Christopher Columbus And Cabeza De Vaca

Christopher Columbus and Cabeza de Vaca are two known adventurers who have interested Historians for many years. While Columbus is an explorer and Cabeza de Vaca is a treasurer, both of these men had great reputations, leading to positions of high status. Cabeza de Vaca went to explore the Gulf coast as a young nobleman and became the treasurer and Christopher Columbus went on many expeditions to explore lands of treasure and jewels of all sorts. Both men explored in a time in which the lands were controlled by church and state and because of this, pressure of enormous amounts were placed on their shoulders. The misfortunes these men encountered on their expeditions led them to choose a side in which they tried to disguise their true outcomes. Cabeza de Vaca and Christopher Columbus both struggled in the new world due to the pressure from the church and the state.
It is easy to see that Cabeza de Vaca went through hardships when captured by the Indians. In addition you can a sense that he uses much imagery of his men being killed and picked off one by one because he knew that the state and church would read his writings. In chapter seven, I feel that Cabeza de Vaca wanted to show the state and church that life over in the New World was very troubling and full of challenges that were hard to handle, in fact some of these challenges were so great no man can actually face. Columbus, who was also struggling while he was exploring, was confident going into his conquest but then, when confiding in the state and the church like Cabeza de Vaca, became nervous. Cabeza de Vaca embellishes his writings in purpose of being forgiven for the money and manpower spent on the expedition. In chapter seven Cabeza de Vaca shows in his writings how he was attacked by the Indians a few times, "The day following, others came against us from a town on the opposite side of the lake, and attacked us as the first had done, escaping in the same way, except one who was also slain" (pg. 130). He keeps showing the reader that he was attacked a number of times but yet the Indians escaped the same way as they first did. Both Cabeza de Vaca and Columbus struggled throughout their explorations of the new world and tried to disguise their failures. While many more school students remember Columbus, Cabeza de Vaca should be remembered by students as the first European to set foot in the interior of what would become the states of Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. He spent eight years traveling across North America on foot as one of only three survivors out of 500 survivors of the Spanish Inquisition. He has long been a primary source for historians interested in Native America. Cabeza de Vaca can be seen as similar to Christopher Columbus because both had the same thoughts during their explorations of the Eastern Hemisphere due to their desire to impress the church and state.

References:

Cabeza de Vaca, A. N. (2013). The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabez de Vava. In N. Baym, & R. S. Levine, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. 29-35). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Columbus, C. (2013). Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage. In N. Baym, & R. S. Levine, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. 26-28). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Columbus, C. (2013). Letter to Luis de Stantangel Regarding the First Voyage. In N. Baym, & R. S. Levine, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. 25-26). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

References: Cabeza de Vaca, A. N. (2013). The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabez de Vava. In N. Baym, & R. S. Levine, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. 29-35). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Columbus, C. (2013). Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage. In N. Baym, & R. S. Levine, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. 26-28). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Columbus, C. (2013). Letter to Luis de Stantangel Regarding the First Voyage. In N. Baym, & R. S. Levine, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (pp. 25-26). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.