kids encyclopedia robot

Charles Gibson (historian) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Charles Gibson (born August 12, 1920 – died August 22, 1985) was an important American historian. He was known for his groundbreaking work on the Nahua peoples of colonial Mexico. The Nahua were a group of indigenous people, including the Aztecs, who lived in Mexico when it was ruled by Spain.

Gibson studied history at Yale University with a famous professor named George Kubler. He later taught at the University of Iowa and then at the University of Michigan. His early research focused on the Nahua people of Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala was a powerful native state that helped the Spanish conquer the Aztec Empire.

Gibson's first major book, Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century (published in 1952), was based on his studies. It was special because it looked at the Spanish conquest and early colonial times from the point of view of the native people. This book is still a very important guide for historians who study the history of Mesoamerica (the region of Mexico and Central America).

Gibson also helped create important guides for finding historical information about Mexico. These included the Handbook of Latin American Studies and an index for the journal Hispanic American Historical Review. His most famous book about the Nahua people during Spanish rule is The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519–1810 (1964). This book changed how many historians studied the colonial period for a long time. In 1977, Charles Gibson was chosen to be the President of the American Historical Association, which is a very high honor for a historian.

Important Books by Charles Gibson

  • Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century, New Haven: Yale University Press 1952.
  • The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519–1810. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964.
  • Spain in America New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
  • The Spanish Tradition in America. New York: Harper & Row. 1968.
  • Attitudes of colonial powers toward the American Indian, (with Howard Peckham, editors). Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1969.
  • The Inca Concept of Sovereignty and the Spanish Administration of Peru Austin: University of Texas Press 1948. Republished, New York: Greenwood Press, 1969.
  • The Colonial Period in Latin American History. 2nd. ed. Washington: American Historical Association, 1970, 1968.
  • The Black Legend: Anti-Spanish Attitudes in the Old World and the New. New York: Knopf, 1971.
  • The Tovar Calendar: an illustrated Mexican Manuscript ca. 1585. Reproduced, with a commentary and handlist of sources on the Mexican 365-day year (with George Kubler). New Haven: The Academy, 1951.
  • Guide to the Hispanic American Historical Review, 1946–1955 (with Victor Niemayer). Durham, NC: Duke University Press 1958. New York: Kraus Reprint Co. 1976.
  • "Published Collections of Documents Relating to Middle America Ethnohistory,Handbook of Middle American Indians, volume 13, Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, Part 2, edited by Howard F. Cline. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973, pp. 3–42.
  • "Conquest, Capitulation, and Indian Treaties," (American Historical Association Presidential Address). American Historical Review 83, no. 1, February 1978, pp. 1–15.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Charles Gibson para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Charles Gibson (historian) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.