Colonization and Conflict in Early Spanish America

FAIN: FA-50648-04

Ida Altman
University of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA 70148-0001)

This comparative study focuses on three revolts that occurred in the early period of Spanish colonization of the Americas: Enrique's revolt on the island of Hispaniola (1520-33), the Cakchiquel revolt in Guatemala (1524), and the Mixtón War in western New Spain (Mexico; 1541). Although differing considerably from one another in their timing, duration, magnitude, and long-term consequences, these revolts had in common their roots not only in the events of the conquest period but also in extensive Spanish enslavement of native people and the imposition of the encomienda, which gave certain Spaniards rights to Indian labor, tribute, or both. Study of these groups of the trade in slaves and imposition of encomiendas; the experience of Spaniards' Indian allies; connections and comparisons among early Spanish American societies; the implications of rapid mixing among Spaniards, Indians, and Africans; and the historical interpretation of early revolts.

Associated Products

The War for Mexico's West: Indians and Spaniards in New Galicia, 1524-1550 (Book)
Title: The War for Mexico's West: Indians and Spaniards in New Galicia, 1524-1550
Author: Ida Altman
Abstract: The War for Mexico's West examines a dramatic, complex episode in the early history of New Spain. After the conquest of central Mexico Spaniards fanned out in several directions, first entering western Mexico--the future New Galicia--in 1524. A full-fledged expedition of conquest followed several years later, but Spaniards experienced considerable difficulties in trying to assert control over the ethnically and linguistically diverse societies of the region. Late in 1540 an uprising against Spanish rule attracted thousands of people from many indigenous communities. These events took place within the context of the complex politics of early New Spain in which such important figures as Hernando Cortés, Nuño de Guzmán, Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, and don Antonio de Mendoza vied to fulfill their ambitions in the west. The book incorporates primary material reflecting indigenous perspectives and provides the first full-length account in English of these little-known events and their consequences for Indians and Spaniards.
Year: 2010
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780826344939

Prizes

A. B. Thomas Prize for Best Book in Latin American Studies published in 2010
Date: 3/1/2011
Organization: Southeastern Conference on Latin American Studies

Contesting Conquest: Indigenous Perspectives on the Spanish Occupation of Nueva Galicia, 1524-1545 (Book)
Title: Contesting Conquest: Indigenous Perspectives on the Spanish Occupation of Nueva Galicia, 1524-1545
Author: Ida Altman
Abstract: The book provides translations of accounts that reflect the indigenous perspective on indigenous resistance to the Spanish conquest of western Mexico, the region that came to be known as Nueva Galicia.
Year: 2017
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
Type: Translation
ISBN: 9780271078564
Copy sent to NEH?: No

Relaciones transatlánticas en el imperio español. Brihuega, España y Puebla, Mexico, 1560-1620 (Book)
Title: Relaciones transatlánticas en el imperio español. Brihuega, España y Puebla, Mexico, 1560-1620
Author: Ida Altman
Editor: Teresa Valdehita Mayoral
Abstract: This is a Spanish-language translation of my book Transatlantic Ties in the Spanish Empire: Brihuega, Spain and Puebla, Mexico, 1560-1620, a study of a substantial group of emigrants from one small, textile-producing town in central Spain who settled in Puebla, Mexico, where they were instrumental in developing the textile industry.
Year: 2018
Publisher: Ayuntamiento de Brihuega
Type: Single author monograph
Type: Translation
ISBN: 978-84-942961-
Translator: Ignacio Ruiz Mayoral
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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