Sixteenth Century North America: The Land and the People as Seen by the Europeans

Sixteenth Century North America: The Land and the People as Seen by the Europeans offers a detailed reconstruction of the continent's geography, environment, and cultures as first encountered by European explorers and chroniclers. The book focuses on the continental United States and Canada, tracing the earliest phases of discovery and observation before permanent colonization began. From John Cabot's landfall in 1497 to the extensive expeditions of Cartier, De Soto, and Cabrillo, European observers recorded landscapes, flora, fauna, and Indigenous lifeways with a vividness that still allows identification of species and cultural practices. Reports describe buffalo herds, turkeys, opossums, pecans, persimmons, housing structures, and agricultural methods in remarkable detail. Many accounts, preserved in Spanish, French, Portuguese, English, and Italian sources, reveal a composite picture of a well-inhabited and resource-rich land. By weaving together these narratives, the volume situates early European perceptions of North America as both a natural paradise and a place of profound cultural encounter.

At the same time, the book underscores that these explorations were not merely geographical ventures but moves in the geopolitical struggles of the sixteenth century. North America became entangled in the larger contest among Spain, Portugal, France, and England for maritime dominance and access to Asia. Spain consolidated power through bases in the Caribbean and Mexico, France probed the northern passage while harassing Spanish fleets, and England combined reconnaissance with colonization attempts at Roanoke. Religious and political tensions shaped many expeditions, as when France sought to export its Protestant conflict overseas or when Spanish operations countered French incursions in Florida. Detailed reconstructions of routes, supported by modern topography and maps, reveal how these voyages unfolded against the backdrop of international rivalry. The book thus integrates natural description, ethnography, and geopolitics to present a comprehensive view of sixteenth-century North America at the dawn of European engagement.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1971.