Crossing the continent, 1527-1540 : the story of the first African-American explorer of the American South / Robert Goodwin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goodwin, Robert, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Estevan, -1539.

Estevan.

Explorers--America--Biography.

Explorers.

Slavery.

History.

Discoveries in geography.

Enslaved persons.

Black people.

America.

Southern States.

Explorers--Spain--Biography.

Spain.

Black people--America--Biography.

Enslaved persons--America--Biography.

Southwestern States--Discovery and exploration--Spanish.

Southwestern States.

Southern States--Discovery and exploration--Spanish.

Slavery--America--History--16th century.

Cibola, Seven Cities of.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 414 pages : illustrations, coat of arms, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Harper, [2008]

Summary:

Over That Winter of 1528 to 1529, for the first time in the history of modern American soil, an African slave shed his bonds and became a man in the eyes of his former masters. Over that winter, the first African-American was born. Esteban must then have felt the first thrill of power.... For the first time in the history of America, an African is mentioned by name.... Both in real life and in the writings of historians, the slave was to prove more important and more famous than his master. What is more, by a curious irony, it was the master's testimony that served to leave a record of the slave.

In the shaded cool of a Mexican courtroom, in the summer of 1536, Esteban was born into the virtual world of words and literature; he now became part of that ephemeral account of humanity that we know as history.

History is the origin myth of the white man. It tells us about our ancestors, their heroes and wars, about how we came to live as we do, about our gods and our morality. It defines our values and it reveres our political institutions.... I write, evidently enough, from the perspective of my own personal history.

Contents:

Journey's end: the first crossing of America, 1536

Camino Real: the royal road to Mexico City, 1536

Mexico City: July 1536

Fiesta: July 1536

Negro Alárabe

Natural de Azamor: the slave trade

Jerez: 1522

Seville: 1522-1527

Oviedo and Cabeza de Vaca

Dorantes and the archive of the Indies

Atlantic crossing: 1527

Cuba: 1527-1528

Florida: 1528

The isle of misfortune: 1528-1529

Texas: 1529-1533

Shamanism: 1533-1535

The Rio Grande: 1535

Friar Marcos de Niza: 1536-1538

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado: 1538-1539

Chronicles of Esteban's death

Epilogue: resurrection.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [375]-392) and index.

ISBN:

9780061140440

0061140449

9780061140457

0061140457

9780061705298

0061705292

OCLC:

191930029