Weber, David J.

Bárbaros : Spaniards and their savages in the Age of Enlightenment / Spaniards and their savages in the Age of Enlightenment David J. Weber. - New Haven : Yale University Press, c2005. - xviii, 466 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-440) and index.

Introduction -- Savants, savages, and new sensibilities -- Savages and Spaniards: natives transformed -- The science of creating men -- A good war or a bad peace? -- Trading, gifting, and treating -- Crossing borders -- Epilogue: Insurgents and savages, from inclusion to exclusion.

"In this panoramic study, David J. Weber explains how late eighteenth-century Spanish administrators tried to fashion a more enlightened policy toward the people they called barbaros, 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."--BOOK JACKET.

0300105010 (alk. paper) 9780300105018 (alk. paper)

2004030553

GBA568735 bnb

013274070 Uk


Indians--Colonization.
Indians--Missions.
Indians--Government relations.
Indiens d'Amerique--Colonisation.
Indiens d'Amerique--Missions.
Indiens d'Amerique--Relations avec l'Etat.


Spain--Colonies--Administration.--America
New Spain--Colonization.
America--Discovery and exploration.
America--History--To 1810.
Espagne--Colonies--Administration.--Amerique
Nouvelle-Espagne--Colonisation.
Amerique--Decouverte et exploration.
Amerique--Histoire--Jusqu'áa 1810.

000 E 59 / W373b 2005

323.1197/0171246/09033