Vance-Granville Community College

HIS 131: Primary Source Analysis #1

Letter from New Mexico

Directions: Read excerpts from Juan de Onate’s Letter from New Mexico, found on pages 6-8 in
For the Record, and then answer each question in a short paragraph (5 complete sentences
minimum for each question). You may use the document, the editors’ italicized introduction to
the document, For the Record, America, and any relevant sources I provided but no outside
research is permitted. Be sure to include specific examples from the selected document in your
responses where relevant and explain your reasoning behind why you came to the conclusions
that you did. When you use examples, paraphrase, or quote a source, make sure to cite your
sources using MLA in-text citations and to include a works cited page.  Upload your completed
analysis to Moodle by 11:59 P.M. on Wednesday, September 4th.   

1. Who wrote this document? (Don’t just list a name here – provide some background
information on the person.) When and where did they write this document?

2. What type of document is this? What was the meaning of the document in its own time?
Why was the document written (i.e. what motives prompted the author to write this
document)? Who is the intended audience?

3. What are the main points of the document?

4. What does this document reveal about the particular society and period in question?
What does this document indicate about racial views of Europeans and how those views
affected relations with indigenous peoples? What does this document reveal about early
colonization of the Americas?

5. How is this source a useful tool for learning about the past? What problems would
historians confront in using this source?
Jackson Hopper

September 4, 2019

His-131-EGO31

1. This document was written by Juan de Onate, who was a Spanish conquistador

charged by King Philip to settle New Mexico. Onate was born into a wealthy family,

and was known to be a ruthless ruler. The primary goal of this was to spread

Catholicism, but the potential of discovering new silver deposits also played a role.

The document was created in New Mexico, at the end of the 16th century.

2. The document is a letter from New Mexico, sent back to Spain. The letter serves to

update the Spanish on the state of Juan de Onate’s settlements in New Mexico, as

well as to request aid from Spain. The document mentions the colony’s benefits in it’s

resources, location in regards to larger trading countries, and it’s tax potential (Shi

and Mayer 8). This letters intended audience was the wealthy people of Spain, who

had the ability to aid the colony at this time.

3. Juan de Onate describes the Native culture and lifestyle in “Letter From New Mexico

(1599),” as well as listing the benefits of the settlement in a plea for help addressed to

the the wealthy Spanish nobles. Onate describes the wildlife of New Mexico, as well

as the culture of the Pueblo Native Americans including the Querechos and the

Cocoyes. He notes in particular the languages, government, and religion of the native

population (Shi and Mayer 7).

4. The document reveals the European view of the natives as a problem with which has

to be dealt, rather than a people. This especially appears when the natives are not

obedient to the Europeans and, as seen in the letter with the Querecho Indians, are
 punished for their actions and treated as a disobedient dog in need of training ((Shi

and Mayer 7). This reveals the barbaric nature of the Europeans in their failure to

treat native peoples as human beings.

5. The document is a primary source, so it gives historians a first hand account of what

was happening at the time. This may also be interpreted as a negative in that Juan

de Onate may me over exaggerating the success and value of the settlement in order

to gain support from wealthy Spaniards looking for secure investments. Historians will

also have to account for misinformation gathered by Onate about native life and

culture, given that Onate was an outsider and may have drawn incorrect conclusions

in regards to native life.

Bibliography

“Letter From New Mexico.” For the Record. a Documentary History of America, by David Emory

Shi and Holly A. Mayer, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019, pp. 6–8.

Kozlowski, and Gerald F. “ONATE, JUAN DE.” The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State

Historical Association (TSHA), 15 June 2010, tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fon02.