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 eighteenthcentury 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.

Bárbaros: Spaniards and Their Savages in the Age of Enlightenment (The Lamar Series in Western History)

History

WEBER, David J.

Americas

Yale University Press

This compact synthesis of David J. Weber’s prize-winning history of colonial Spanish North America vividly tells the story of Spain’s three-hundred-year tenure on the continent. From the first Spanish-Indian contact through Spain’s gradual retreat, Weber offers a balanced assessment of the impact of each civilization upon the other. 
Praise for the previous edition:
"I cannot imagine a single book giving a more comprehensive and balanced study of Spain's presence in North America."―Louis Kleber, History Today
"For readers seeking to understand the larger meaning of the Spanish heritage in North America, Weber's vivid narrative is a must. This is social and cultural history at its best."―Howard R. Lamar, Yale University 
"A superb study."―Choice
"[A] deeply researched and splendidly conceived and written survey."―Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., New York Times Book Review

The Spanish Frontier in North America: The Brief Edition (The Lamar Series in Western History)

A guide to the history and culture of the American Southwest, as told through early encounters with fifteen iconic sites This unique guide for literate travelers in the American Southwest tells the story of fifteen iconic sites across Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah, and southern Colorado through the eyes of the explorers, missionaries, and travelers who were the first non-natives to describe them. Noted borderlands historians David J. Weber and William deBuys lead readers through centuries of political, cultural, and ecological change. The sites visited in this volume range from popular destinations within the National Park System—including Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde—to the Spanish colonial towns of Santa Fe and Taos and the living Indian communities of Acoma, Zuni, and Taos. Lovers of the Southwest, residents and visitors alike, will delight in the authors’ skillful evocation of the region’s sweeping landscapes, its rich Hispanic and Indian heritage, and the sense of discovery that so enchanted its early explorers. Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University

First Impressions: A Reader’s Journey to Iconic Places of the American Southwest (The Lamar Series in Western History)

Debuys, William

What Caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? and How Did American Slavery Begin?

Countryman, Edward

Bedford/St.Martin's

What Caused the Puelbo Revolt of 1680? and Our Hearts Fell to the Ground and: Cesar Chavez

Calloway, Colin G.

Etulain, Richard W.

What Caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? & How Did American Slavery Begin? & Creating an American Culture & Women's Rights Emerges within the Anti-Slavery Movement

Kornfeld, Eve

Sklar, Kathryn Kish

The Taos Trappers: The Fur Trade in the Far Southwest, 1540-1846

University of Oklahoma Press

In this comprehensive history, David J. Weber draws on Spanish, Mexican, and American sources to describe the development of the Taos trade and the early penetration of the area by French and American trappers. Within this borderlands region, colorful characters such as Ewing Young, Kit Carson, Peg-leg Smith, and the Robidoux brothers pioneered new trails to the Colorado Basin, the Gila River, and the Pacific and contributed to the wealth that flowed east along the Santa Fe Trail.

The Taos Trappers: The Fur Trade in the Far Southwest, 1540–1846

Business & Money

Industries

Foreigners in their native land: Historical roots of the Mexican Americans

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

University of New Mexico Press

The quarter-century of Mexican sovereignty over the land that is today the American Southwest was a period of turmoil and transition. Between 1821 and 1846, Mexico City's ties to the far northern frontier were steadily weakened by domestic political and social strife as well as by foreign economic encroachment. The gradual loss of social and economic links and the eventual lapse of political allegiance is perceptively reinterpreted from the Mexican perspective by Professor Weber. 
The book is essential reading for all who are interested in the history of the West and the Southwest. The late Ray Allen Billington praised the book as "meticulously prepared, sparklingly written, and brilliantly interpreted. Its perspective will affect all writing on western history for a generation to come."

The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846: The American Southwest Under Mexico (Histories of the American Frontier Series)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by WEBER, David J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by WEBER, David J.