumentation Cabeza de Vaca always took what was best for his men into consideration before he made a decision. He always thought about his choices and he is a good leader for that reason. Although, he made some bad decisions like sending one of his men to scout out the island alone his intentions were good. In the end this decision led to the colonist meeting the Native Americans, who help the colonist survive. Cabeza de Vaca’s good choices often outweighed the bad ones.
In “The Relación of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 1542, Cabeza notes, “And two days later, I removed the two stitches from the Indian and he was healed. And this cure gave us a very great reputation among them [Indian Tribes] throughout the whole land” (Document C). Word quickly spread about 37-year-old castaway’s triumphant performance in the operation. Cabeza de Vaca gained trust, and gradually, an amicable relationship among the Native American groups in the vicinity. The Indians now accepted him and treated him as among themselves, providing him the necessities for
I am Panfilo Narvaez, and I was the leader of the expedition. Cabeza De Vaca was a captain of one of my many ships that I had. I was from Spain and they sent me to find land. The King and Queen wanted us to get land for them so they can take over, so I listened to them. So I did what they told me to do, and followed my navigation’s I had.
Even though Columbus and Cortés share the same intention of the letter, the tone and the style of the letter is disparate. Cortés illustrates in detail, exclusively by presenting his military and leadership side, to persuade the king to let Cortés stay alive. On the other side, Columbus 's goal of the letter was to inform Santangel that this was a great investment, but also longs more fund for the future. If Columbus did not write his letter in his way, the benefactor would not have financed him for his next voyage. Both of the authors are seeking frantically to advance it to the next voyage whether if it by surviving from severe consequences or by getting the fund.
The Conquistador of the New World Cabeza de vaca had a purpose for taking sail in 1527. Cabeza de vaca wanted to establish settlements along the gulf coast. Cabeza de vaca's ship went off course so they had to build rafts and leave the ship after they left the ships a strong wind blew them out into the open sea. Some people say he landed in modern day galveston. Which he was healed captive as a slave for a tribe called charrucos, he was healed as a healer.
) This shows the Cabeza De Vaca wanted to stay on good terms with the indians ,but the Spaniards were trying to convince the indians that he wanted to do them harm. Cabeza De Vaca survived with his survival skills, success as a healer, and his respect for the indians. His survival was noble because of the length of the journey and what he had to face. My opinion is that the entire expedition should of been planned out more thoroughly to prevent it from going wrong like it did.
In order to achieve this, the crew established a settlement of their own, St. Augustine, in order to gain a foothold in Florida against the French forces that were competing to occupy it as well (“Pedro Menéndez De Avilés.”). The crew’s conflict with the French ended less than a month later with a decisive, brutal victory in Menéndez de Avilés’ favor, but St. Augustine would continue to flourish as the years went on. The settlement would provide Spain the type of stronghold they would need to maintain control over the region of Florida for years to come, which was
Nothing but smooth sailing for Cabeza de Vaca and his crew. Abruptly the tides turn against them. Him and 3 other survivors wash up on shore of the Isla De Malhado, with no food, water or clothes. How could this situation get any worse? Cabeza de Vaca was one in 5,000 men on a trip to the new world.
As a slave, “he befriended his captors and was therefore allowed to serve as a trader”(Document B). The Spanish conquistador met four Indian groups along his journey, which were the Charrucos, Mariames, Yguases, and Quevenes(Document A). Also, when the Spaniards, also known as the “Christians”, contacted “Cabeza, his fellow survivors, and the Indians following him”(Document D). When the Spaniards tried to convince the Indians that Cabeza was a person they should distrust, they were “not at all convinced, saying that the Spaniards were lying”(Document D). Because Cabeza respected the Indians, they grew trust in him so they helped the Spanish soldier to survive.
Still, he did provide a look back into Native American history, how the silver flow consequently led to their enslavement. Pursuing this further, Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa, a Spanish priest, wrote of the harsh quagmires the natives underwent on a daily basis (Doc 3). Like de Bry before him, Espinosa may have harbored a bit of frustration toward the Spanish, considering his position as a priest intent on gathering converts. It must have been quite difficult, though, since the Native Americans probably wanted nothing more than to be left alone. Life was already ephemeral enough as is, what with their still somewhat primitive lifestyle and whatnot, but then the white man had to come along and introduce smallpox, a disease hitherto unbeknownst to their immunity.
During the colonial period numerous new things were taking place, people were gaining independence and literature was developing. By 1763 there was over 12,000 separate works published in North America. Both Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition and Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson detail the author’s journeys during certain period of their lives. Religious devotion is apparent throughout both books in many different ways. Rowlandson and de Vaca look to God for comfort, to help them meet their needs and to guide them.
Cabeza de Vaca attitude towards the new world was that of suffering and starvation. During his travels, he ate very little, mostly deer-tallow and at one point powdered straw. They did not eat during the day and ate very little at night. Cabeza de Vaca and his men grew very tired and hungry, but could not let the Native Americans see this suffering because they were upholding their authority over them. Cabeza de Vaca’s description of the terrain in some parts differed greatly from that of Columbus in that Columbus stated that the terrain he saw was rich lush lands with warm air and year round green
Bartolome de Las Casas was born in 1848 in Spain. Las Casas was a Spanish historian and dominican missionary who objected the Spanish treatment of the Natives. Las Casas is known for his famous writings which weren’t published until many years after his death. Las Casas was not like any ordinary man in his time period. He opposed to several things the Spanish had against the Natives.
Compare Christopher Columbus's letter to Santangel (1493) regarding the first voyage to his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella (1503) regarding the fourth voyage. Discuss the apparent differences in the motivation and purpose of each letter. Also discuss what the letters suggest about the relative value of kings and great cities, the power of Spanish explorers, or the relative importance of the "people without number" who already inhabit the islands. essay Columbus’s first letter talks about his successes and the lack of opposition from the inhabitants and how they fled immediately upon his arrival. Columbus sends out scouts to look for royalty or cities on the islands.
