How did Cabeza de Vaca and Estavanico survive after washing up on the Gulf Coast? according to the reading?

HIST 120 Dr. Schaffer

Topic 1

European and Native American Worlds Collide I: 1492 and Its Aftermath

The assigned reading for Topic 1 is listed on p. 6 of your syllabus. In addition to your textbook reading (Out of

Many to p. 32), you will be reading a secondary source, “The Gulf Coast: Naked in the New World”, by Tony

Horwitz. “The Gulf Coast” is a chapter in Howritz’s book A Voyage Long and Strange. In A Voyage Long and

Strange Horwitz recounts his travels across the Caribbean and North America as he attempted to retrace the

steps of the earliest Europeans to venture across the Atlantic. In particular, Horwitz was interested in why

Americans know so little about the almost 150 years between Columbus’ first voyage across the Atlantic (in

1492) and the founding of the colony of Plymouth by the Pilgrims (in 1620). Why, for instance, do we think of

the Pilgrims as founding figures for America, but not the Spanish conquistadores (explorers) who came before

them, or the Native Americans whose civilizations Europeans encountered?

A couple of reminders:

 Before attempting to answer one of the focus questions carefully read the handout Discussion Forum

Basics. In particular: remember that your answer needs to be at least 300 words long and should clearly

demonstrate to me that you have done the assigned reading.

 Remember to indicate which question you are answering in the subject-line of your post.

 The focus questions and key terms on this overview handout cover all of the material you should learn

for this topic. Even if no one posts an answer to a question, you are still responsible for the material

covered in that question. Therefore, as a class, you want to ensure that every focus question is

answered at least once. So if a couple of questions have been answered many times but other questions

have not been answered at all, choose one of the latter for your post. (And remember: if all of the

focus questions do get answered at least once, everyone who posted answers gets a point of extra

credit!)

Key Terms (Discuss relevant terms in your answer.) Cahokia

Mesoamerica

foraging vs. farming

forest efficiency

the Pueblo

Haudenosaunee (the Iroquois Confederacy)

Roanoke

Christopher Columbus

Taínos

the debate between Sepulveda and Las Casas

encomiendas

Hernán Cortés and the Aztec

virgin soil epidemic

Columbian Exchange

Hernando De Soto

frontier of inclusion

Cabeza de Vaca

Estevanico

Cíbola

HIST 120 Dr. Schaffer

Focus Questions

Tying the Readings Together (Tie together information from the textbook and Horwitz’s

“The Gulf Coast”.)

1. What motivated early European exploration of the Western Hemisphere?

2. In what ways do the experiences of Cabeza de Vaca and Estavanico reflect the popular image of

early European explorers in the Western Hemisphere? In what ways do they differ?

Out of Many, Chapters 1 and 2 (to p. 32)

3. Discuss the origins of farming in the Americas and the impact that farming had on Native

American societies.

4. What peoples lived in the Southwest, South, and Northeast of what is now the United States on

the eve of Columbus’ arrival? What common features did these Native American societies share?

In what ways did they differ?

5. Discuss the impact of the Columbian exchange, and in particular disease, on the history of the

Americas after 1492.

Tony Horwitz, “The Gulf Coast: Naked in the New World”

6. How did Cabeza de Vaca and Estavanico survive after washing up on the Gulf Coast?

7. Why does Horwitz think it is important to tell the story of Cabeza de Vaca and Estavanico? Do

you agree? Why or why not?