When doing a close reading of a text one should not feel included to understand, or try to summarize everything word for word. But rather to find points of interest and what is desired for more understanding. This is what the process of learning seeks to create, to build / create “new” knowledge. In my writing I have put the word new in quotation marks, because the irony is that we are reading a book that researches Spanish history in North America. But it is this idea of “new” to uncover and reveal what has been thought of as an Empire that has been covered up.
Within this blog page I will share points of interest for readers as well as a mechanism to preserve my thoughts as I read the book entitled: “EL NORTE, The Epic and Forgotten Story of North America” (Gibson, 2019).
INTRODUCTION: Within the introduction of this book I was proud that the writer did acknowledge the past harsh histories of Spanish Colonization also taking note of British and Canadian Colonization. But she is clear that she wants to discover the American history of the hispanic / Spanish past. There is no doubt that Christopher Columbus did discover the Ameridians, America’s and what is know today as The United States of America in 1492. However, it was his harsh treatment of the native / indigenous people that led to the replacement of Columbus, with Governor Francisco de Bobadilla in1499. And a Royal decree was signed by Queen Isabella of Spain entitled the Cedula (p. 12).
Today as we hear popular media, social movements and even school curriculums teach / perpetuate stories of brutal indigenous stories, it must be noted that the Spanish Crown did take steps to take responsibility for the abuse that they learned of. But also within the interiority of American lands, the Spanish were sexually involved with the indigenous people, forming what is known today as: Mestizo.
Fact: J. Hector St. John de Créve Coeur was a French immigrant who arrived in 1759 (p. 7).
Chapter 1 – Santa Elena, South Carolina, ca, 1492-1550
During the time of Columbus he was also joined further by Spanish explorers. As he passed away Las Casas, Hernando Cortes and Juan Ponce de Léon arrived in 1504, who carried the Spanish expeditions from Santa Elena and also Mexico. Las Casas would be famed for the conversions of the treatment of indigenous and the expeditions would continue. I thought about the Catholic faith today and the gratitude for the Spanish explorers for the Catholic faith establishment. The explorers were not only on a mission to explore these new found lands, but also to promote the Catholic faith and conversion of souls. These historical truths can be found today with the naming of villages and cities.
*Rica de la Vera Cruz – 1st Spanish Settlement in Mexico, which is translated as The True Cross (p. 19).
*Diego Velazquez de Cuéllar joined the Spanish expeditions his first voyage was in honour of Princess Joanna and the second were the Cuba expeditions in 1511 (p. 16).
*Diego Columbus was the son of Christopher Columbus who appealed to the Spanish courts to claim and re-gain his fathers title’s. He served navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón (p. 14).
May 11th, 2021 – Spanish Expeditions took place in Cuba / Peru / Mexico Hernando de Soto set sail to Florida and landed in Deep bay which is known as present day Tampa Bay in May 1539. During 1539-40 de Soto and his translator / companion Ortiz spent the winter in Tallahassee (p. 36). The Spanish build roads to connect their forts, to be able to travel back and forth especially from La Florida (Present day Florida) to New Spain, which was the official territory of the Spanish Empire (“New Spain,” 2021).
REFERENCE:
Gibson, C. (2019). EL NORTE The Epic and Forgotten History of Hispanic North America. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
New Spain. (2021, May, 11). in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Spain
NOTES: Please note that the reading of this book is an addition to my previous research and writing of blog posts within this website. All material has been cited as appropriate, these book notes are expanded with further references as specific interests arise. Thank you!
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