Possible paradises : Basque emigration to Latin America / José Manuel Azcona Pastor ; forward by William A. Douglass ; translation by Roland Vazquez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Azcona Pastor, José Manuel

Series:

Basque series

The Basque series

Language:

English

Spanish

Subjects (All):

Basques--America--History.

Basques.

Basque Americans--History.

Basque Americans.

Immigrants--America--History.

Immigrants.

Emigration and immigration.

History.

America--Emigration and immigration--History.

America.

País Vasco (Spain)--Emigration and immigration--History.

País Vasco (Spain).

Physical Description:

xviii, 568 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Reno : University of Nevada Press, [2004]

Summary:

From Columbus's first voyage to "the Indies" in 1492, Basques participated in Spain's American enterprise. Supported by centuries of experience as mariners, shipbuilders, traders, miners, and ironworkers; encouraged toward emigration by restrictive inheritance laws and a land-poor territory; and conditioned by a culture that prized hard work and social solidarity, the Basques were poised to play a significant role in the exploration and development of the New World. The first Basques arrived with Columbus, and well into the twentieth century they continued to arrive seeking livelihood and refuge.

Possible Paradises, Jose Manuel Azcona Pastor's engaging and meticulously researched study of Basque emigration to the Americas, is a pathbreaking work of monumental importance. Covering more than five centuries of history, Azcona examines the roles and fates of the Basques who came to the New World. He also studies the impact of the New World on the Basque Country, from the importance in the modern Basque diet of such American foodstuffs as corn and beans to the encouragement given to traditional Basque industries by the colonizers' demand for ships and iron tools. He considers the role of Basques in the Spanish imperial expeditions of exploration and conquest; their participation in transatlantic commerce and communication; and their importance to the settlement and continuity of the American empire as merchants, administrators, ecclesiastics, missionaries, farmers, artisans, and businessmen. Among them were such distinguished personages as Juan de Zumarraga, the first bishop of Mexico; Juan Bautista de Anza, governor of Spanish California; and the sixteenth-century merchant Simon Bolivar, whose eponymous descendant achieved immortality as a leader of the Latin American independence movement.

The Basque diaspora, although worldwide in dimension, has had its greatest presence and importance in the Americas. Azcona's pioneering study views the Basque presence in the New World through the broadest possible lens, linking Basque communities and activities from Argentina to Mexico. Possible Paradises is a major contribution to the study of the Basque diaspora and to Latin American history in its broadest sense. Enhanced by numerous maps, tables and graphs, name lists, and photographs, Possible Paradises records the role of a single distinctive and culturally cohesive ethnic group in one of the greatest migration movements in human history. After reading this book, it will be impossible for the reader to consider the history of the Americas without acknowledging the impact and multifold contributions of the Basques.

Contents:

The Basque country at the time of Columbus

Mastery of the land

Colonial commerce

Basque Americans

The overseas destinations

The human deluge to Rió de la Plata

Foundations of the recent exodus

The bureaucracy, the dreamed of voyage, and the typology of the emigrant

Dramatic exile

The future of the Basque-American communities.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 507-521) and index.

ISBN:

0874174449

OCLC:

48857950