Journal for Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

Gregory Alcala
English 48A / Lankford
December 3rd, 2009
Journal for Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

Quote:
“I can say for myself that I undertook the march aboard, on royal authorization, with a firm trust that my service would be evident and distinguished as my ancestors‘….” Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, from the Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza e Vaca
Summary:
In the very opening to his history of his voyage to America he is already reminding the reader of is family lineage. As if that would make him so right for the job, that he was bred for the job of exploring the unknown lands. I think it’s funny that it’s on royal authorization that he was sent into the darkness of the untamed wildness of the Americas with the trust he had of himself because of what his ancestors had done. I am probably using a reader’s response with this quote. I personally think family lineage is not important when looking at a single person’s achievements. The idea of someone being from a long line famous people and that means the child will grow up with the skills that will come forth at once at birth seems like such an ancient way of thinking. It would make sense in Cabeza de Vaca’s time since a people lineage set up the rest of their natural life, but in today’s world it has been thrown out.

Quote:
“Cabeza de Vaca was the first European to describe America from Florida thru Arizona. His 1542 works are the oldest history we [the state of Florida] have. He set the stage for the Conquest of Native America.” Spanish Trails in North America (http://www.floridahistory.com/cabeza.html)
Summary:
The journey that de Vaca made through America is seen, by some, as the first for it’s time. This quote was taken from an historical website so their lens for seeing the man is a rosy one. A lens that I have avoided this whole quarter. However, I think it’s funny when I read the harsh truth behind these historical icons who are exalted with people all the bad points in their life have been left out. Only the good remains because of recent history or because we are too lazy to read a little deeper in the past.

Overall Summary:
Like everyone that was seen as a hero in some point in time, there is both good and bad. Sometimes the bad outweigh the good deeds but only the good remain in the history books. Sometimes it’s to make people have a hero they can look up too. My memory is foggy when I’m thinking back to what I was taught about de Vaca in grade school. I do remember my parents telling me how he was Spanish and how he was the first man to cut a path through America. Yet when looking at the time line of people walking around in America, rarely does anyone give the Indians/Native America credit, like the villages they make covering America before it was America counted.

Journal for Columbus

Gregory Alcala
English 48A
Lankford
Journal for Columbus

Quote:
“And since there was neither towns nor villages on the seashore, but only small hamlets, with the people of which I could not have speech because they all fled immediately.” Christopher Columbus, from Letter to Luis de Santangel regarding the First Voyage
Summary:
Columbus was righting to his supporter, Luis de Santangel, so he would have to write about the good. Columbus was shockingly honest about the lack of ‘great towns and cities’ on the new islands. Columbus also re named these chain of islands even though the native people had a name for their homeland. Seems like an pushy thing to do, thinking that the new name will stick. It does not shock me that the native people would run from Columbus. I have read in history texts that show the good and the bad that Columbus did oppress the native Americas so I am sure he did the same to these native people. How could he expect anything less from them? Columbus does not seem to really take in the fact that he has missed his target the Asian continent. He did discover land and when reading this I could hear a bragging tone in his voice. The only other options were returning to Spain without finding anything but sea water or dying at sea. So finding land, be it any land mass was a win.

Quote:
“Even those who loved him[Columbus] had to admit the atrocities that had taken place.” -Consuelo Varela
Summary: Columbus does have this shining reputation in some people eye’s that have not taken the time to read more into his history. Yet, when the truth of Columbus’s treatment of the Indians had come into the light, even his fans had to admit to the horrible acts that Columbus had done. I have read how Columbus would cut off Indians’ noses, a non lethal form of punishment to instill fear in the population.

Overall Summary:
I have heard the good part of Columbus’s story when in grade school. How he discovered the new world by mistake but it was a far better discovery then a new route to Asia. However, now I am hearing the crushing tales to his reputation. I did not want to use the classic image of Columbus. The one that was first on Google image search. It seems to be part of that false history told to me in elementary school. Yet I did want to pick something from the past, the image I decided to use was a imagined version of Columbus asking the King and Queen of Spain for money for his voyage. I wish I could have found something a little more mocking of the man and his deeds. It seems that his transgressions are only mentions in high school and college classes. And too many people want to not work on his holiday.