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

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.

About the Author :
DAVID J. WEBER is Dedman Professor of History and director of the William P. Clements Center for Southwestern Studies at Southern Methodist University. He is the author or editor of more than sixty scholarly articles and twenty-two books.

Review :
"An important new book... It displays a mastery of the literature and impressive erudition; a capacity for the patient teasing out of the truth from sources that are often incomplete and partisan; and a lucid narrative style that carries the reader along... A formidable achievement." J. H. Elliott, New York Review of Books "A masterful synthesis that will serve as a necessary point of departure for historians working in different areas of frontier or borderlands history for many years to come." Cynthia Radding, Director, Latin American and Iberian Institute, University of New Mexico "A stunning book that will be read for generations and lauded for its awesome research, judicious analysis, and graceful prose." James Schofield Saeger, Lehigh University"