Patterns of Spanish Emigration to the New World (1493-1580). Special
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 099 152 RC 008 216 AUTHOR Boyd-Bowman, Peter TITLE Patterns of Spanish Emigration to theNew World (1493-1580). Special Studies No. 34. INSTITUTION State Univ. of New York, Buffalo. Councilon International Studies. PUB DATE Apr 73 NOTE 100p. AVAILABLE FROMCouncil on International Studies,State University of New York at Buffalo, 107 TownsendHall, Buffalo, New York 14214 (Special StudiesNo. 34; $2.50) EDHS PRICE MP -$0.75 HC-$4.20 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS American History; Demography;*Ethnic Origins; Land Settlement; Latin AmericanCulture; *Linguistic Patterns; Mexican Americans; *MigrationPatterns; Population Distribution; SpanishAmericans; *Spanish Speaking; Statistical Data;*Western Civilization IDENTIFIERS *New World; Spain ABSTRACT The four periods discussed in thispublication cover the patterns of Spanish emigrationto the New World, mainlyon the regional level and in terms ofpercentages. The effects of this emigration on the various SpanishAmerican dialectsare discussed. In the initial period (1493-1519), the largest single group, in every year and on all major expeditions,were the Andalusians, of whomover 78 percent came from thetwo provinces of Sevilla (58percent) and Huelva (20 percent). In the secondperiod (1520-1539), the conquests on the mainland greatly increased thenumber of destinations the emigrant could elect. During thisperiod, Mexico failed in onlyone year (1527) to attract over SOpercent of the emigrants. A chain of4 provinces (Sevilla, Badajoz,Caceres, Toledo, Salamanca, and Valladolid) accounted forslightly over half of all emigrantsto the New World, with Seville furnishingone out of every six men and half of all the women. In later periods(1540-1559 and 1560-1579), there was a sharp reduction in the proportionalemigration to Santo Domingo, Central America, and the Riode la Plata; Mexico, Peru, Chile, and the Nuevo Reino deGranada were emergingas almost invariable destinations. Between 1560and 1579, roughly threeout of every four emigrants came from the southernhalf of the Peninsula and 28.5 percent werewomen. (NQ) U I DEPARTMENT Of NtALT11, EDUCATION A WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE Of EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DUCED ExACTLY AS RECEIVED IRON THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN A T 'NG T POINTS Of VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRO SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE Of EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY PATTERNS OF SPANISHEMIGRATION TO THE NEW WORLD(1493-1580) by Peter Boyd-Bowman 4 2 47s Special Studies,4114 Council on InternationalStudies State University ofNew York at Buffalo 107 Townsend Hall Buffalo, New York 14214 April 1973 INpEX PAGE Introduction The Regional Origins ofthe Earliest Spanish Colonists of America 1- 16 Regional Emigration to the New World: 1520-1539 17- 39 Regional )rigins of theSpanish Colonists of America: 1540-1559 40- 70 Spanish Emigration to the NewWorld: 1560-1579 71- 97 INTRODUCTION These four articles on XVI Century Spanishemigration to the New World are in fact merelyintroductory remarks and statistical material,translated into English, takenfrom the first four of my five-volume Indicegeobionrfifico de pohladores de Americaen el siglo XVI MB). Two of these volumes havealready appeared (1964, 1968), theother two, though completed,are as yet unpublished.The fifth and final volume, which dealswith patterns of emigration between1580 and 1600 and brings the actual total ofemigrants listed to over 54,000, is targeted for completionin 1974. Each of these reference works spansa twenty-year period of emigration andfurnishes abbreviated bio- graphical dataon each of the several thousand first-timeemigrants of that period for whomI found birthplaces in Spain or in otherparts of Europe. Subsidized at differenttimes by the Guggenheim Foundation, the MIS, andthe aesearch Foundationof State University of New York, this andits related research projectLASCODOCS (linguistic Analysis of Spanish ColonialDocuments), have as their primary objective thatof establishinga firm historical basis for the origins ofthe different dialects found inAmerican Spanish today. Since 14M0D= isdescribed briefly in the last of thepresent articles, I will not mentionit further here. Suffice it tosay that both of these long- range projects are thefruit of several years of patient and systematicgather- ing of both historicaland linguistic data from XVI Centuryarchives, much of it documented forthe first time b, myself and teams ofbilingual assistants working intermittentlyfor 20 years. The Indiceproper, furnishing as it does biographical dataon thousands of individual emigrants, complete withindices of surnames,birthplaces, occupations, social status, anddestinations in America, will hopefullybecome a standard reference tool forlinguists, histor- ians, and demographersinterested in the beginnings of Spanishcolonial society in the New World. Peter Boyd-Bowman S. U. N.Y. at Buffalo March 1973 THE REGIONAL ORIGINS OF THE EARLIEST SPANISH COLONISTS OF AMERICA How much the New World Spanish dialectsowe to those of Spain has long been a subject for disputeamong Hispanic scholars. Belief in the theory of Andalusian influence, based,as it is, largely upon seseo and zglelea, has been seriously shaken by recent studieson the chronology and diffusion of these two phenomena, by more exact knowledgeof the modern peninsular dialects,and by the hitherto availablestatistical studies on regional emigrationto 1 America. But though statisticalcounts tend to show that during the sixteenth century as a whole no single regioncontributed an over-all majority of colon- ists to the Indies, claimsare still made that individual parts of the New World were first colonizedchiefly by set:lers from thisor that region of Spain. For example, Andalusians and Extremifiosare generally credited with a major part in the colonization ofPeru, but so far actual figures argil lacking either to confirm or refute this.2Amado Alonso and Kaimu:J, Lida, whilere- jecting the theory of the Andalusianorigin of New World dialects in general, concede that Andalusians probably did predominate during the ' .:st 30 years 3 in the Antilles. But Tomas Navarro, in his study of the Snel'ic:hof Puerto Rico, concurs with the belief of Jos13 Padinthat that island's first settlers were principally colonists from Old Castile: again there have been no statis- 4 tics. The striking phoneticcontrast between the tierras sites and sierrasaas of America, with the lattersharing in general Andalusia's relaxed consonantal system, has been attributednow to a tendency among colonists to settle in those regions whose climatemost nearly resembled the one to which theywere accustomed (the climatic theory),now to the fact that coastal regionswere often linked more closely bysea to other coastal areas than they were to their mountainous hinterlands. 5 Such interesting theories, plausiblethough they may be, cennever rise above the level of ingenious speculationuntil we have gatheredmore accurate statistical data not onlyon the regional origins of Spanish colonists of every part of America, but also on the chronologyof their migrations. These data, accounting for some though of course not all of the factors thatshaped the New World Spanish dialects,can furnish a sound historical basis for approaching numerous unsolved problemsin the field of American Spanish lin- guistics, besides being of valueto historians and sociologists in several fielda.6 Data on regional originsare fortunately available to a surprising degree. The patient efforts of thedirectors of the Archivo de Indies inSeville in publishing extant passenger lists, and the studies of Rubio, Henriques. Urea, Aubrey Neasham,and Rodilgues Arnie have yielded valuable results.7 However, none of the latter exhausted all availablesources and methods for determining regional origins, andnone are organized to show periodic migration trends from individual towns and provinces in Spain to specific regions in the Indies. Elaborating the work of these scholars, particularly that of the late Pedro Henriquez Ureila, whose manuscript notes and filesare in my possession, using a wide range of sixteenth- century Spanish and colonial sources, I have been able to establish with reasonable certainty the regional origin of some 40,000 colonists (men, women, and children) who came to the Indies prior to 1600. I would venture to guess that this figure represents, of the total number who emigrated during that time, almost 20%, whichI am sure statisticians would consider a highly indicative sample.8 The completed work will not only show migration trends fromany village in Spain to any part of America, but will normally give abbreviated biographical dataon each man, such as full name, parentage, place of origin, occupation, desti- nation, marital status, year of passage, and movements and activities within America. The first part,on which this present study is based, lists both geographically and alphabetically those persons of known origin whowere in the Indies between the years 1493 and 1519. It is during this critical initial period, when the Spanish colonial effortwas mainly centered in the islands of the.Antilles, that the earliest form of: American Spanish must have developed.9 Linguistically important though it is to determine the speech habits of the earliest settlers, we must of course remember thata steady flew of t.ew colonists and of fresh cultural stimnli (books, plays, fashion's in dress and behavior, social, religious, and philosophical ideas) continued throughout most of the colonial period. However, Amado Alorso